Dhaka urges Kuala Lumpur to resume FTA talks

Business Report :
Dhaka is pressing Kuala Lumpur to resume negotiation for signing the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between Bangladesh and Malaysia to further boost bilateral ties, sources said.
The Ministry of Commerce has written to Malaysian authority concerned through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start talks regarding the agreement, they added.
The two countries agreed to sign the FTA during a meeting between Bangladesh commerce minister and Malaysian trade and industry minister in January 2015.
Following the meeting, the countries formed trade negotiation committees (TNCs) to conclude the deal.

Subsequently, Bangladesh urged Malaysia to start negotiation on signing the agreement. In response to that, Malaysia opined that it was yet to be ready to resume negotiation due to the Covid-19 pandemic along with a fresh mandate from the country’s newly-formed cabinet to formally start FTA talks.
A source said during the last Commonwealth Senior Trade Officials Meeting (STOM) and Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting (CTMM), held in London, UK on June 02-06, 2023, both sides expressed interest to resume the FTA negotiation.