Commerce Adviser Sk. Bashir Uddin has said that the interim government has been utilizing its full capacity alongside taking all necessary measures so that there is no lacking in trade initiatives considering the country's smooth LDC graduation.
"I can say that through utilizing our full capacity, we're taking all necessary measures so that there is no lacking in trade initiatives and capacity including in our Smooth Transition Strategy (STS). We're working keeping ahead all related aspects on the whole," he said.
The Commerce Adviser said this in an interview with the national news agency BSS on the overall aspects of the country's move towards signing different trade deals like Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with various countries amid Bangladesh's LDC graduation in 2026.
He said the Ministry of Commerce's FTA Wing, WTO Wing and Export Wing have been working relentlessly in a concerted way. "I'm also discussing with the concerned stakeholders, economists and think tanks to understand these matters, visited Korea and Japan and also had meetings with their trade advisers," he added.
The Commerce Adviser said negotiations on deals like FTA and PTA are not much easy as bilateral interests are associated with these.
Bashir, however, said that they are making the necessary preparations which were supposed to be taken over the last five years, but that time was utterly wasted and the economy was forced to fall into a crisis.
Mentioning that the current interim government has been working tirelessly to this end through holding meetings with various stakeholders, he said, "If we make trade liberalization, then we have to consider local investments in a sensitive way as well as not to do anything without considering the consequences."
The Commerce Adviser said that after the country's LDC graduation in November, 2026, Bangladesh is poised to lose its preferential trade benefits as an LDC country. �"BSS
