Govt to form trade expert pool

The government is set to form a trade expert pool (TEP) to preserve the required knowledge and experiences gained from trade-data analysis and negotiations, sources said.

The commerce ministry has already started working on this. Its FTA wing will carry out the task.

The much-expected pool will be constituted under the Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) framed by the ministry in June 2022. The provision for setting up such a pool is mentioned in the agreement.

The provision says, "In order to retain experience and knowledge in the area of trade analysis and negotiation, the Ministry of Commerce may establish a TEP comprising ministry officials and representatives from the relevant ministry (ies), division(s), department(s), agency (ies), etc."

Besides, the TEP may also include representatives from experienced former senior officials of the government, the private sector, think tanks, and academia.

The objectives of the RTA are the identification and prioritisation of potential partners for RTAs, the determination of RTA coverage for negotiation, institutional arrangement and authority, strategy for negotiation, internal procedures for concluding RTAs, signing the RTAs, and implementation and evaluation of RTAs.

The commerce ministry generally forms various committees, including trade negotiation committee (TNC). It has already formed various high-powered TNCs in line with the RTA 2022.

A senior commerce ministry official said creating such a pool is very urgent to preserve the necessary trade knowledge and skills achieved through analyses and negotiations as Bangladesh is on track to graduate to a developing country from the least developed country (LDC) club in 2026. As a result, Bangladesh's export items would face duties in many countries, including the developed ones, he said.

To offset the post-graduation shocks, the government has to bargain with various developed countries to get priority in export trade, he added.

In this regard, the government has already taken multiple steps, including bilateral and regional agreements with various trade blocs and countries, aimed at preserving, expending, and securing duty-free market access, said a high-ranking commerce ministry official.

Economists and experts have advocated for signing various deals, including free trade agreements (FTAs), with different countries to address the challenges when Bangladesh graduates to the next level.

The ministry official said the pool would help Bangladesh increase knowledge in different areas of trade.

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