Bangladesh is set to ink a deal with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) this year to expand trade and commerce, including duty-free market access to Russia, and tap the potential of exports to East European markets, officials said.
Contacted, Additional Secretary of the commerce ministry Md Shafiqul Islam said, "We have sent an amended draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) to the EEC, but we are yet to receive any response from the commission."
He also expressed the hope that the MoU would be signed as early as possible.
A high-powered delegation of the EEC was due to visit Bangladesh on November 15-19 last year to sign a MoU between Bangladesh and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member-states, a high official of the commerce ministry has said.
"The commission had postponed its visit to Bangladesh until February last. It also had sent the draft MoU to Bangladesh with amendments several times by giving its opinions," he added.
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) comprises five northern Eurasian countries -- Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. These nations have common customs border and a single market of 183 million people and gross domestic product of over US $4.0 trillion.
A senior trade official told the FE that after finalising the MoU, it was sent for the fourth time to the EEC through the foreign ministry for their final look.
"We think that signing of the MoU with the EEC is crucial to expanding the market for Bangladeshi goods," said an official of the foreign ministry.
The goal of cooperation between the parties within the framework of this deal is to promote trade and bolster economic and comprehensive cooperation between EEU member-states and Bangladesh towards a higher volume of mutual trade and investments, elimination of barriers to trade and investment flows and closer collaboration in areas of mutual interests, according to the draft MoU.
The official said despite having immense potential of Bangladeshi goods in East European countries, the market access is still very limited.
Presently, Bangladeshi goods have to take a detour to enter these countries mainly through Germany and Turkey.
Signing the MoU will open the door for direct entry of goods, leading to an increase in export to those countries, he added.
"We are also interested to sign the agreement to create an environment for seeking duty-free market access to Russia for which we have been trying for over ten years," he said.
Trade officials said Russia, being a member of the EEU, is now not eligible for negotiating with Bangladesh bilaterally on duty-free market access since the country shares common border with other member nations in the group.
Bangladesh will have to negotiate with the EEC to get free market access for products to any of EEU member states. Signing of the MoU with the EEC may create a scope for getting duty-free access to the bloc, the officials think.
Bangladeshi goods have immense potential on the Russian market. Export of Bangladeshi products to Russia has increased fivefold during the last five years, amounting to US $314.292 million in the fiscal year 2015-2016.
Bangladesh mainly exports apparels, jute, frozen foods, tea, leather, home textiles and ceramic products.
Its imports include cereals, minerals, chemical products, plastic products, metal, machinery and mechanical equipment, a senior commerce ministry official said.
Statistics show that Bangladesh's export of goods to EEU member-states is on the rise with $321.91 million turnover in the last fiscal year from $302 million in FY 2014-15.
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