Bangladesh will soon ink bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) pacts with its important neighbors – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This decision was taken during a meeting of experts held at the Commerce Ministry on Monday, August 4, which was headed by the Commerce and Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman.   

The former foreign secretary Farooq Sobhan attending the meeting pointed out that the issues pertaining transportation and connectivity are bound to crop up while discussing the FTA plans with India. He said Dhaka should have its position clear on this.

For the moment, the trade data compiled domestically as well as by the World Bank was used in this meeting. But the Bangladeshi authorities have stated that they will also go for further studies, signaling the progress will be slow. 

A core group will be formed, which will decide the possible risks and gains associated with signing the FTA pact with the South Asian giants. This core, group, it was informed, will include representatives from both private and public sectors and will be led by Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute, M Ali Taslim as its CEO.