The Bhutanese Leading the way.
During the 3rd Meet-the-Press session held on 26 April at Zhichenkhar (CBS), Thimphu, Lyonpo D.N Dhungyel, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MoFAET), shared that discussion on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bhutan and Thailand has been initiated.
The two sides have agreed to hold the first round of negotiations of the FTA sometimes in May 2024.
MoFAET is facilitating discussions between Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE) and the Ministry of Commerce in Thailand.
Lyonpo also shared the status update on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Bangladesh and Nepal.
He said that under the PTA, Bhutan enjoys duty-free access to 16 products in Bangladesh, in addition to the existing 18 products.
Also, Bangladesh enjoys duty free access to 10 products, in addition to the existing 90 products.
The Foreign Office Consultations and Commerce Secretary Level Meeting between Bhutan and Bangladesh were recently held, and during these meetings, the addition of more products to the existing list were discussed.
He said that the PTA between Bhutan and Bangladesh was signed on 6 December 2020 and implemented from 1 July 2022 between the two commerce ministers.
Further, the discussions between Bhutan and Nepal for PTA have been ongoing.
He said, five rounds of discussions have been held since 2010, with the latest one held in Thimphu in February 2023.
Currently, the two sides are working on the tax related portions of PTA and are reviewing the product list. The two sides have agreed on a time bound work plan to guide the process of negotiations on the agreement at the earliest.
