Dhaka is pushing for wider access for Bangladeshi goods to Pakistan’s market to narrow its large trade deficit with the country. Bangladesh will propose that Pakistan remove various tariff and non-tariff barriers. The issues will be discussed at the first meeting of the two countries’ Joint Working Group on Trade (JWGT) in Islamabad on 1 and 2 December. Dhaka will focus in particular on market access for medicines and food products, quality control, and simpler tariff and customs procedures, according to commerce ministry sources.
Several commerce ministry officials said Bangladesh will raise long-standing trade barriers at the meeting. Talks will cover in particular the problems over product standards, technical regulations and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) conditions for exports of medicines and food. Those involved believe removing these barriers would open the way for more Bangladeshi exports to Pakistan.
Bangladesh will seek greater access for its goods in Pakistan’s market at the meeting. Diversifying exports and ways to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries are also due to be discussed.
Bangladesh mainly imports cotton, textile raw materials, chemicals, cement clinker and raw materials for various industries from Pakistan. It exports jute and jute goods, medicines, tea, hydrogen peroxide and ready-made garments to Pakistan.
Commerce ministry officials said that if regulatory problems in Pakistan’s market were removed and customs procedures made simpler, new opportunities would open for Bangladeshi exporters. That would help narrow the deficit and make trade between the two countries more balanced.
Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir may visit Pakistan at the invitation of its government. Commerce ministry officials said the Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad has informed Dhaka, and the Pakistani government is keen to host the minister.
Pakistan has expressed interest in signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) during the visit, in the presence of Bangladesh’s commerce minister.
The proposed MoU could set up a framework for cooperation between the two state trading bodies, which could open new opportunities to import and export essential goods and expand trade. Those involved believe the ministerial visit, alongside the joint working group meeting, could play an important part in strengthening economic and trade ties.
According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry website, Pakistan exported about $650 million of goods to Bangladesh in 2023, about 79 percent of it yarn, fabric and finished leather, raw materials for export industries. Bangladesh’s exports to Pakistan were worth a little over $60 million, mainly raw jute, medicines, hydrogen peroxide, tea and ready-made garments. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, Pakistan exported goods worth $715.6 million to Bangladesh, while its imports from Bangladesh came to $67.2 million.
Helal Uddin, general secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Association and a professor of economics at Dhaka University, told Amar Desh that trade talks and bargaining with any country must rest on economic interest and reality. An agreement made without regard to the economic basis does not last in the long run, he said. Import and export strategy in international trade must take comparative advantage into account.
He said that at the JWGT meeting with Pakistan, Bangladesh should prioritise bargaining over goods it can import relatively easily and cheaply. In the same way, it should push to expand markets for goods where it has export potential and a competitive edge. Both countries will have to make some concessions in their own interest.
Prof Helal added that the overall trade deficit should not always be the main consideration in trade talks. Where Bangladesh has a good export market, it should focus on expanding exports rather than on raising imports. Where imports from a country offer a comparative advantage, it should bargain effectively over those imports. In other words, trade with each country should be set by product-level advantage and economic interest. He said US President Donald Trump had failed to weigh economic reality properly in his trade deals and tariff policy, and was paying a political price for it, as the midterm elections show.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report