Bangladesh and China on Thursday exchanged feasibility study reports with a view to signing a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries in the near future.

Both sides exchanged the survey reports in a ceremony at the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce in Dhaka in the attendance of Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen.

Other senior officials from the commerce ministry as well as related ministries and divisions were present at the event.

Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen said that the exchange of feasibility study reports on the free trade agreement is a major event in China-Bangladesh economic and trade cooperation.

China is ready to work with Bangladesh to make the forthcoming free trade agreement a benchmark and model for other free trade deals signed globally, and thus usher in a new golden era of China Bangladesh cooperation, Yao Wen added.

Senior commerce secretary Ghosh said that Bangladesh’s transition from a least developed country to a developing country is a significant achievement.

“This achievement will create a positive image of Bangladesh in the world,” he said. The graduation to a developing country would also bring new opportunities in investment and trade, but it will also create challenges, he added.

Among the challenges, a least developed country loses duty-free quota-free access to developed countries post-graduation, he pointed out.

As a result, the export products of Bangladesh will have to face the generally imposed duties when entering the market of those countries, said Ghoshy.

There is a possibility of shrinking the export market of Bangladesh in the developed countries, he said adding that FTAs instead will help to promote the export of Bangladesh products.

During the visit of the president of China to Bangladesh on 14-15 October 2016, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed regarding the joint feasibility study on a potential FTA between Bangladesh and China.