Several countries discuss strengthening bilateral ties

02 Apr '22

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

India and UAE have signed the CEPA, to be operationalised on May 1, 2022, to strengthen bilateral ties, while Canada and UK have launched talks for a new free trade agreement (FTA). Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida visited Cambodia recently to strengthen bilateral relations and Turkiye and Uzbekistan are looking to increase trade to $5 billion within a year. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also stressing on the early conclusion of preferential trade agreement (PTA).

India-UAE CEPA is expected to facilitate $100 billion trade between the two countries and may also make it possible to achieve trade worth $250 billion in goods and services by 2030, Indian minister for textiles Piyush Goyal recently said.

UK international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan recently met Canadian minister for international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development Mary Ng in Ottawa to strengthen the trade relationship worth over £19 billion in 2020. The United Kingdom is Canada’s third largest trading partner.

The recent visit to Cambodia by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has strengthened bilateral relations. Terming it ‘significant’, chairman of Phnom Penh-based think tank Asian Vision Institute (AVI) Sok Siphana said the visit was meaningful in the context of Cambodia hosting the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Both sides released a joint statement ensuring the full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Additionally, Turkiye and Uzbekistan want to raise their bilateral trade to $5 billion within a year, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who recently met his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent. "I believe that, through the preferential trade agreement we have signed today, we will reach our targets in a shorter time," he said.

As for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the two countries are hoping that the PTA will significantly ‘widen’ bilateral trade. Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen and his Sri Lankan counterpart G L Peiris recently met on the sidelines of the 18^th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Ministerial Meeting in Colombo.

Bangladesh has also sought more investment from Saudi Arabia and has offered land to Saudi investors in the special economic zones. Officials from Oman and UK also recently visited Bangladesh and showed interest to invest more in the country.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)

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