Bangladesh needs a more comprehensive trade strategy

In my last article in The Daily Star, I wrote that Bangladesh needs to urgently act to retain the GSP+ facility post-LDC status. And, that Bangladesh could also opt for negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU in order to gain permanent duty-free access for Bangladeshi products into the vast EU market.

Even if Bangladesh attains GSP+ in the EU, this will get us duty-free access for our products, including apparel, only in the EU countries. While the EU is by far the largest market for Bangladesh, our exports would only represent a fraction of the products in the EU market—remember also that the EU no longer includes the United Kingdom because of Brexit. The UK was previously one of Bangladesh's largest markets in the EU, particularly for clothing.