Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged Brazil to directly purchase ready-made garment (RMG) products from Bangladesh during a meeting with a Brazilian delegation led by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Bangladeshi media reports.
"RMG goods from Bangladesh have been being exported to Brazil on a limited scale through a third party. It will be more affordable for Brazil if the country directly imports RMG items from Bangladesh," she highlighted.
To address the imbalance in trade between the two nations, Sheikh Hasina suggested that Brazil could also import additional goods such as jute, jute products and leather items from Bangladesh to achieve a more balanced trade relationship.
"There are huge scopes to increase bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Brazil," she added.
Mauro Vieira also praised the remarkable socio-economic progress achieved by Bangladesh under the wise leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to start negotiations on a MERCOSUR-Bangladesh Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) as soon as possible.
MERCOSUR, or the Southern Common Market, originally included Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as founding members. In 2023, Bolivia will move from associate to full membership of the bloc.
Foreign Minister Hasan noted the growing interest of Global South, including Bangladesh, in joining BRICS.
The Brazilian Foreign Minister confirmed that Bangladesh, representing an emerging perspective from the Global South, could make significant contributions to BRICS in various fields.
The Brazilian Foreign Minister arrived in Dhaka on Sunday morning to discuss bilateral issues and strengthen trade and investment ties with Bangladesh.