Dhaka Requests Kathmandu to Conclude Negotiations on PTA

Bangladesh has requested Nepal to end the discussion signing of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) as soon as possible, officials said.

In this regard, the Commerce Secretary of Bangladesh sent a letter to his Nepalese counterpart requesting his support to conclude the signing of the Bangladesh-Nepal PTA as soon as possible via a virtual meeting.

In the letter, commerce secretary Md Jafar Uddin said the commerce ministry of Bangladesh has been working relentlessly to conclude discussions on signing of bilateral PTA with Nepal as early as possible.

The Nepali side has also been working at the same pace to sign the trade deal with Bangladesh.

He expects that the Trade Negotiation Committee (TNC) of both countries to finalize the document of the PTA, the rules of origin, and the list of goods within the shortest period practicable by way of a simulated conference.

At the commerce secretary-level meeting held in Dhaka in early March, the two sides agreed to sign the PTA by June of last year, officials said.

The decision to sign the PTA with the Himalayan nation had been postponed owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, they said.

Nepal submitted its list of 34 goods, while Bangladesh also submitted its list of over 74/90 tariff choice items. But both countries want to start signing the PTA by 20/30 goods, said the additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce.

"We hope that Nepal will inform us after completion of required discussion with its stakeholders soon," he said.

In this regard, the Trade Ministry has already asked the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) to draw up a list of priority goods for the signing of the PTA with Nepal.

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce has agreed to complete the necessary phase of signing the agreement via a virtual platform.

"A Bangladesh-Nepal PTA would open up new vista in exploring potentials in various sectors of trade and investment," the letter said.

"Bangladeshi export will increase significantly after signing preferential trade deal. We need to sign several PTAs and FTAs before graduation to take advantage of least-developed country category," a trade official said.

Experts said the signing of PTAs and FTAs will help to resolve the problems of Bangladesh 's graduation to the next level.

Most recently, Bangladesh and Bhutan have agreed to sign PTA by day-long videoconferencing by 30 August 2020.

Bangladesh exported goods worth over US$38 million to Nepal in the fiscal year 2018-19.