Dhaka: Economic Relations Division (ERD) today urged businesses to prepare for the impacts of Bangladesh’s graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status and find ways to address the impending loss of trade benefits. ‘We’ve to build capacity at all levels to deal with the impact of the loss of trade benefits in the post-LDC era,’ ERD Secretary M Shahriar Kader Siddiky stated during a session with business leaders and international business experts.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Siddiky announced that the government would form a committee incorporating trade organization representatives to identify the private sector’s needs and challenges, aiming to find solutions to emerging issues. His remarks were delivered during a focus group discussion titled ‘Implementation of the STS for Smooth Transition from LDC Status,’ organized by the Support to Sustainable Graduation Project (SSGP), ERD, and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) at the DCCI Auditorium in the capital.
Shahriar ackn
owledged the national economy’s exposure to challenges even ahead of the LDC graduation. However, he noted that the current account and financial account positions have improved significantly. To address data gaps, the UNSCAP and the European Union (EU) will assist the government in implementing best practices, with South Korea agreeing to help digitalize government services.
Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, serving as a special guest, highlighted the lack of proper planning and implementation from the start to tackle LDC graduation challenges. He emphasized the importance of private sector input for a sustainable graduation process and urged entrepreneurs to diversify products in the RMG sector and explore opportunities in the packaging area.
DCCI President Taskeen Ahmed presented a private sector perspective, requesting a 2 to 3-year deferment of Bangladesh’s LDC graduation due to prevailing global and local economic challenges. He cited existing issues such as energy shortages in the industrial sector
, high inflation, import duties, interest rates, and difficulties in accessing bank credits.
Ahmed outlined the government’s STS strategy to prepare for graduation, focusing on implementation frameworks, leadership, partnerships, policy integration, financing, and evaluation. He proposed creating a roadmap to stabilize the economy and recommended signing economic partnership agreements or FTAs with key partners to enhance STS competitiveness.
ERD Additional Secretary and Project Director of SSGP AH M. Jahangir emphasized the private sector’s significant role in facing LDC graduation challenges and stressed the need for coordinated activities between stakeholders and private sector support to implement the STS.
Dr. Mostafa Abid Khan, Component Manager of SSGP of ERD and former tariff commission member, highlighted that 73 percent of the country’s total exports currently enjoy duty-free benefits, which will not be available post-LDC period. He pointed out the lack of diversification in export products as a p
ressing issue.
Dr. Md. Rezaul Bashar Siddique, Rizwan Rahman, Manwar Hossain, BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem, Asif Ashraf, and Md. Mahbubur Rahman Patwary were among the event’s speakers. DCCI Senior Vice President Razeev H Chowdhury, Vice President Md. Salem Sulaiman, and other public and private sector representatives also attended the event.