Bangladesh and the European Union (EU) on Monday highlighted the importance of preferential market access, and the launch of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA).

The issues were discussed during a meeting between Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas held in Brussels.

Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister, Humaiun Kobir, was also present at the meeting.                

The discussions covered a wide range of areas, including political, economic, and development cooperation-focusing on trade and investment, Indo-Pacific cooperation, migration, skills development, labour standards, and the Rohingya crisis.

Both sides highlighted Bangladesh’s post-LDC transition at the meeting which Dhaka described as fruitful.

They also welcomed the new Bangladesh-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) as a platform for a ‘forward-looking’ partnership.

Bangladesh and the EU initialled the PCA as both sides eye to take the relationship to new heights further institutionalising bilateral cooperation.

Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Md Nazrul Islam and Deputy Managing Director of the EU’s Asia and Pacific Division at the European External Action Service Paola Pampaloni initialled the PCA in Brussels, Belgium on behalf of Bangladesh and the EU respectively.

The Bangladesh Foreign Minister and EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas witnessed the signing. Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir was also present.

The PCA will serve as the legal and political foundation for the strategic and long-term Bangladesh-EU relationship, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told UNB.

They said it will help strengthen relations between Bangladesh and the EU in many policy areas, from human rights and governance to trade, investment, environmental sustainability and climate change as well as food security, energy, transport and science, technology and innovation.

Moreover, the agreement will also be a significant milestone as Bangladesh moves towards becoming the first South Asian country to sign a PCA with the European Union.

The fifth round of negotiations between Bangladesh and the European Union on the framework agreement was held in January this year. Through the negotiations, both sides finalised the text of the agreement.

The negotiations on the proposed PCA started with the explanatory meeting between Bangladesh and the EU in Dhaka in November 2024.

Since then, the two sides engaged in five rounds of discussions and several technical meetings in Dhaka and Brussels, both physically and virtually.

The fifth round on focused particularly on some key thematic areas of mutual interests between Bangladesh and European Union including legal and  judicial cooperation, intellectual property rights, energy cooperation, fisheries, aquaculture & ocean governance, trade and investment, human rights, customs cooperation, etc.