The National Assembly deliberated on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Bhutan and Bangladesh and supported all the 22 articles of the Convention. The trade agreement allows duty-free export of 16 additional products to already existing 18 products to Bangladesh. Likewise, 10 more products from Bangladesh will have duty free export to Bhutan in addition to the already 90 existing products. The agreement was signed between the two countries in December last year.
The Preferential Trade Agreement between Bhutan and the People’s Republic Of Bangladesh aims to explore all appropriate measures to promote, facilitate, expand and diversify bilateral trade and reduce or eliminate barriers to trade between the two countries.
“As of now, without the agreement, when the government and its leader changes, a verbal agreement is bound to change. And with this, there are risks of affecting our trade. Now with this concrete agreement between the two countries, it will help us promote, facilitate, expand and diversify bilateral trade,” said Loknath Sharma, the Economic Affairs Minister.
“With good relations between the two countries, whenever we export our goods and products to Bangladesh, they provide us with so many exemptions but when their goods are imported in our country, we charge them with certain taxes. So this agreement will benefit us in terms of our economic development and strengthen our friendship among others,” added Passang Dorji (PhD), Chairperson of the Human Rights and Foreign Relations Committee.
The agreement will be ratified on 7th June.
Sangay Chezom and Samten Dolkar
