Desk Report (RMG Times) Bangladesh sought duty-free and quota-free market access to Russia for Ready Made Garments (RMG) products to increase trade volume between the two countries.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said this on Sunday after having a discussion with a seven-member visiting Russian delegation at Commerce Ministry in Bangladesh Secretariat. Russia’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Levin Segey Lvovich, led the delegation.

Russia has given duty-free, quota-free market access of 71 Bangladeshi products but the country’s main export product but RMG still not getting the facility due to some complications.

‘I have requested Russia to give duty-free, quota-free market access of all Bangladeshi export products, including RMG, as per the decision of the ministerial conference of World Trade Organisation,’ Tofail told reporters after the meeting.

Tofail said that Bangladesh had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be a member of Eurasian Economic Commission and hopefully Bangladesh would obtain the membership and Russia would provide duty-free market access like European Union.

‘We discussed a lot of things including political, economic and bilateral trade relations between the two countries,’ Lvovich told reporters.

Replying to a question, the Russian minister said that the two countries were working closely to increase the balance of trade.

‘I do believe that the problems related to opening letter of credit for export and import business would be resolved shortly,’ Lvovich said.

Bangladesh has exported goods worth $464.62 million in the last fiscal year (FY 2016-2017), while imported goods worth $437.10 million at the same time. Russia will be the export market for Bangladesh after the elimination of the complexity of export trade.

The Russian deputy minister sought support from Bangladesh to be the host country of World Expo 2025.

Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said that Russia’s request regarding World Expo 2025 would be in consideration as the country is a good friend of Bangladesh since the liberation war in 1971.