Bangladesh and India have agreed to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to boost economic opportunities between the two neighbours.
"We have expressed our consensus on doing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership," Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told reporters at a joint briefing at state guesthouse Padma in Dhaka on Wednesday, reports UNB.
He said the duty-free benefits that Bangladesh gets from India will continue until 2027 as Bangladesh is on it course to become a developed country.
"We will do Comprehensive Economic Partnership deal so that we can take forward the growing economic relations with India after that."
Earlier, Bangladesh and India had a lengthy bilateral meeting, with Tofail and his Indian counterpart Suresh Prabhu leading their respective delegation.
Bangladesh asked India to withdraw the anti-dumping duty on its jute and jute-made products. India assured Bangladesh of working on withdrawing the duty.
India had slapped an anti-dumping duty ranging from $19 to $352 per ton on jute yarn/twine, hessian fabric and jute sacking bags brought from Bangladesh and Nepal after a year-long investigation.
Jute traders from the two countries will also hold meetings to discuss and identify problems and resolve them, Tofail said.
He said both the countries will open six more border haats, with one opening soon in Sherpur.
The two countries also discussed BSTI certification issues, with India agreeing to accept BSTI certification for six more products.
Bangladesh and India also discussed connectivity, energy cooperation and investment issues.
Dhaka invited more Indian investment in Bangladesh and offered special economic zones for the Indian investors.
