BANGKOK: The Commerce Minister and her Bangladeshi counterpart have met to bolster trade between the two countries.
Thai Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn revealed that her talks with Bangladeshi Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed were aimed at increasing bilateral trade value. The two ministers agreed to a bilateral trade target of 1.7 billion US dollars, or 60.4 billion baht in 2016.
To this end, Bangladesh will host the fourth Thai – Bangladesh Joint Trade Committee at the beginning of next year, while Thai private companies will organize a Thai goods and business fair.
The two countries are also in negotiations to extend the government-to-government deal for Bangladesh to import Thai sticky rice, which is due to expire on February 28, 2016. The deal may be extended by three years, as well as expanded to include other Thai rice products such as jasmine rice, brown rice, and Sangyod rice.
Bangladesh is one of several countries in South Asia, a large regional market with growth potential for Thai exports. The South Asian nation is also a strategic gateway to developed countries, given that Bangladesh, as a developing country, is afforded more lenient tariffs.