Bangladesh, Australia going to strike TIFA deal

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh and Australia are set to sign Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) aimed at bolstering bilateral trade by way of removing barriers and tapping potential, officials said.

Both the sides have completed the spadework and taken approval for signing the umbrella agreement, possibly in mid-September, they added.

Bangladesh's Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan would sign the deal virtually on behalf of their governments respectively.

Under the agreement a working group will be formed which will meet annually discussing issues to facilitate bilateral trade and investment by removing the bottlenecks.

"We have taken required approval according to the rules of business for signing the pact," a senior commerce ministry official told the FE Wednesday.

"Both of us agreed to sign the deal on September 15," he said.

The officials said the aim of deal signing is to boost trade and investment through bilateral cooperation in mutually agreed arenas.

He said sectors like garments and textiles and, manufacturing, information and communications technology, skills development, and education are among the top-listed arenas to get priority in bilateral cooperation.

The official also expects that the deal will pave the way for enhancing Australian investment in Bangladesh. Until June last year, Australian investment in Bangladesh had stood at US$845 million which mainly went for gas and petroleum sectors.

As a least-developed country, Bangladesh enjoys duty-and quota-free market access to Australia. Yet, Bangladesh's annual export to the 14th-largest economy could not cross a billion-dollar mark so far.

In fiscal year 2019-20 Bangladesh exported goods worth $678 million to Australia and $805 million in the previous year. On the other hand, Bangladesh's imports from Australia cost $649 million in FY 2019-20, up from $597 million in the previous fiscal.

Bangladesh's major export items included apparel, textiles, footwear, articles of leather, frozen fish, jute, pharmaceuticals, and ceramics. On the other hand, Bangladesh's top imports from Australia are cotton, edible vegetables, cereals, copper, iron and steel, paper, zinc, and machinery, among others.

In last December, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia in a letter to the ministry of commerce said annual bilateral trade may reach $5.0 billion once the TIFA deal is signed and both sides start to extend cooperation.

He further wrote that Australia has been shifting its focus beyond its traditional markets like South Korea, Japan, China, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and concentrating to South Asia to expand trade and investment.

Asked, another senior commerce ministry official said Bangladesh will lose duty-free- and quota-free market access to Australia once the country graduated from the poor- country club in 2026.

After TIFA is struck, Bangladesh will request Australia to extend the duty-and quota-free market-access facility further.

Research Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said a number of countries in the Indo-Pacific region are in discussion for signing TIFA.

Such agreements have strategic perspectives, too, which may surpass economic perspectives, he noted.

"The focus of the proposed TIFA with Australia should be exclusively confined to economic issues," he told the FE.

Mr Moazzem suggests that the main objective of the TIFA should be strengthening bilateral ties with Australia for enhancing trade and investment in traditional and non-traditional products/sectors.

Improving Bangladesh's competitiveness to address the post-graduation challenges should also get focus, he says.

Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh could not be reached for his comment on the up-and-coming trade deal.

Bangladesh, Australia going to strike TIFA deal

Bangladesh and Australia are set to sign Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) aimed at bolstering bilateral trade by way of removing barriers and tapping potential, officials said. Both the sides have completed the spadework and taken approval for signing the umbrella agreement, possibl

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

 

[Isa Khan]

https://www.facebook.com/mofadhaka/posts/1063545957719311

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and his counterpart Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Dan Tehan today signed a framework on trade and investment between Bangladesh and Australia on Wednesday.

The Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA), the first of this kind between Australia and Bangladesh in the last five decades, is expected to provide a platform for institutionalised economic interactions and to open newer opportunities for trade and investment between the two countries, said a press release.

A Joint Working Group will be formed under TIFA, with due representations from relevant sectors and sub-sectors.

The JWG is expected to offer a mechanism to take forward discussion to realise fuller potentials of trade and investment.

While speaking at the signing ceremony, Tipu Munshi said "I am profoundly happy that TIFA has been signed in the year while Bangladesh is celebrating Golden Jubilee of her Independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman".

"We would expect the TIFA to address all relevant questions including retention of the DFQF treatment for Bangladesh in the post LDC graduation, trade liberalisation, creating conducive atmosphere for greater trade in services and flow of investment," he added.

Australian Minister Tehan said, "The Morrison Government is working to energise and expand the trade and investment relationship between Australia and Bangladesh, to support jobs and business opportunities in both countries,"

He assured Bangladesh of the continuation of DFQF treatment pending next review which is not scheduled in the foreseeable future.

"Australian has the potential to meet Bangladesh's increasing education, training and energy needs. And we offer world class expertise, in agriculture and infrastructure development", He added.

Bangladesh Australia bilateral trade has grown six times over the past decade, reaching A$2.6 billion last year.

RMG, agriculture, food and education services were key drivers of this growth. Despite not being an elaborate and legally binding agreement, TIFA can help add new tradeable items from both sides and facilitate bilateral trade and investment. Australia proposed to host the inaugural meeting of the JWG in early 2022.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia Sufiur Rahman and Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Jeremy Bruer also spoke at the event.

High Commissioner Rahman said that Australia can utilise Bangladesh as one of its major suppliers of manufactured goods.

"Australia can see Bangladesh as the entry point to the sub-regional market of over 300 million people", he added.

The virtual signing ceremony was attended by the Commerce Secretary, representatives from the two High Commissions, DFAT Australia, Ministry of Commerce and the Foreign Ministry.

Bangladesh, Australia ink first Tifa agreement

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan signed the agreement on Tuesday

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