Bangladesh
While Bangladesh may not appear to be a major player on the bilateral FTA front, it is currently under many pressures and involved in various discussions:
The government was dealt harsh arrangements from the EU in the two parties’ trade and development cooperation agreement of 2001, through which Dhaka accepted WTO-plus demands from the EU, for instance to allow corporate monopoly rights over seeds (patenting); The government was in controversial talks with the US over a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, a preliminary to a possible FTA with Washington; but decided not to sign one in 2010 after several years of discussions. The US subsequently asked Bangladesh to sign a Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum deal, but this has not yet been signed; India has been pushing for a bilateral FTA with Bangladesh, but the World Bank has made clear that India would benefit more; Pakistan has been pushing for an FTA with Bangladesh as well; Bangladesh, for its part, is interested in developing an FTA with China.
Apart from all these, the government is either negotiating or considering negotiating FTAs with Iran, Turkey, Bhutan, Malaysia, Morocco and Sri Lanka.
On a regional level, Bangladesh is a member of SAARC, which has its own FTA, as well as BIMSTEC, which also aims to develop one.
last update: May 2012
The revenue board has suggested refraining from signing any free trade or preferential trade agreements with the countries having huge trade gap with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh will request Japan to commence a joint feasibility study on the signing of a free trade area agreement to help boost bilateral trade, officials said.
Bangladesh and the US have begun discussions to explore possibilities of a Free Trade Agreement as part of efforts on economic recovery from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.
Bangladesh has demanded zero-duty benefit on export of 140 products to Nepal as both governments look towards finalising a preferential trade agreement (PTA) on the third week of next month.
The US has ratcheted up economic diplomacy with Bangladesh, holding its first high-level dialogue virtually and signing an open sky agreement in Dhaka as part of Washington’s blueprint to challenge China’s presence in the region.
A preferential trade agreement (PTA) between Bangladesh and Bhutan is expected to be signed in the victory month of December to boost bilateral trade.
The government has finalised a draft of a preferential trade agreement (PTA) to be signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan within the next month.
The government plans to start negotiations with a dozen countries including US and Canada for signing preferential trade agreements to help boost the country’s export earnings
Bangladesh and Algeria had agreed to ink an agreement to increase bilateral trade and economic cooperation, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said.
Bangladesh will sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Bhutan within the next one month in a bid to increase bilateral trade with the landlocked country in the Eastern Himalayas, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said yesterday.
