Dhaka and New Delhi have agreed to forge the comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) to boost trade ties between the two neighbouring countries.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and his Indian counterpart Suresh Prabhu took the decision at a bilateral meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday, reports bdnews24.
"This will be futuristic as well as realistic," Prabhu said in a joint briefing at the state guesthouse Padma.
India and Bangladesh have an existing trade agreement and both countries are also members of the Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area or SAFTA, under which India has granted duty free quota free access to Bangladesh as an LDC.
As Bangladesh graduates from the LDC status in the next few years, Prabhu said there would be a need to have a bilateral arrangement to enhance trade and commerce between the countries.
India is a major bilateral trade partner for Bangladesh after China in case of importing goods.
The bilateral trade reached nearly US$ 8.0 billion during fiscal year 2017-18, which is highly tilted towards India.
Bangladesh's export volume in this trade was only $ 873 million.
