Bangladesh and Bhutan have signed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) on 6 December to ease further trade barriers between the two neighboring countries and facilitate an increase in the volume of bilateral trade. As per Textile Today, this is the first such agreement Bangladesh has signed with any country since independence in 1971.

Under the agreement, around 100 Bangladeshi products will get duty-free access to Bhutan while Bhutan will enjoy duty benefit on its 34 products. Some of the Bangladeshi products that will enjoy duty free access include baby clothes and clothing accessories, men’s trousers and shorts, jackets and blazers, jute and jute goods, leather and leather goods, dry cell battery, fan, watch, potato, condensed milk, cement, toothbrush, plywood, particle board, mineral and carbonated water, green tea, orange juice, pineapple juice, and guava juice.