The two-day Nepal-Bangladesh Commerce Secretary level talks ended on Monday, with Bangladesh agreeing to provide unilateral duty-free access for 100 Nepali agriculture products to its market. The agreement was signed by Nepali Commerce Secretary Lila Mani Joshi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Ghulam Hossain.
Nepal had previously sought such facility for 246 Nepali products, including lentils, tomato, spinach and herbs, among others. According to officials involved in the meeting, the Bangladeshi delegates approved Nepal’s request for the duty-free access for local vegetables and fruit products to the Bangladeshi market. “However, it has not been finalised as to which products from the list will get the facility,” said Joshi.
He said that the meeting had decided to form a bi-lateral technical committee to take a final decision on providing duty-free access to Bangladeshi market. “The committee formed on Sunday, will submit its report by December this year,” he added. “Following the submission of the report, a decision will be taken as to when the new provision will combe into effect.” The technical committee will be led by joint secretaries of the two countries.
The Bangladeshi side, however, had only asked for trade expansion and tariff cut to five percent for Bangladeshi agri-products. According to the Nepali delegates, the Bangladeshi side especially sought tariff cuts on the products, including jute and fish. They had previously been seeking similar zero tariff facility for its products including cement and pharmaceutical products, among others. “The Bangladeshi government after knowing that we cannot provide its product a zero tariff facility due to Nepal India Commerce Treaty, it did not press us to fulfill its demand,” said Joshi.
The two-day meeting was especially focused on issues like trade facilitation, establishment of direct transport service and zero tariff market access.
Earlier on Sunday, the Bangladeshi side had notified the Nepali delegates of Bangladeshi government’s decision to provide visa on arrival to Nepalis. “We are pleased to know that the Bangladeshi government has already fulfilled our demand in this respect even before the talks,” said Naindra Prasad Upadhyaya, joint secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS). Nepal and Bangladesh agreed to work towards making each others’ currencies readily convertible to ease visitors and businessmen. So far, Nepal has currency convertibility agreement only with India.
The Nepali officials informed that both sides had agreed to ask their central banks to work towards that direction. “As the issue was beyond the scope of the meeting, it was agreed that central banks of both countries will be asked to work towards that possibility,” said Secretary Joshi.
The meeting also reviewed the progress on the decision made in the last meeting. According to Joshi, the Nepali side also asked their counterparts to endorse the transport agreement signed in 2006. The agreement had envisaged connecting Nepal and Bangladesh directly through India. Joshi said that the Bangladeshi delegates had informed the Nepali side of the upgradation of the road connecting Bangladesh’s Singhabad and India. The Bangladeshi side also agreed to operate Kakarbhitta-Fulbari-Banglaband Customs by upgrading infrastructure. “Likewise, the discussion on building quarantine, cold storage and store house, among others in the border points of two countries also went positively,” said another member of the Nepali delegation. “This will help Nepali traders to export their goods.”
The next Commerce Secretary level talks will be held in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka in February 2013.
Posted on: 2012-07-31 08:30
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