No EU-Bangladesh FTA in foreseeable future Says the head of EU delegation

[Black_cats]

Published on 03:56 PM, October 27, 2022

No EU-Bangladesh FTA in foreseeable future Says the head of EU delegation​

Star Business Report

There is no possibility of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Bangladesh in the foreseeable future because of the complexity related to the issue as well as bloc's lack of interest, said Charles Whiteley, head of the delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, today.

This is not going to happen because of the degree of complexity, and the trade relations between the two sides are not yet at the stage where "we would be genuinely interested on the EU side to negotiate an FTA", he said.

The ambassador was speaking at an event titled "Strengthening Bangladesh-EU Trade and Economic Cooperation: Issues and Policy Priorities" at the Sheraton hotel in Dhaka.

The Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) and private German non-profit organisation FES Bangladesh jointly organised the event.

Bangladesh will have to sign trade deals with trading partners to ensure preferential market access following its graduation to a developing nation in 2026.

No EU-Bangladesh FTA in foreseeable future

There is no possibility of signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with Bangladesh in the foreseeable future because of the complexity related to the issue as well as bloc's lack of interest, said Charles Whiteley, head of the delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, today.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[mb444]

Shame.... EU did sign one with Vietnam.

Given BD has managed to sign only one FTA with bhutan to date and have not bothered to actually sit down with any other nation is it any wonder?

Really poor showing.... EU is the one we need the most after USA.

Buy the EFT and order some more things from leonardo and make opening FTA talks a condition and it can be made to happen.

Start the talks with GB too.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Shame.... EU did sign one with Vietnam.

Given BD has managed to sign only one FTA with bhutan to date and have not bothered to actually sit down with any other nation is it any wonder?

Really poor showing.... EU is the one we need the most after USA.

Buy the EFT and order some more things from leonardo and make opening FTA talks a condition and it can be made to happen.

Start the talks with GB too.

Vietnam deal was mainly pushed by France.

France can sell its food and wine and EU can use Vietnam as an alternative source for mid tier goods.

EU really has nothing to gain from a deal with BD.

 

[mb444]

Vietnam deal was mainly pushed by France.

France can sell its food and wine and EU can use Vietnam as an alternative source for mid tier goods.

EU really has nothing to gain from a deal with BD.

The point is we need them. We need to sweeten the deal.

BD can potentially do everything that Vietnam can. It would been easier if UK was still part of EU but alas....

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

The point is we need them. We need to sweeten the deal.

BD can potentially do everything that Vietnam can. It would been easier if UK was still part of EU but alas....

Bangladesh will never be a big market for European food and fashion.

France will probably export a billion dollar worth of wine and cheese to Vietnam.

Italy will sell its high end fashion.

Betting and gambling will also be peddled.

We cannot allow EU any of that..,

 

[mb444]

Bangladesh will never be a big market for European food and fashion.

France will probably export a billion dollar worth of wine and cheese to Vietnam.

Italy will sell its high end fashion.

Betting and gambling will also be peddled.

We cannot allow EU any of that..,

BD is on course to becoming top 10 consumer market ofcourse EU would want to be part of that.

We also need to buy more from them where feasible. There are avenues where we can and should switch our imports away from China and India.

Your views of what products EU countries offer is frankly myopic, the overall export basket is massive from goods to services.

Betting in BD should absolutely be made legal and taxed. It exists at every level now. It is no different from alcohol which is allowed and is manufactured in govt owned factories.

Imported alcohol is allowed but for the consumption of "foreigners". Again stupid, allow free imports and tax it.

Free trade with EU can absolutely be achieved, we require a plan and proper execution.

 

[VikingRaider]

.

Betting in BD should absolutely be made legal and taxed. It exists at every level now. It is no different from alcohol which is allowed and is manufactured in govt owned factories.

Awami Mullah league will legalize only something that benefits them.

Not only betting is illegal , but paypal is also banned in this digital land ( soon to be smart land as they claim) !

Even google gift card doesn't work in Bangladesh nowadays!

So in order to pay with international currency , digital people needs dual currency card and passport now and have to endorse dollar, limit is 12000 usd annually!

So by making such payment harder, we are becoming smart Bangladesh from digital Bangladesh!

In digital Bangladesh now smartphone price increased by 30% , because our digital govt now not giving tax benefits to companies who assemble smartphone in Bangladesh.

But the companies established manufacturing plant in Bangladesh just because of some tax exemption!

So I don't think it's a good business policy as well!

 

[Turingsage]

I am sorry to disappoint Bangladeshi's here but what he said is UNTRUE.

Countries have been discussing FTA's with EU intensely for decades and are not even at half way stage. It is almost impossible for all the 27 countries to agree on FTA's

EU always says and sounds positive with ALL countries about a FTA that never never materialises.

 

[mb444]

.

Awami Mullah league will legalize only something that benefits them.

Not only betting is illegal , but paypal is also banned in this digital land ( soon to be smart land as they claim) !

Even google gift card doesn't work in Bangladesh nowadays!

So in order to pay with international currency , digital people needs dual currency card and passport now and have to endorse dollar, limit is 12000 usd annually!

So by making such payment harder, we are becoming smart Bangladesh from digital Bangladesh!

In digital Bangladesh now smartphone price increased by 30% , because our digital govt now not giving tax benefits to companies who assemble smartphone in Bangladesh.

But the companies established manufacturing plant in Bangladesh just because of some tax exemption!

So I don't think it's a good business policy as well!

BDs economic policy formulation process is opaque and inconsistent and often exists to protect monopolies for no good reason and worse still to stifle dissent under bogus national security excuse.

I get in some areas BD needs to protect itself such as financial market because our internal market is immature and potential customer base too small and/or uneducated.

But when it comes to alcohol, mobile phones, paypals etc, current policy paralysis or inability to align with the world is a very costly when you consider opportunity cost.

BDs systemic operations must be fluid, its policies need to be pro-growth and predictable for it to be able to strike FTA with leading countries on an equal footing.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

BD is on course to becoming top 10 consumer market ofcourse EU would want to be part of that.

We also need to buy more from them where feasible. There are avenues where we can and should switch our imports away from China and India.

Your views of what products EU countries offer is frankly myopic, the overall export basket is massive from goods to services.

Betting in BD should absolutely be made legal and taxed. It exists at every level now. It is no different from alcohol which is allowed and is manufactured in govt owned factories.

Imported alcohol is allowed but for the consumption of "foreigners". Again stupid, allow free imports and tax it.

Free trade with EU can absolutely be achieved, we require a plan and proper execution.

EU’s export market is very niche and high end.

BD economy is not ready for that level of consumption.

Even the few cars we buy is from Japan and second hand.

Btw, betting should never be legal in BD. You are frankly mad to suggest it!

 

[VikingRaider]

Even the few cars we buy is from Japan and second hand

The reason is insane tax! Who else in this earth have maximum 800% import duty on cars other than our digital Bangladesh?

People buy second hand car because of certain amount of tax exemption!

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

The reason is insane tax! Who in this earth have maximum 800% import duty on cars other than our digital Bangladesh?

People buy second hand car because of certain amount of tax exemption!

High taxes on cars is a very good thing.

 

[VikingRaider]

High taxes on cars is a very good thing.

Yes 836% on a 4000 cc reconditioned car is very good things no doubt. While BAL MPs can get multiple duty free cars.


For the rest of people I propose "gorur gari" again. It's very much energy efficient and environment friendly . So It will be the big jump to make smart Bangladesh from digital Bangladesh!

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Yes 836% on a 4000 cc reconditioned car is very good things no doubt. While BAL MPs can get multiple duty free cars.


For the rest of people I propose "gorur gari" again. It's very much energy efficient and environment friendly . So It will be the big jump to make smart Bangladesh from digital Bangladesh!

MP’s should not get that privilege.

But it’s been in place since Major’s Zia’s time.

That’s how he bought off the politicians into his military rule.

Until the military itself killed him

Removing the taxes on cars would be suicidal. It would flood Bangladesh with cheap Chinese and Indian vehicles.

 

[VikingRaider]

Removing the taxes on cars would be suicidal. It would flood Bangladesh with cheap Chinese and Indian vehicles.

@BananaRepublicUK ,this extremely high export duty was imposed by Saifur Rahman ,in last BNP Jamat regime!

He actually wanted Indian low quality cars get benefitted in Bangladesh, that's why such huge duty burden on cars over 1500cc !!

They also wanted to sell gas to India, and Hasina protested it furiously!

Hasina always say that he didn't return into power in 2001 because she denied exporting gas to India ; as India wanted gas when Hasina was in power in 1996-2001!

It looks your wise economist buddy @UKBengali the great didn't provide the information to you. Rather he is trying to appease India nowadays , as he perhaps got the idea that only India can keep Hasina in power! What a genius!

Economists don't even read news I'm convinced now!