Bangladesh wants to discuss CEPA issue

In the Bangladesh-India commerce secretary-level meeting, Bangladesh wants to discuss the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) first as well as annual essential food quota, Commerce Ministry sources said.

The meeting of Bangladesh-India commerce secretary-level meeting and Joint Working Group on Trade expected to be held in between 15 March- and 15 April in Dhaka.

Bangladesh-India holds different types of meeting to discuss issues related to trade expansion, investment cooperation and removal of trade barriers. Among those, meetings ofcommerce secretary-level and Joint Working Group on Trade are particularly important.

The last Bangladesh-India commerce secretary-level meeting was held on March 4, 2022, in New Delhi. Before the event, the 14th meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade was held at the same venue on March 2 and 3. In continuation of this, the two meetings will be held in Dhaka this year.

Commerce Ministry sources said in the next commerce secretary-level meeting, the continuation of access to the duty-free market after Bangladesh’s LDC graduation, lifting of anti-dumping duty on jute products, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and trade facilities will be discussed.

Besides, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the annual food quota for Bangladesh may be raised in the meeting. However, the issue of the annual food quota will not be discussed in the meeting of the joint working group unless India wants it.

Last December, the commerce ministers of the two countries agreed to start negotiations on the CEPA in New Delhi.

Senior Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh said, “We wanted the first discussion about CEPA to be held in Dhaka. The Indian side, however, wanted to do it in New Delhi.”

He added that long negotiations are needed to make such an agreement, because it has a direct impact on the domestic market.

After the Bangladesh-India commerce minister-level meeting held in New Delhi in December last, Tipu Munshi said Bangladesh wanted to sign the CEPA before 2026 to increase trade investment with India. In this context, Bangladesh sent a letter to Delhi to start negotiations on the implementation of the agreement.

Economists of Bangladesh said if the proposed CEPA is signed between India and Bangladesh, the trade volume of the two countries will increase several times. The agreement aims to create a favourable environment for increasing trade, investment and industrialisation.

In the case of boosting bilateral trade, the issue of imports and exports will come up, they said, adding that in this case, port and road infrastructure must be developed to facilitate businesses.

An official of the commerce ministry said a framework will be developed first when the talks on CEPA begin. Issues like products, services and investment will be included in the framework.

According to the ministry sources, the CEPA is considered an improved version of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

India has already signed the agreement (CEPA) with several trade partners, including South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Apart from this, the Bangladesh government wants to sign Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) or FTA with India, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Singapore before 2026, they said.

Bangladesh and India first discussed the possibility of signing the CEPA at the commerce secretary-level meeting in 2018 to enhance bilateral trade and strengthen overall cooperation.

That same year, the commerce ministers of both countries agreed to conduct a joint feasibility study on signing the CEPA.

According to the import and export analysis, Bangladesh is mostly dependent on Indian products in terms of trade.

In the fiscal year 2021-22, Bangladesh exported goods worth about $200 crore to India, while imported goods worth $1,619 crore from the country, with the trade deficit standing at $1,419 crore.