‘Bangladesh needs negotiation capacity to sign trade deals’

Bangladesh should build its negotiation capacity to sign Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)-type agreements with countries, including India and China, to increase trade facilities for the least developed country (LDC) graduation, said Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), on Thursday.

He underscored the need for a negotiation cell, like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) cell, in the commerce ministry to be equipped with adequate human-analytical-technical resources and capacities.

“Bangladesh can go for negotiations bilaterally or as a group – such as the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) – with a single country or a group of countries,” he said in his keynote at a discussion organised by the Development Journalist Forum of Bangladesh at the NEC conference room in the capital.

“India and China, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are possible regional countries and groups with most potential benefits, but they are also most challenging,” he said.

“The key strategy is to attract investment to build value chains and production networks to take advantage of preferential market access,” he further said.

The economist said the skill negotiation team could be a major force for LDC graduation by 2026.

He also said sustainable road, rail, and trade facilities should be improved to graduate to a developed country by 2041.

Speaking as a special guest, State Minister for Planning Prof Shamsul Alam said there would be two major achievements for Bangladesh – middle income status and LDC graduation.

The commerce ministry should form a special team for negotiating with countries to sign preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and free trade agreements (FTAs), which could play a role in getting trade facilities, the state minister said.

He said the commerce ministry should build a trade cadre and skilled manpower for signing trade agreements.

“We have already established technical training centres (TTCs) in every district for building skilled manpower. We will be rich if we develop our human resources and increase our exports,” Shamsul added.

He also said Bangladesh should follow the Vietnamese trade policy and learn from them to increase exports.

“There is no problem if we copy from Vietnam, especially in the trade sector,” he added.

The state minister underscored the need for constructing seaports to increase export-import trade.

Planning Minister MA Mannan described negotiation as the most important element for every economic achievement.

“The government is very positive about building skilled manpower for economic development,” he said, adding the government was working on developing the country’s social infrastructure and regional economic connectivity.

Among others, members of the Planning Commission Sharifa Khan and Mamun Al Rashid, Planning Secretary Pradip Ranjan Chakrabarty, and Additional Secretary of the Economic Relations Division Abdul Baki also spoke on the occasion.