The central banks of Bangladesh and Russia will provide a platform to discuss topical issues on financial and banking cooperation between the two countries.
The recently held meeting of Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation of the two countries agreed to assign the task to their central banks.
They also agreed to further explore the possibility of expanding inter-bank cooperation and correspondent relations as well as using direct correspondent accounts.
The three-day bilateral meeting took place in Moscow of Russia on October 22-24, where a 14-member Bangladesh delegation led by Economic Relations Division (ERD) Senior Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam took part.
Currently, both the countries lack direct trade arrangement and connectivity, which affects bilateral trade, business and investment between them.
The countries also agreed to boost bilateral trade turnover within the next few years.
For increasing bilateral trade they agreed to take necessary steps, like - streamlining export-import transactions, improving connectivity, boosting regulatory cooperation, increasing institutional linkage, and setting up necessary infrastructure like warehouse and distribution network at both ends.
Responding to Dhaka's request to allow duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access of Bangladeshi major export products, including garment items, in the region, Moscow suggested Dhaka to send an official request to Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) mentioning the items.
Currently, some less-exportable Bangladeshi items enjoy the facility in the Russian market.
A decision from EEC council is required for amending the existing DFQF list, Moscow pointed out.
During the meeting both the parties agreed to start negotiation by this month to finalise the roadmap of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) lifecycle services contract and the draft contract for nuclear fuel supply.
They also agreed to support the implementation of 'tentative time-bound action plan', agreed in August between Russian state-owned Gazprom and Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex). The plan includes projects like 2D (two dimensional) or 3D seismic survey, and well drilling etc.
Both the states also agreed to support the intention of Gazprom Group and Bapex to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on joint venture roadmap for evaluating Bhola island fields.
The countries also discussed increasing bilateral cooperation in sectors like agriculture, fisheries and livestock, and information and communication technology (ICT) etc.
The Bangladesh delegation that took part in the meeting includes representatives from commerce, ICT, and science and technology ministries, ERD, and Bangladesh Bank (BB). Managing Director of RMM Group Aniruddha Kumar Roy and director of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Habib Ullah Dawn took part from private sector.
During the meeting both the sides also agreed to hold the second session of the commission in Dhaka in 2019.
The date and agenda of the session will be fixed through diplomatic channel.
According to BB statistics, the current bilateral trade is in favour of Russia. Bangladesh imported goods worth around US$ 628.62 million from Russia against its export of $485.22 million in last fiscal year (FY), 2017-18.
