The WTO global trade deal reached at the Bali summit last year, is intended to encourage all developed economies to open up their markets to duty and quota free access.
As we noted at the time, this goal requires a huge amount of negotiation and engagement by the government. For the most optimistic forecasts of the Bali deal to be fulfilled, much more work still needs to be done by all countries.
The World Trade Organisation director general , who is on a visit to Dhaka, is right to urge the government to increase engagement and negotiations to seek duty-free and quota-free market access in as many countries as possible.
Members of European Union, Australia and Canada are among leading economies currently offering duty-free market access for Bangladeshi products.
However, until the GSP issue is satisfactorily resolved with the United States, there is little likelihood that such access will be granted by the US which remains the country’s single biggest export destination.
We hope the government can confirm further progress on labour rights issues to help the scheduled talks on GSP, and that the US will show more openness to proposals to reduce discriminatory tariff rates on Bangladeshi RMG exports.
A breakthrough on GSP with the US is a key goal, but it is not the only one for Bangladesh.
Deals being discussed with countries such as Malaysia, Brazil and Chile are just as important for future growth. We must seek free trade agreements as widely as possible to maximise competitiveness.