Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have agreed to conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon to give trade and investment a boost.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed the issue at the bilateral meeting on Saturday.
The Sri Lankan Prime Minister made a two-day visit to attend the celebrations of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of independence of Bangladesh.
During the meeting, according to the joint communiqué, both leaders referred to the MoU on economic partnership signed between the two countries in moving towards a bilateral FTA.
They reiterated their commitment for an early conclusion of FTA for harnessing the available synergies of bilateral trade which is far below the potential and not commensurate with the political relations.
“To this effect, the two leaders agreed to immediately complete the joint feasibility study on FTA. Meanwhile, as the first step towards FTA they agreed to work for a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) beginning with a short list of products which could open up opportunities for an expanded trade, investments and tourism in future. Both sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the JWG on Trade at an early date”.
Both sides also agreed to undertake measures for trade facilitation including identification and removal of non-tariff barriers and simplification and harmonization of mutually recognised standards.
Both sides also agreed to diversify the basket of tradable goods and look for innovative ways to add fresh impetus to trade and commercial relations. In this context, both sides underscored the need to reduce further the number of items under SAFTA from each other’s negative lists.
In this context, emphasis was given on implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) and the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) on Technical Cooperation at an early date.
Noting the potential of mutually beneficial collaboration in the Pharmaceutical sector, both Prime Ministers agreed to procure quality pharmaceutical products in greater quantities from Bangladesh and to facilitate, simplify and expedite the registration process for Bangladeshi pharmaceutical products, according to the joint communiqué.
The Prime Minister left Dhaka for Colombo on Saturday afternoon.
