Bangladesh earned USD 124.73 billion by exporting readymade garments over the last six and a half years, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday, reports BSS. ”Bangladesh earned $124.73 billion by exporting readymade garments to 140 countries of the world from January, 2008-2009 to May, 2014-2015,” he said in reply to a question raised by treasury bench member Didarul Alam (Chittagong-4). Responding to another question raised by ruling party lawmaker Enamul Haque (Rajshahi-4), the commerce minister said the government has taken various plans to reduce Bangladesh’s trade gap with India, China and Pakistan. Tofail said India allowed duty-free access to all Bangladeshi products except tobacco and narcotic products from November 9, 2011 after following the steps of the Bangladesh government to boost trade with India. He said the efforts for removing duty and non-duty barriers through discussion at different time and levels are underway. “Steps have been undertaken to get duty-free access of a huge number of goods from other SAARC countries under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA),” Tofail said.
