EU-Bangladesh business council in the offing: Tofail
The EU-Bangladesh Business Council, a joint effort of European nations and Bangladesh, will soon be formed to boost bilateral trade through regular consultations on trade barriers, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday.
The council will sit for its first meeting in Dhaka in February next year, Ahmed said after meeting Pierre Mayaudon, the European Union's ambassador to Bangladesh, at the minister's office in the capital yesterday.
The 25-member council will include the chiefs of eight EU embassies in Bangladesh and other organisations of the bloc, and will discuss and find solutions to both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, Ahmed said.
The EU is the largest export destination for Bangladesh; the country exported products worth about $17.04 billion to the region in fiscal 2014-15, he added.
About 60 percent of Bangladesh's garment exports are destined to the EU every year, and total exports to the EU would have crossed the $20-billion mark last year had the euro not been devalued, he said.
Bangladesh, as a least developed country, has been enjoying a zero-duty benefit to the EU since 1971 under the EU's “everything but arms” scheme.
“We have a good relation with the EU. The signing of a deal with a French company for launching the Bangabandhu satellite indicates our friendly relationship with the EU,” Ahmed said.
Bangladesh's total export will cross the $60-billion mark by the end of 2021, when the nation will celebrate its fiftieth year of independence, the minister said.
“In the first council meeting, we will discuss the business climate in Bangladesh, and the EU has already formed its part of the council,” Mayaudon said. “The platform will help bring more EU investment to Bangladesh.”
Officials of the commerce ministry and the leaders of different chambers and trade bodies will represent Bangladesh in the council.
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