Bangladesh-Cambodia to sign BTA in June: Tofail

FT ONLINE

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Bangladesh would sign bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with Cambodia to tap the trade potentiality.

The commerce minister, who is visiting Cambodia invited his counterpart Pan Sorasak to sign the BTA in Dhaka at the end of June or early July, during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Phnom Penh, an official release said on Wednesday.

Referring to an agreement and nine MoUs signed between two countries during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Cambodia in 2017, Tofail Ahmed said both the countries would be benefited utilizing those.

Bangladesh and Cambodia has bilateral trade volume of $6 million, of which Bangladesh exported products of $5.39 million against the import of $0.4 million.

The Cambodian minister also urged the Bangladeshi businessmen to invest in his country taking the advantage of the availability of raw materials, especially in pharmaceuticals.

International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB) President Mahbubur Rahman, Vice President Rokeya Afzal Rahman, former Dhaka Chamber President Matiur Rahman and Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand and Cambodia Saeeda Muna Tasneem, among others, were present.