The United Kingdom and Bangladesh would hold a dialogue to enhance trade and investment in January next year even as the British Government in November this year announced that post BREXIT, goods from Bangladesh would continue to enjoy duty-free access. As per media reports, the scheduled UK-Bangladesh meeting in January will be held with an aim to discuss and deliberate on opportunities pertaining to mutual trade and investment in the post-BREXIT era. It may be mentioned here that the United Kingdom is the third largest export destination for ‘Made in Bangladesh’ apparels and also was the third-largest investor in Bangladesh in 2019. Bangladesh exported goods worth US $ 3.5 billion to the UK in fiscal 2019-20 while it imported goods worth US $ 1.1 billion from the latter during the period, as per Bangladesh’s Commerce Ministry data. Trade and economic relations between Bangladesh and Britain are long-standing and there are lots of further opportunities in the bilateral trade, reportedly maintained Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi during his Thursday’s (3 December) meeting with British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson while adding that Bangladesh is encouraged by Britain’s interest in post-Brexit trade and investment and, trade talks between the two countries are essential for proper management of trade and investment in new ventures.
