The Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) will be beneficial to Bangladesh as it will reduce tariffs and both Bangladesh and the UK will have to be well engaged to make that happen, British Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston has said.
After holding a meeting with the prime minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman in Dhaka on Wednesday, Huddleston told reporters that they are interested in working with Bangladesh to achieve an enhanced trade and investment relationship.
“This is just a part of the overall relationship with Bangladesh. There is so much trade potential and enthusiasm for businesses in the UK and Bangladesh to trade with each other.
“I am very confident that we can have a positive future. Bangladesh has achieved some incredible things, incredible growth over the last few years. We really want to partner with Bangladesh in the future success as well,” said Huddleston, who is now in Dhaka on his first official visit to Bangladesh.
The UK's world-leading DCTS came into force last month, making it easier for Bangladesh and other developing countries to trade with the UK.
Bangladeshi exporters now benefit from simpler and more generous Rules of Origin, which means that they will be able to produce goods using components from many more countries and still export these with zero tariffs to the UK.
Huddleston said that the trading scheme is one of the most generous schemes as the UK wants to make it easier and simpler. “We want to make sure that it benefits Bangladesh businesses because what will happen if the tariffs are lower it will be cheaper to sell those goods overseas. So, the goods will be more competitive.”
“This will also benefit British consumers as it will give them more choices at lower prices. This is a benefit for Bangladesh and UK consumers. It will be a real win-win,” he said.
This is not only for the big businesses but will benefit the small and medium trades because of exporting, the minister added.
Asked what was discussed in the meeting, Salman told reporters that Bangladesh has been waiting to know what will happen to bilateral trade since the UK left the European Union. Bangladesh used to trade with the UK under the EU's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).
“Especially, we were worried about our garment product exports to the UK. Now they have floated the DCTS and our Commerce Ministry is studying that to learn more about the benefits,” he said.
“The total trade in goods and services between the UK and Bangladesh was more than £4.5 billion at the end of 2022 and they said that they want to increase it further.
“We talked about investments. In the UK, there are some companies that want to invest. We talked about the upcoming Commonwealth conference as well,” Salman added.
He also said that the UK minister talked about purchasing Airbus aircraft for Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Huddleston also talked about Rohingya repatriation and said that Rohingyas should not become a forgotten issue. The UK will continue to put pressure on Myanmar to solve the Rohingya crisis, Salman said.
