‘Actively negotiate with WTO for continuation of LDC trade benefits’

Bangladesh should actively negotiate with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for continuation of trade benefits after its graduation to a developing country, analysts said today.

Bangladesh should also work on capacity building, export diversification, attracting foreign direct investment and skills enhancement to get prepared for the post-graduation period, they said.

They spoke at a seminar on 'WTO MC-12: Implications for Graduating LDCs' held at the BIAM Foundation in Dhaka.

Support to Sustainable Graduation Project under Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the seminar, according to a statement from the ERD.

The seminar was organised to analyse the key takeaways for Bangladesh from the recently concluded 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the WTO held in Geneva from June 12 to 17.

The seminar also discussed the next course of action and how the country should get prepared in the run-up to the next Ministerial Conference of the WTO in the context of Bangladesh's scheduled graduation from LDC status in November 2026.

Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior commerce secretary; Sharifa Khan, ERD secretary, and Md Hafizur Rahman, director general of the WTO Cell under the commerce ministry, also spoke.