Thursday, April 25, 2024
The government should take an initiative to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Uzbekistan to boost untapped trade potential for the sake of export diversification, speakers said on Tuesday.
They made the call at a press conference titled, “Bangladesh-Uzbekistan Business Summit and B2B” held at the CMJF auditorium in Dhaka.
The event was jointly organised by Bangladesh Trade Center (BTC); Global Education Consulting and Exhibition Ltd, UK; Turk-Bangla Group; Developing Bangladesh; Dar Al-baraka Travel and Tourism LLC, UAE; Lota Overseas Ltd, Bangladesh; and Zishan Enterprise, Kyrgyzstan.
“If we can sign an FTA with Uzbekistan, our products’ prices will be reasonable compared to our global counterparts as we have to import a good number of raw materials from the country,” BTC co-founder and CEO Md Joynal Abdin said.
“The bilateral trade was $45.24 million in the fiscal year 2020-21. The economy of Uzbekistan is almost double compared to Bangladesh. So, there is a big market for Bangladesh. We can take more benefits signing the FTA with Uzbekistan as the country is the hub of trade in Middle Asia.”
According to the latest data from the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported goods worth $14.29 million to Uzbekistan during the January-February period in FY23. Bangladesh exported textiles, pharmaceuticals, plastics and articles, sacks and bags, printed paper, single yarn of jute, tobacco and narrow woven fabrics.
The Bangladesh Bank data showed that Bangladesh imported products worth Tk 75.35 crore from Uzbekistan in FY22.
Joynal also sought government policy support to ease the visa process as well as air and river connectivity to catch new export destinations across the globe.
“We will open registration soon to take part in the two-day business summit in Uzbekistan. We expect a delegation will go there, and hold B2B meetings with at least 200 businesses there. We hope the summit will be fruitful in terms of our export diversification,” he also said.
Speaking at the event, Consul of Uzbekistan in Bangladesh Md Taher Shah said many businesses of Uzbekistan are very interested in enhancing trade and business with Bangladesh.
He also added that the initiative of the summit is very good as it will strengthen the relationship between Bangladesh and Uzbekistan which would help to boost trade and economic activities.
