Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh has said that the signing of Bangladesh’s Preferential Trade Agreement or PTA with Nepal is in the final stage. He said that if all goes well, Bangladesh and Nepal will be included in the list of developing countries by transitioning out of the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in 2026. In this context, the issue of signing the PTA to increase bilateral trade and investment is now in the final stages. With the approval of the Government of Nepal, it will be officially signed soon.
This was stated by Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh on Tuesday (14 December) in a discussion titled ‘Trade and Investment Prospects between Bangladesh and Nepal’. The DCCI organized the discussion at the Dhaka Chamber auditorium in Motijheel in honour of a visiting delegation made up of 13 members led by Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, president of The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI).
Rizwan Rahman, president of the Dhaka Chamber, said the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Nepal was worth USD 7 crore and 34 lacs in the last fiscal year. Of this, Bangladesh’s imports and exports amounted to 48 lacs and 6 crore 86 lacs, respectively. Bangladesh’s readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, agricultural processing, jute products, light engineering and other sectors have huge potential for investment by foreign entrepreneurs.
CNI President Vishnu Kumur Agarwal says Nepal is moving from service sector dependence to a manufacturing sector-dependent economy. He called on Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal in various sectors including agriculture, education, health, power and energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and information technology.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between Dhaka Chamber and CNI on the occasion. DCCI President Rizwan Rahman and CNI President Vishnu Kumar Agarwal signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.
Vice President N K A Mobin, Monwar Hossain, and others were present in the meeting.
