Bangladesh and the United Kingdom reached a consensus to reactivate the bilateral Trade and Investment Dialogue, aiming to further consolidate economic ties and explore new avenues for strategic cooperation.
Both sides agreed during a meeting on Wednesday between commerce minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir and UK trade envoy to Bangladesh Baroness Rosy Winterton at the Secretariat, said a press release.
During the meeting, both sides emphasised the need to boost trade relations, enhance investment flows, and deepen collaboration for long-term economic growth.
The minister said that the government had undertaken a series of reforms to improve the investment climate, reduce logistics costs and facilitate business operations.
He said that increasing investment was essential to utilise the country’s growing workforce and that the government was prioritising this area.
‘Bangladesh is working on free trade agreements and economic partnership agreements with various countries,’ he added, expressing interest in strengthening trade and investment dialogue with the UK.
He urged the UK to continue to provide preferential market access for Bangladeshi products under its Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
Winterton praised Bangladesh’s ongoing economic reforms, investor-friendly policies and initiatives aimed at achieving long-term growth.
She also highlighted opportunities to better utilise existing market access for Bangladeshi products, particularly in sectors such as readymade garments, processed food, seafood, light engineering and leather goods.
The UK counterpart also encouraged Bangladesh to make use of around £2 billion worth of export credit facilities available under UK Export Finance, which could support investment in infrastructure and other sectors.
Both sides agreed to reactivate the Bangladesh-UK Trade and Investment Dialogue and expressed optimism about closer future cooperation.
British high commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke, commerce secretary Mahbubur Rahman and additional secretary (export) Abdur Rahim Khan were also present at the meeting.
