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Bangladesh has sought New Zealand’s active support for its membership of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a three-year extension of its LDC graduation preparatory period and the signing of a comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
The proposals were discussed at a high-level policy meeting held at the headquarters of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in Wellington as Bangladesh seeks to strengthen and diversify its trade and diplomatic relations with the Pacific nation, a press release read today.
The New Zealand delegation was led by Sarah Memmand, divisional manager of the Trade Negotiations and Policy Division, and Jonas Holland, unit manager.
The Bangladesh delegation was led by Commerce Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan and included officials from the Foreign Trade Agreements (FTA) Wing and Ishtiaq Ahmed, counsellor at the Bangladesh High Commission in Wellington.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Bangladesh delegation conveyed greetings from the government and the commerce minister to the New Zealand officials and praised Wellington’s active and constructive role in global trade and economic diplomacy.
The delegation also presented a concrete roadmap for transforming the existing commercial relationship between the two countries into a more effective and long-term partnership.
One of the key issues discussed was Bangladesh’s bid to join the RCEP, one of the world’s largest regional trade agreements.
Bangladesh said it had already submitted detailed responses to the questionnaire required for RCEP membership and was pursuing reforms to align relevant government institutions and regulatory frameworks with the agreement’s high-standard trade disciplines.
The reforms include initiatives to reduce tariffs on essential industrial raw materials and high-tech machinery, as well as plans to shift telecommunications, financial services and logistics from a ‘positive list’ to a ‘negative list’ approach to further liberalise these sectors.
Bangladesh is also working to modernise laws and policies relating to competition, patents, copyright and data protection.
Highlighting New Zealand’s role as a founding and influential member of RCEP, the Bangladesh delegation sought Wellington’s active policy support for its membership bid.
Bangladesh also proposed allowing 15 to 20 years of phased tariff flexibility for sensitive products and industries under RCEP, similar to arrangements available to LDC members of ASEAN.
The Bangladesh delegation also explained in detail why it needs additional time for its graduation from the UN’s Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
Bangladesh has sought an extension of its graduation preparatory period from the currently scheduled timeline to November 2029 and requested New Zealand’s support for its proposal at the upcoming UN General Assembly.
The delegation cited a number of global and domestic factors affecting Bangladesh’s economic transition, including the Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, higher energy prices in international markets and persistent global inflation.
It also highlighted Bangladesh’s ongoing socio-economic transformation following the historic 2024 student-led mass uprising, efforts to stabilise foreign exchange reserves, and the need for further administrative and institutional reforms.
Bangladesh stressed that it had no intention of delaying LDC graduation indefinitely. Rather, it wants to use the additional period to implement a sustainable and well-organised national preparation programme and build a stronger foundation for the post-graduation economy.
Against this backdrop, Dhaka sought New Zealand’s support for its position at the upcoming session of the UN General Assembly.
The proposed signing of a comprehensive bilateral FTA between Bangladesh and New Zealand was another major focus of the meeting.
The Bangladesh government informed the New Zealand side of its decision to formally initiate the FTA process, building on discussions between the commerce ministers of the two countries ahead of the World Trade Organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14).
A bilateral FTA could create new opportunities for New Zealand businesses to expand their presence in Bangladesh’s market of nearly 170 million consumers, particularly in dairy products, agricultural machinery and metal products.
For Bangladesh, the agreement could provide more stable and predictable access to the New Zealand market for ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, leather goods and information technology products after the country graduates from the LDC category.
The Bangladesh delegation said a balanced FTA based on mutual interests could elevate bilateral trade and economic relations to a new strategic level.
Towards the end of the meeting, Bangladesh put forward three specific proposals to make future trade cooperation more dynamic and institutionalised.
First, it proposed establishing an annual Bilateral Trade Policy Consultative Group to regularly review market access and commercial interests under RCEP and in the post-LDC graduation period.
Second, Bangladesh proposed forming a Joint Working Group between the two countries as the first step towards formal FTA negotiations.
Third, it proposed strengthening diplomatic coordination between the permanent missions of Bangladesh and New Zealand in New York to secure Wellington’s support for Dhaka’s request for additional time for LDC graduation during the upcoming UN General Assembly session.
The Bangladesh delegation expressed hope that implementation of the proposed initiatives would give Bangladesh-New Zealand relations a new dimension not only in trade but also in economic diplomacy, investment, market expansion and multilateral cooperation.
Both sides stressed the importance of maintaining regular communication and high-level policy dialogue on matters of mutual interest.
To this end, the Bangladesh delegation invited a New Zealand policy-level delegation to visit Bangladesh at an early date. The New Zealand authorities responded positively to the invitation.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/national/1f195534-9d16-6580-8d91-55f8a6ae3407