India has proposed Bangladesh to consider negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement with a view to promote two-way commerce and investments, an official statement said on Wednesday.
Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, who is in Dhaka, has said that after Bangladesh graduates from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status, it will no longer have duty-free and quota-free access for its products to the Indian market under SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Agreement).
CEPA is a free trade agreement under which two trading partners eliminate basic customs duties on maximum number of goods traded between them. Besides, both sides liberalise norms to promote trade in services and investments.
Prabhu said that the economic growth of Bangladesh is a model that could be emulated by other LDCs in the region.
