home > trade topics > trade policy reviews > list of reviews > Bangladesh 2006

PRESS RELEASE: PRESS/TPRB/269
13 and 15 September 2006

TRADE POLICY REVIEW: BANGLADESH

Good economic performance and reforms should lead to sustained growth

Since its previous Trade Policy Review, Bangladesh has pursued prudent structural reforms in priority areas and trade liberalization with positive results on growth and foreign direct investment inflows. Nevertheless, development constraints persist such as infrastructure bottlenecks and institutional and other policy limitations, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Bangladesh.

See also:
> More on Bangladesh
  

The report points out that Bangladesh remains heavily dependant on exports of ready made garments, despite the risks from the elimination of quotas in accordance with the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). Moreover, it has yet to take full advantage of its agricultural potential, and cope with inefficiencies and shortages in the important services sector, which accounts for more than half of Bangladesh's GDP.

The report also says that the economic performance in the last few years, together with the authorities commitment to reform, the strengthening of the legal system and the promotion of exports and market diversification should lead the country towards sustained growth and poverty alleviation.

The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government, will be the basis for the Trade Policy Review (TPR) by the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO.

The following documents are available in MS Word format.

• Secretariat report
  > Contents and summary observations (14 pages, 141KB)
  > Economic environment (19 pages, 551KB)
  > Trade policy regime - framework and objectives (16 pages, 215KB)
  > Trade policies and practices by measure (55 pages, 694KB)
  > Trade policies by sector (36 pages, 512KB)
  > Appendix tables (28 pages, 1126KB)
    
• Government report (27pages, 755KB)
    
• Revisions of the above documents may be issued approximately 2 weeks after the meeting.
    
• Chairperson's concluding remarks
    
• Minutes of the meeting are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.
    
• Questions and answers by WTO Members are available approximately 6 weeks after the meeting.
    

Note  back to top

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the government of the member under review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.

Print copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop.

The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.

Schedule of forthcoming reviews  back to top

Congo: 27 and 29 September 2006
Kyrgyz Republic: 9 and 11 October 2006
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda: 25 and 27 October 2006