FBCCI wants free trade agreement with China

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) has urged the government to initiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with China to face new challenges after graduation from a least developed country (LDC) status.

The FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin made the urge while speaking at the China-Bangladesh Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum 2021 and the inauguration ceremony of the seventh council of the Chinese Enterprises Association in Bangladesh (CEAB), on a virtual platform on Tuesday (September 28).

He said, “An FTA with China, the largest partner of Bangladesh in international trade, will play a supportive role for Bangladesh in addressing new challenges once it graduates from being an LDC and will make it easier to minimise the trade deficit.”

Jashim Uddin said Bangladesh’s imports from China in fiscal year 2019-20 amounted to $11.49 billion, while the country exported goods worth only $0.6 billion to China.  A Dhaka-Beijing Free Trade Agreement is needed to lessen this huge trade deficit.

The FBCCI President said that with a free trade agreement, the confidence of Chinese entrepreneurs will increase for investment and trade in Bangladesh.

Md Jashim Uddin appreciated the government’s initiatives to improve the investment environment with tax holiday benefits, reduction of income tax for 5 to 10 years, tax-free export earnings, and the reduction of import duties on capital machinery and raw material imports.