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Bangladesh is the first LDC the EU is signing the CPA with.

The country’s exports to the EU rose from $2 billion in 2000-01 to over $26 billion in 2024, and the duty-free facility that the EU has been providing for Bangladeshi goods under the ‘Everything but Arms’ scheme will be phased out in 2029.

After that, the EU will have Generalized System of the Preferences (GSP) Plus, and Bangladesh will have to implement a variety of UN conventions related to good governance, environment, and labour rights to have duty-free access under GSP Plus.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been part of EU’s Global Gateway Initiative, under which the country can get funding for renewable energy projects. The EU also made Bangladesh part of its Talent Partnership under which a skilled workforce can migrate to the EU countries.

Bangladesh has also been drawing close attention of the EU being a country located in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as being among the countries most affected by climate change.

“The CPA is a foundational agreement. We will have different joint committees on various sectors, including trade, investment, environment, labour, etc.,” said a foreign ministry official.

The official also said once the CPA is signed, Bangladesh will seek to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and an investment protection agreement.

“We would like our exports to the EU protected and also ensure protection of European investments in Bangladesh,” he said yesterday.

Bangladesh’s former ambassador to the EU in Brussels, Mahbub Hasan Saleh, said under the Cooperation Agreement of 2001, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) was the lead agency when it comes to dealing with the EU.

With the signing of the CPA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will become the lead agency, and the relations will be based on equal footing, he added.

Saleh also said Bangladesh and EU have a variety of areas to boost cooperation, including renewable energy, clean technology, and improving value chains, and standardisation of products.