Bangladesh is moving toward formal negotiations to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership after the 15-member trade bloc approved the creation of an Ad Hoc Accession Working Group on September 21 during a meeting in the Philippines. Trade experts say the preliminary green light requires the government to launch extensive preparations to manage potential tariff reductions, increased import competition, and complex accession stages.
Accession Working Group Established in the Philippines
The RCEP ministers cleared the establishment of the accession working group to advance bids from Bangladesh, Chile, Hong Kong, and Sri Lanka. The decision follows a formal expression of interest submitted by Bangladesh more than two years prior. In July 2022, an inter-ministerial meeting approved a commerce ministry proposal to seek RCEP membership, aiming to retain preferential market access once the country graduates from the United Nations least developed country category. The commerce ministry subsequently sent a letter of consent to the foreign ministry in October 2024 to initiate the process.
Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, described the development as a significant milestone because earlier applications had not advanced. Joining a 15-country bloc offers expanded trade benefits across all member economies, he noted, advising the government to begin preparations immediately to ease entry into the agreement.
Economic Preparedness and Domestic Industry Challenges
Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, chairman of Research and Policy Integration for Development, emphasized that accession demands rigorous evaluations of domestic industrial readiness and potential competition. He urged the government to conduct formal studies and define clear negotiating positions before moving deeper into the accession stages.
Razzaque pointed out that integration could unlock foreign direct investment from member states and link domestic supply chains to regional export and import networks. However, he warned that accession negotiations will likely prompt member countries to seek reciprocal tariff reductions and wider market access for their own goods inside Bangladesh.
Mostafa Abid Khan, chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute, echoed the need for caution, recommending a thorough cost-benefit analysis. Khan stated that evaluating the impact of tariff cuts and incoming imports on local manufacturing will help safeguard domestic industries while pursuing improved market access across Association of Southeast Asian Nations economies and other partner states.
Global Scope of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership links 10 ASEAN members alongside Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. Formal negotiations launched in 2012, and the agreement was signed in November 2020 after India withdrew from talks in 2019.
The bloc represents approximately 30 percent of global gross domestic product and accounts for roughly one-fourth of international trade. Trade researchers estimate that the agreement also encompasses about 31 percent of global foreign direct investment, establishing it as the world’s largest free-trade agreement by economic size.
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