Bangladesh has requested New Zealand's support for its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) membership, a three-year extension of its LDC graduation period until November 2029, and the signing of a comprehensive bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). These proposals were discussed at a high-level policy meeting held at the headquarters of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) in Wellington. The meeting aimed at further strengthening and diversifying Bangladesh-New Zealand trade and diplomatic relations.
RCEP Membership and LDC Graduation Extension
Bangladesh informed New Zealand that it had already submitted detailed responses to the questionnaires required for RCEP membership and was undertaking reforms to align relevant institutional and regulatory frameworks with the agreement’s high-standard trade disciplines. The reforms include initiatives to reduce tariffs on industrial raw materials and high-tech machinery, shift the telecommunications, financial services, and logistics sectors from a ‘positive list’ to a ‘negative list’ approach, and formulate modern laws and policies relating to competition, patents, copyrights, and data protection.
Bangladesh also sought New Zealand’s support for extending the LDC graduation transition period until November 2029, citing global and domestic challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine war, Middle East conflicts, rising energy prices, global inflation, and ongoing socio-economic transformation following the 2024 mass uprising. Bangladesh stressed the need for additional time to implement a sustainable and well-organised national preparation process and build a stronger foundation for the post-graduation economy.
Proposed Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
The proposed comprehensive bilateral FTA between Bangladesh and New Zealand received significant attention at the meeting. Bangladesh informed the New Zealand side of its decision to formally initiate FTA negotiations, following discussions between the commerce ministers of the two countries ahead of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14). The FTA is expected to create opportunities for New Zealand to expand its market for dairy products, agricultural machinery, and metal products in Bangladesh’s consumer market of around 170 million people. For Bangladesh, the agreement would provide more stable and predictable access to the New Zealand market for garments, pharmaceuticals, leather goods, and information technology products after LDC graduation.
At the concluding stage of the meeting, Bangladesh proposed three specific initiatives to make future trade cooperation more dynamic and institutionalised: establishing an annual Bilateral Trade Policy Consultative Group, forming a Joint Working Group between the two countries as the first step towards FTA negotiations, and strengthening diplomatic coordination between the permanent missions of Bangladesh and New Zealand in New York to secure support for Bangladesh’s request for additional time for LDC graduation at the upcoming UN General Assembly session. Both sides stressed the importance of maintaining regular communication and high-level policy dialogue on matters of mutual interest.
