EPA with Japan to integrate Bangladesh into global value chain

Business Report :
The draft of the proposed Bangladesh-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which outlined 17 sectors encompassing trade in goods, customs procedures, trade facilitation, investment, electronic commerce, among others, is expected to aid Bangladesh integrate into the global value chain.

Unveiling the draft at the Secretariat on Wednesday, Senior Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh of the commerce ministry said, “As a result of this agreement, Bangladesh will be easily included in the global value chain. At the same time investment, and trade will increase.”

Japanese Ambassador to Dhaka Iwama Kiminori said the agreement will facilitate the two countries’ development.

As per a Ministry of Commerce press release, the proposed EPA outlines 17 sectors that will serve as the scope and coverage for implementation by both nations.

The identified sectors encompass trade in goods, incorporating trade remedies, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation (CPTF), sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT), trade in services, investment, electronic commerce, government procurement, intellectual property, competition/subsidies/state-owned enterprises, improvement of the business environment, labour, environment, transparency, cooperation, and dispute settlement.

Japanese Ambassador Iwama Kiminori emphasised its potential to foster development in both countries, anticipating enhanced cooperation across various fields, including business investment.

The ambassador also emphasised that the EPA would be a mutually beneficial arrangement for both countries.

Bangladesh wants to finalise the signing of the EPA with Japan by the agreed-upon deadline of December 2025 to maintain duty-free market access to Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, he said.