The European Union (EU) is going to form a European Union Business Council (EUBC) in Bangladesh, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said Tuesday.
The EU expressed its interest to import medicine, ship and ICT along with readymade garment items from Bangladesh, he told reporters after exchanging views with Pierre Mayaudon, the newly- appointed ambassador of the EU at the ministry.
An EU business council would be formed comprising the Ambassadors of the EU countries in Bangladesh and leaders of trade bodies concerned aiming to increase import of Bangladeshi goods and strengthen co-operation between the EU and Bangladesh which would help boost trade volume and wipeout the barriers towards expansion of trade, the commerce minister said.
Tofail said that EU is a trusted friend of Bangladsh and over 50 per cent of our export items go to the EU countries while the rest of the goods are exported across the globe. Presently, total export volume of our country is now worth US$ 30.19 billion and the export volume will increase to EU markets in future, he added
The EU is interested to strengthen cooperation with Bangladesh in the fields of economic, trade and many other areas. At present, the EU is providing duty and quote free access of Bangladeshi goods to their markets according to the world trade organisation (WTO) decision. Besides this, the EU is interested to exchange their experiences in many fields, he said.
“Bangladesh is advancing in a planned way to become a middle income country by 2021. Then as a middle income country, Bangladesh will get GSP plus facility from the developed countries,” he added.
“We discussed about trade related issues between EU and Bangladesh such as duty and quota- free access and sustainability compact issue. Bangladesh’s export to EU has increased dramatically and the EU is a single and number one trading partner of Bangladesh, Pierre Mayaudon said.
“EU wants to form an EU business council in Bangladesh to increase its co-operation and private sectors investment in the country. This could be a fantastic opportunity for the country,” he said.
Additional Secretaries of the ministry of commerce ATM Murtaza Reza Chowdhury, Amitava Chakraborty, Shawkat Ali Warsi and Monoj Kumar Roy, among others, were present in the views exchange meeting.
-FE
