Bangladesh and Thailand have agreed to seriously explore the prospects of an FTA (free trade agreement) to further enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries.
Bangladesh also apprised the Thai side that a qualitative feasibility study is being undertaken by the Ministry of Commerce in this regard.
Bangladesh and Thailand agreed to hold the Joint Trade Committee (JTC) in Dhaka this year at a mutually convenient time to review the whole range of bilateral trade and investment portfolio and increase the volume and diversity of trade to its true potential.
Bangladesh requested the Thai side to ease the trade regime of Thailand in the form of removal of non-tariff barriers, duty waiver/reduction, etc. for Bangladeshi products to help achieve a better balance in the bilateral trade.
Bangladesh and Thailand held the third Foreign Office Consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen led the Bangladesh delegation, while Sarun Charoensuwan, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, led the Thai side.
Senior officials of the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Agriculture, Industries, Civil Aviation, Tourism, and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) also attended the meeting. The meeting discussed the whole gamut of Bangladesh-Thailand bilateral relations. The 2nd FOC was held in Bangkok last year.
Both sides appreciated the existing excellent bilateral relations and reaffirmed their commitment to raising the profile of bilateral ties to newer heights in the coming days.
The two sides lauded the growing pace of engagement and enthusiasm in areas of political, economic, social, and cultural ties and agreed to further explore new areas of cooperation.
The meeting took stock of cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, health services, tourism, defense cooperation, consular cooperation, agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, connectivity, ICT, energy, cultural exchange, and people-to-people contacts.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
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