Dhaka Bureau: Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said that Bangladesh will benefit if the Economic Partnership Agreement is signed between Bangladesh and Japan.
The proposed Economic Partnership Agreement between Bangladesh and Japan was organized in the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce today.
He said this in response to a question from reporters at a joint press conference on the occasion of the release of the report of the Joint Study Group aimed at implementing the EPA.
The Japanese Ambassador, Iwama Kiminori, spoke at the press conference.
The commerce secretary said that Japan is the world’s third-largest economy and is an important trading partner for Bangladesh. A trade potential area for the expansion of trade between both countries. Apart from products, there is a possibility of developing Bangladesh’s relations with Japan in the service and investment sectors.
In this context, he also said that we have been getting duty-free facilities for exporting products to Japan and will get them till the year 2026. Last year, Japan’s export growth was 45 percent, the highest in any developed country. He also mentioned that if the agreement is signed between the two countries, Japanese investment in Bangladesh will increase, as will infrastructural development in the country.
Tapan Kanti Ghosh said that the publication of this report does not mean the end. With a view to finalizing, the two countries announced to conduct a joint feasibility study and produced a report after three rounds of meetings, which was released today. He expressed hope that the economic partnership agreement between the two countries would be signed by December 2025 or January 2026.
In the speech given earlier, the commerce secretary said that Bangladesh’s transition from a less developed country to a developing country is a significant achievement of the current government’s economic progress. This achievement will create a positive image of Bangladesh in the world, create new opportunities in investment and trade, and create several challenges. One of which is the loss of tariff-free, quota-free access after 2026 when exporting goods to developed and developing countries as LDCs.
He said that in order to meet the possible challenges after Bangladesh’s LDC graduation, according to the 8th five-year plan of the government, the Ministry of Commerce has already taken the initiative to conclude regional trade agreements with various commercially important countries and trade blocs with the aim of preserving and expanding Bangladesh’s export market and getting duty-free access to various countries.
Tapan Kanti Ghosh said that during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan in April this year, the decision was taken to promote bilateral relations between the two countries as a strategic partnership. In this context, the MoU was signed as a step to increase trade, investment, and economic cooperation between the two countries. Later, another agreement was signed during the visit of the Japanese Minister of Commerce to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce and a delegation from Japan were present.
Note that both countries have identified 17 sectors as scope and coverage for the implementation of the proposed EPA. Finalize the report through the participation and involvement of government, private, academic, and business representatives. The full report is available on the Ministry of Commerce website (www.mincom.gov.bd).
