Bangladesh wants to start negotiations with China for FTA: Titu

The government wants to start formal negotiation for the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with China as the joint feasibility study is complete for the trade deal, State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu said today.

The signing of FTA with China, the largest trading partner of Bangladesh, will be a model for other countries with which Bangladesh also wants to sign such deals, he said.

The state minister made the comments while addressing a group of businessmen of both Bangladesh and China at a seminar on China-Bangladesh FTA organised by the Chinese embassy in Dhaka at its office.

Bangladesh would be highly benefited if the proposed FTA can be complemented by investment, said MA Razzaque, chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID).

Bangladesh imports more than $21 billion worth of goods from China in a year and of the amount 40 percent comes under bonded warehouse facility means duty free.

Still the import duty for Chinese goods is more than 28 percent of the total revenue Bangladesh generates from import tariff, Razzaque said.

Yao Wen, the Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh, said Bangladesh's trade gap with China is not a big deal as Bangladesh has a big trade surplus even with the USA and the EU.

The Chinese investment will increase job opportunity in Bangladesh, he said.

Al Mamun Mridha, secretary general of Bangladesh China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, urged the government for holding a Bangladesh investment summit in China during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to China.