STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh will take more time to decide on its graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category, scheduled for 2026, Commerce Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said yesterday.

Ahmed made the comment in response to journalists’ questions, noting that business leaders prefer that the LDC graduation be delayed for the retention of trade benefits for a longer period.

He was speaking at a press conference held at the commerce ministry in Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka.

The adviser also said the government formally began negotiations to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore yesterday to boost bilateral trade.

Both Bangladesh and Singapore have a close relationship, and it is expected that the trade will grow once the FTA gets through. However, he did not specifically state when the proposed FTA could be signed.

The adviser also said the businesspeople were concerned over their trade as the LDC graduation would also erode the preferential trade benefits provided to them.

But at the same time the decision of the LDC graduation will not be taken all on a sudden as it is very much connected to many issues like trade and intellectual property rights (TRIPs), he said.

“It (the decision) will be taken in the greater interest of the country’s people,” he added.

Ahmed said the interim government would continue to hold the negotiations for signing FTAs with a few other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and India.

Commerce Secretary Md Selim Uddin also said the government has been holding negotiations with some countries and regional platforms for signing the FTAs.

The countries and regions are Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, the Regional Since