The UAE wants to be one of the major foreign investors in Bangladesh. Bangladesh concluded a General Trade Agreement with the UAE in 1984, and since then bilateral trade has been sustaining between them. At present, two-way trade stands firm at the billion dollar mark. The UAE was the first Gulf country to recognise Bangladesh and establish diplomatic relations.

The countries hope to take the trade volume to $5 billion in the next three to four years. They are committed to carrying forward the mission of strengthening historic ties and have a vision for the future that is durable and sustainable and conducive for the collective prosperity of the region. The United States and the European Union have been Bangladesh’s largest export markets. The UAE now wants Bangladesh exporters to focus on the Middle East and start using the UAE as a gateway.

Bangladesh major exports to the UAE are readymade garments, woven and knitwear, vegetables, frozen fish, jute yarn and twine, home textiles and textile fabrics, fruit juices, tea in packets, spices, stainless steel ware, melamine tableware, electronics, cables and jute products, among others. Some vegetable products, plastic articles, cotton and cotton yarn, fabrics, iron, steel and its products, electrical machinery and equipment are also re-exported from the UAE to Bangladesh.