Bangladesh and Argentina recently agreed in principle to boost bilateral trade by taking necessary steps and identifying sectors for mutual cooperation. Several Argentine ministers in meetings with visiting Bangladesh commerce minister Tipu Munshi expressed their interest to strengthen the existing economic ties, according to the commerce ministry. Argentine production and labour minister Dante Sica told Munshi a stakeholder meeting on import duty cut for readymade garments (RMG) would be held next month, according to Bangla media reports. Argentina’s agriculture, livestock and fisheries ministry showed keenness to sign a memorandum of understanding to strengthen technical cooperation in agriculture, cattle rearing, fisheries and sports. Munshi also met the Argentine foreign minister and mentioned about the November 2018 free trade agreement (FTA) proposal to the MERCOSUR, the southern common market comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The minister assured Munshi that the proposal would be discussed in the next MERCOSUR Conference. Munshi also met leaders of trade bodies and sought their cooperation for importing more RMG, pharmaceuticals, jute, shoes and plastic items. In the last fiscal, Bangladesh imported goods worth $622 million from Argentina against exports of $18 million.
