Bangladesh urges Argentina to set up edible oil factory and lower tariffs

Bangladesh has requested Argentina to establish an edible oil factory in one of the country's economic zones and to lower tariffs to facilitate the entry of Bangladeshi products into its market.

Dhaka has also urged the Latin American nation to withdraw the anti-dumping duty on Bangladeshi jute products.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi made the requests while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Andres Cafiero on Tuesday.

The agreement, signed at the secretariat in Dhaka, aims to increase bilateral trade between the two nations.

Sources said that the Argentine foreign minister promised to consider the proposals from Bangladesh positively.

After the meeting, Tipu Munshi told reporters, "There are opportunities for better trade with Argentina. There is also scope to increase exports, especially of RMG items. We are hopeful that this MoU will help increase bilateral trade to $1-1.5 billion within the next two years."

Meanwhile, Argentina's foreign minister said that the friendship between the two countries based on football has now been transformed into business and other relations. This MoU will help in that regard.

Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said, "Based on today's agreement, another deal will be signed between the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and the relevant Argentinian office a few days later. This will allow TCB to make direct imports from Argentina."

Commerce ministry officials said that the main purpose of signing this MoU is to make Free Trade Agreements (FTA) or Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) with other countries, including Argentina and other members of the Southern Common Market, commonly known as Mercosur.

Bangladesh is giving importance to FTAs and PTAs to maintain export momentum after transitioning from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, they said.

Officials said that recently the secretary of commerce, chairman of TCB and president of FBCCI visited Mercosur countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

They found that there is a chance of exporting Bangladeshi goods, such as garments, jute and leather products, generic drugs, pharmaceutical products, ceramic and plastic, home textiles, agricultural and processed agricultural products, shrimp, frozen food, bicycles, refrigerators, air conditioners, light engineering products, to these countries.

However, Bangladeshi products face tariffs ranging from 8% to 35% when entering the Argentine market. In addition, there are also barriers such as anti-dumping policies.

At Tuesday's meeting, the commerce minister informed the Argentine foreign minister that Bangladesh is the only Least Developed Country (LDC) that produces 97% of its demand for medicines domestically. He also mentioned that Argentina could benefit from importing drugs from Bangladesh.

Argentina has imposed an anti-dumping duty of $16 per kg on Bangladeshi jute bags and sacks. Tipu Munshi also requested that Argentina give preferential trade benefits to Bangladesh.

The minister expressed interest in importing animal or vegetable fats, soybean oil, sunflower oil, various fruits and vegetables, dairy products, bird's eggs, natural honey and wheat from Argentina.

According to the commerce ministry, Bangladesh imported products such as soybean oil, sugar and edible oil worth $791 million from Argentina last fiscal year. From July to December of the current fiscal year, products worth $488 million were imported from the Latin American country.

On the other hand, Bangladesh exported products worth $9.52 million in the last fiscal and $8.84 million from July to December of the current financial year.

After the meeting, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told reporters, "At present, Bangladeshi government employees can travel to Argentina without visas. In future, ordinary citizens can also get the benefit of on-arrival visas."

Argentina opened its embassy in Dhaka on 27 February to improve and develop relations between the two countries.