Bangladesh and Singapore signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) in its first step to negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) and also find potential for trade and investment opportunities between the two countries.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and visiting Singapore Minister for Trade Relation and Industry AS Iswaran signed the agreement in the capital.
Prime minister’s private industry and investment Adviser Salman F Rahman was present at the ceremony, moderated by Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh.
The commerce minister said that although the balance of trade is in favour of Singapore, the country is one of the top investors and one of the largest trading partners of Bangladesh.
He said the MoC will help upgrade and develop the capacity of domestic industries to tap the potentials in the South East Asian markets.
Expressing the hope that the MoC is likely to create a new era of working with optimum opportunities by pursuing the FTA between the two countries, the minister said the joint working group will explore the areas of cooperation and prospective trade blocs.
Bangladesh’s exports to Singapore were only $127.12 million during FY22 against its imports from Singapore worth $4.11 billion.
