Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh will emphasise reducing the trade gap in negotiations with the Trump administration, said Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, speaking about his upcoming trip to the USA.
“We’ll emphasise reducing the trade gap between the USA and Bangladesh. Currently, we export more than the amount they export to Bangladesh”, he told reporters after the two consecutive meetings of the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs (ACCEA) and Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) on Thursday.
A Bangladesh delegation, led by the finance advisor, is scheduled to leave for the USA on April 19 to attend the Spring Meeting-2025 of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It will return home on April 29.
Salehuddin, however, said it might not be possible to bring the gap to a zero level right at this moment. “But we’ll try to increase imports from the USA… We can import more energy products, capital machinery from the USA”, he said.
He mentioned that Bangladeshi officials will mainly discuss with US officials, especially the US Treasury Department, in this regard.
He also mentioned that the Bangladesh team will hold meetings with about 70 US companies, including Chevron. There will be multilateral-level meetings with the US private sector beyond the US government officials.
“We’ll sit with the US companies to discuss how we can raise our imports from the USA. The opening of GSP by the USA will get extra focus on our efforts, as said.
He also said that the Bangladesh delegation will meet the World Bank and other international multilateral donor agencies like the IMF and ADB.
“We will discuss getting some budget support from them. Two agreements might be signed with the World Bank”, he added.
