The government is in favour of signing a preferential trade agreement with Indian Ocean rim countries as such a deal may bring positive outcome for Bangladesh in future, commerce ministry officials said.
Quoting a study report on possibility of forming PTA among the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim-Association for Regional Cooperation conducted by the Bangladesh Tariff Commission, they said that implementation of the PTA would benefit the member states in economically by removing trade barriers.
The agreement which is now under discussion may also bring positive results for Bangladesh in medium and long term through expanding trade and investment and ensuring preferential market access within the region, they said.
‘Now Bangladesh and Mauritius will conduct a joint study to find out the feasibility on forming the PTA among the 20 member countries and will place at IOR-ARC meeting to be held in India by the end of 2013,’ a senior commerce ministry official told New Age recently.
Bangladesh gets duty-free facility from some countries of IOR-ARC like Australia, Singapore, India, but such PTA may facilitate market access to other countries like South Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia, he said.
The IOR-ARC has 20 members — Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The organisation established in 1995 has also six dialogue partners, namely China, Egypt, France, Japan, and Britain, and the United States.
Commerce ministry officials said the Tariff Commission recommended for signing the proposed PTA if Bangladesh’s main exportable products like readymade garment, pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods, footwear, jute, frozen foods and agricultural products were provided with preferential market access.
Based on the study, the BTC suggested that Bangladesh may also request IOR-ARC to encourage investors from member countries to invest in Bangladesh in the potential areas such as garments, power generation, tourism, pharmaceuticals, electronics and fisheries sectors under the proposed PTA.
In its report, the BTC said that IOR-ARC might play an important role promoting the sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and of the member states.
IOR-ARC region has immense investment and business prospects in various sectors such as agricultural and food products, construction, energy and mining, fisheries and tourism.
The IOR-ARC may also utilise those sub-regions adjacent to the region like Southern and Eastern Africa, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia including a number of regional organisations like the Association for South East Asian Nations, Gulf Cooperation Council, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the South African Development Economic Community in business expansion through the PTA, the study said.
The Indian Ocean is the world’s third largest ocean. It carries half of the world’s container ships, one third of the bulk cargo traffic, two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, the report said. It is a lifeline of international trade and economy, the report added.
Bangladesh has considerable export potential for RGM, leather, fish and other products, and human resources to member countries while Bangladesh
may improve its tourism sectors through the PTA, the report said.