Preferential Trade Agreement among D-8 to be operational by October
Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) among the D-8 countries is going to be operational by October this year, which could significantly boost trade in the bloc.
Currently, the trade among the D-8 member countries is $129 billion, which was $14 billion 25 years back.
"We want to take the trade to $400 billion by 2030," said Ambassador Isiaka A Imam, secretary general of D-8 after the D-8 ministarial meeting at the Hotel InterContinental today.
Foreign Ministers from Bangladesh, Turkiye, and Iran and State and Deputy Ministers from other D-8 countries attended the meeting both in-person and digitally.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at a press briefing said minsters from Turkiye and Iran and State Minister from Pakistan joined virtually the meeting due to a new variant of Covid-19.
He said all the D-8 countries except for Egypt had earlier ratified the PTA but at the today's meeting Egypt also agreed to ratify it.
"We hope to significantly boost trade in the days to come," Momen said.
He said Bangladesh also continued to be the D-8 chair for the next one year that was originally supposed to go to Egypt.
Momen said Egypt will be busy with the COP-27 this year and so has proposed Bangladesh to be the chair for the next year.
The meeting also discussed food and energy security given the global crisis of the basic commodities.
"We shall exchange our technical know how on agricultural best practices and renewable energy," Momen said.
Asked if the meeting discussed buying fuel from Iran, Abdul Momen said Iran is keen to sell fuel but there are some obligations which is why Bangladesh cannot buy.
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