bangladesh garment.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
The Bangladeshi foreign minister yesterday said that China has offered to sign a free trade agreement with the Bangladesh government in order to fill the widening trade gap of the two countries.
In a move, which local traders described as a "big development," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the proposal during a meeting with his Dhaka counterpart Abdul Hassan Mahmood Ali.
Ali said that "the Chinese government is well aware of the existing trade gap and they have assured us they want to minimize it." The Bangladesh government has not decided whether to sign the agreement or not.
Although Bangladesh is a signatory to several multi-lateral free trade agreements, it has yet to sign any bilateral FTA.
The Chinese minister made no comment at the end of his three-day visit to Bangladesh where he met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia.
For its part, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association received the FTA offer from China with positive response, adding that it is a huge development. The association represents the country's 4,500 textile factories.
After China, Bangladesh is the world's biggest garment trader.
According to the vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Shahidullah Azim, "(China's) domestic garment market is worth over $300 billion so one can imagine the kind of market access we have if Dhaka signs an FTA with Beijing."
During the financial year ending in June 2014, the two-way trade between Beijing and Dhaka reached a staggering $8.3 billion in profits.
