The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) organized a Roundtable Discussion on “The outcome of 13th Ministerial Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE” on 24 March 2024 Sunday at CA Bhaban, Dhaka.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) was present as the Chief Discussant and Paper Presenter on the outcome of 13th Ministerial Conference while ICAB President Mohammed Forkan Uddin FCA delivered address of welcome. ICAB CEO Shubhashish Bose also spoke in the occasion. The other discussants were Md. Hafizur Rahman, Member, Competition Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Md. Al Amin Pramanik, PhD, Economic Minister, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland; Mohammad Mashooqur Rahman Sikder, Joint Secretary (WTO Section-2), Ministry of Commerce; Dr. Mostafa Abid Khan, Component Manager, LDC Graduation Project, Economic Relations Division (ERD); ICAB Past President Md. Shahadat Hossain FCA, Nesar Ahmed , International Trade Expert, Support to Sustainable Graduation Project, Economic Relations Division (ERD); and Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce;. Manzur Ahmed, Advisor, The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI); Ferdaus Ara Begum, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD);Dr. Shishir Kumar Dev, Former CEO, BFTI; Zakir Hossain, Associate Editor, The Daily Samakal; Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha,President of Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF); and S M Rashidul Islam, Senior Reporter of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Dhaka.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman said, in the last 53 years, 60 countries have been promoted from least developed countries (LDC) to developing countries, 15 countries are at different stages of LDC graduation and 5 countries including Bangladesh have fixed time for LDC graduation. Bangladesh is doing well on all the indicators to be promoted from least developed country to developing country. If everything goes well, next November 2026, Bangladesh will come under the category of developing country. As a result, being a less developed country, the benefits such as duty free, quota free and preferential treatment which are getting continued for some more time should be strongly negotiated. Japan, Canada, South Korea, have been providing tariff benefits to LDCs, need to negotiate with them to continue the benefits. He added.
Mustafizur Rahman said, there are three issues in front of Bangladesh – less developed country, developed from less developed country, and developing country. Work should be done keeping in mind production, efficiency and competitive market. After 2026 with no market access, product diversification will be required to survive. Export trade should be diversified. We need to do more free trade agreement, comprehensive trade agreement. Development of transport sector should be used to establish economic corridors in the country, he added saying, action must be taken to transform comparative advantage into competitive advantage.
In order to get flexibility in fisheries subsidies, Bangladesh needs to take steps to negotiate as well as enter into various agreements, he said adding, at present, no tariffs are imposed on e-commerce in LDCs. As a result, Bangladesh is avoiding about 40 million dollars in customs duties annually. It should also be discussed here, he said.
WTO needs to be reformed. The United States is not appointing anyone to the appellate department because each country has the power to exercise VETO. The European Union (EU) is operating by setting up an alternative system, he further said.
ICAB President Mohammed Forkan Uddin FCA said, WTO is an alternative dispute or mediation entity upholds the international rules of trade.
The 13th Ministerial Conference was very important as Bangladesh is set to graduate out of the group of least developed countries (LDCs) on November 2026.
We need to think about the situation after LDC graduation, in terms of preferential market access, preferential treatment for services and service suppliers and special treatment regarding obligations and flexibilities under WTO rules, he added saying, the Ministerial Conference approved a two-year extension of the E-Commerce moratorium. Even if we lose some revenue, it will help in implementing the government’s Smart Bangladesh Vision by 2041, he added.
Two other important issues, but have not met the expected success for Bangladesh are fisheries subsidies and agricultural subsidies. For Bangladesh, the decision on fisheries subsidies holds crucial relevance as we are a major fishing country in the world. Agricultural subsidies are important for our food security. Despite being a net importer of food and agricultural products, Bangladesh is yet to be included in the category of Net Food Importing Countries. There was no agreement on agriculture at MC13. Bangladesh also has concerns regarding export restrictions by other countries.
Manzoor Ahmed said, foreign trade should be integrated through regional agreements, bilateral agreements and some alternative commercial agreements. In future Bangladesh needs to pay particular attention to the implementation of multilateral trade in terms of reality.