Bangladesh and Nepal today struck a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to eliminate the technical barrier to trade (TBT) to boost bilateral trade.
Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology inked the MoU at the end of two-day Commerce Secretary Level meeting at the secretariat.
Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon briefed the newsmen about the outcome of the third meeting, reports BSS.
He said another MoU was also signed between Bangladesh Trading Corporation and Public 
Trading Corporation of Nepal to pave the way of conducing direct purchasing of essential commodities in government-to-government level.
Mamoon informed that both the countries agreed to expand tourism from world longest sea beach Cox’s Bazar to highest peak Himalay to largest mangrove forest Sundarbans. “Private sectors of both the countries have to be incorporated with the process to boost tourism.”
Besides, Nepal has expressed its keenness to use Bangladeshi sea ports and rail communications for carrying its export-import activities, said the senior secretary.
He, however, said the modalities of cargo transportation between Bangladesh and Nepal would be finalized after the implementation of Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) connectivity.
Meanwhile, on June 15 last year, Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal has signed BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) to increase regional trade.
Senior secretary of Commerce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon led an 18-member Bangladeshi group in the meeting and his counterpart Naindra Prasad Upadhaya led a 9-member Nepalese delegation.
The first talks between the top officials of the two neighbors were held in 2010 while the second meeting was held in 2012 where both the countries expressed their keenness to provide duty-free market access for several items.
Apart from the export-import, Bangladeshi investment in hydropower in Nepal for mutual benefits was also discussed in the third talks.
The other issues included transit cargo transportation, rail connectivity, harmonization of sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) to eliminate technical barriers for trade, visa simplification for businessmen, on arrival visa for Nepalese citizens etc were also discussed.
In fiscal 2014-15, Bangladesh exported goods to Nepal worth $25.05 million while imported volume was $11.50 million.
