India-Bangladesh to conduct survey on economic partnership

Bangladesh and India will conduct a joint survey for the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to boost bilateral trade and investment once Bangladesh becomes a developing nation.

That CEPA deal is expected to be signed during an upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of March.

Bangladesh has taken the initiative to ink the deal to safeguard duty privileges in international trade after the country exits from the least-developed country (LDC) status in 2024.

Last week, Bangladesh received the UN's final recommendation to be graduated from the LDC status, according to an official at the commerce ministry.

“We need to find out the real economic picture of Bangladesh and major trade and business opportunities of two neighboring countries,” he said.

The Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) has already prepared to start the survey under a 10-member committee formed recently headed by Commerce Secretary Jafar Uddin.

“The BFTI and Indian Foreign Trade Institute are preparing to begin the study,” said the commerce secretary.

The country is set to lose duty preferences in international trade after graduation, which prompted Dhaka to start the process to strike free trade agreements (FTAs), preferential trade agreements (PTA), CEPA, and other trade arrangements with trading partners.

Two months ago, Bangladesh and Bhutan signed a PTA, the first such deal for Bangladesh. The ministry is also working to sign FTAs or PTAs with 11 more countries and trade blocs to enjoy trade benefits after graduation.

Both Bangladesh and Nepal are ready to sign a PTA.

Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown steadily over the last decade. India’s exports to Bangladesh in FY 2018-19 stood at $9.21 billion and import during the same period was at $1.04 billion.

India has extended three Lines of Credits (LOC) to Bangladesh in the last eight years amounting to $8 billion for the development of infrastructure in various sectors including roads, railways, shipping, and ports. Bangladesh is the biggest recipient of India’s concessional LOC. India has also been providing grant assistance to Bangladesh for various infrastructure projects including the construction of Akhaura-Agartala rail link, dredging of inland waterways.