Bangladesh and the European Union will sit in the seventh Joint Commission meeting in Dhaka on November 11-12 to review their current relations and find ways to expand trade ties.
The meeting will focus on improving trade relations between Bangladesh and the EU nations, identifying trade barriers and steps needed to remove the barriers, said a senior official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD).
A letter signed by ERD official Murtoza Julkarnine Noman has been sent to Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed requesting a report on progress of the decisions taken at the last JC meeting held in December 2012 before the next meet.
The letter also sought progress report on the decisions made at the development co-operation meeting held in February and on implementation of EU development projects in Bangladesh.
Besides, an inter-ministerial meeting will be held on 30th this month with ERD Joint Chief at the Planning Commission office.
The EU is one of the biggest trading partners of Bangladesh, accounting for nearly 58% of the country’s garment exports, according to the commerce ministry.
The trade balance between the 28-nation bloc and Bangladesh has been in favour of the latter.
In fiscal year 2013-14, Bangladesh exported goods and products worth $16.4bn to the EU against imports of $2.38bn. The EU is also the top investor in the country.