PRESS RELEASE : UK Minister for International Trade visits Bangladesh to strengthen trade and investment ties [July 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.
UK Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston MP arrived in Dhaka yesterday [4 July] for a visit focused on strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries.
The UK is committed to working with Bangladesh to create a trade and investment relationship that will create jobs and grow both economies. The total trade in goods and services between the UK and Bangladesh reached a record £4.7 billion at the end of 2022.
Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston said
“The UK has a strong and enduring relationship with Bangladesh, and our trade with the country has grown significantly over the past year.
“My first visit here demonstrates the UK’s strong ambition to work with Bangladesh to achieve an enhanced trade and investment relationship. I look forward to working with the Government of Bangladesh on increasing mutual prosperity by addressing barriers to market access and trade.”
Minister Huddleston will meet Salman F Rahman MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They will discuss the Aviation Trade and Investment Partnership, signed by the UK and Bangladesh in May 2023, which will strengthen Bangladesh’s aviation sector and create jobs in both countries.
The Minister will also meet Tipu Munshi MP, Honourable Commerce Minister, to discuss the UK’s world-leading Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which came into force last month, and makes it easier for Bangladesh to trade with the UK.
Bangladeshi exporters now benefit from simpler and more generous Rules of Origin, which means that they are able to produce goods using components from many more countries and still export these with zero tariffs to the UK.
Following the joint communique on Aviation Trade & Investment Partnership, Minister Huddleston will meet Mahbub Ali MP, Honourable State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism. Discussions will focus on the UK’s offer to helping Bangladesh realise its ambition of becoming the next aviation hub in South Asia.
