Bangladesh wants to join trade bloc RCEP, what could it gain
Bangladesh’s bid to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), one of the world’s largest free trade blocs, has moved a step forward. Trade ministers from the bloc’s member countries have approved a recommendation to form a special task force to advance formal discussions and technical procedure involving Bangladesh and three other applicant countries.
Alongside Bangladesh, Chile, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong have applied to join the 15-country trade bloc in the Asia-Pacific region. At a meeting of the RCEP Joint Committee in Manila on 21 September, a recommendation was made to form a special task force for the applicant countries. The recommendation was later approved at the fifth RCEP Ministerial Meeting, also held in the Philippine capital, Manila.
RCEP is a bloc comprising 15 countries, including China, Japan and South Korea. Trade among its member countries was worth around USD 2.1 trillion. Becoming an RCEP member could create opportunities for Bangladesh to receive preferential trade benefits in the markets of member countries.
It would also cover areas such as services, investment, intellectual property, e-commerce, competition, dispute settlement and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Bangladesh began initial efforts and discussions to join RCEP in 2022. Two months after the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus took office, it sent a letter in October 2024 expressing its interest. RCEP at the time however, had not yet decided on admitting new members.
In 2025, RCEP members approved a process for admitting new countries. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Chile and Hong Kong subsequently submitted formal applications. As part of the formal application process for joining RCEP, Bangladesh has already submitted the required documents.
At a joint press conference with the prime minister of Malaysia last June, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh was interested in joining RCEP and welcomed Malaysia’s support on the matter. Bangladesh has also sought Australia’s support in this regard.
Sources at the Ministry of Commerce said the task force will work to advance formal discussions and the technical process with Bangladesh and the other interested countries, in line with the roadmap for expanding the bloc and admitting new members.
Commerce Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan told Prothom Alo, “We want to become a member of RCEP. The good news is that at the RCEP Joint Committee meeting last Monday, we received a positive indication regarding membership for all four countries, including Bangladesh. As Bangladesh’s process of graduating from the least developed country (LDC) category moves forward, we will benefit if we can become a member of the bloc.”
Experts say joining RCEP is important for Bangladesh mainly because of the opportunities it could create for tariff benefits in export markets and trade expansion. After graduating from the LDC category, Bangladesh may lose tariff benefits in various countries.
Becoming an RCEP member could create opportunities to receive preferential trade benefits in the markets of bloc members. Alongside benefits in goods trade, the agreement would also cover services, investment, intellectual property, e-commerce, competition, dispute settlement and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Bangladesh will gain tariff benefits, but must offer them too
Officials at the Ministry of Commerce say Bangladesh joining RCEP could play an important role in addressing the challenges following graduation from the LDC category, retaining tariff benefits in international trade, strengthening links with global supply chains and attracting foreign direct investment to the country.
Who are RCEP’s members, and how much they trade
RCEP currently comprises the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. There are five other countries: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
The bloc represents around 30 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and population. In 2024, trade among its member countries was worth around USD 2.1 trillion.
According to a report by the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, RCEP countries account for 53.90 per cent of Bangladesh’s total imports and 7.92 per cent of its exports. In other words, becoming a member of the bloc could create an opportunity for Bangladesh to further institutionalise its trade relations with major import and export markets.
‘Bangladesh will have to negotiate skilfully’
It is learnt that Bangladesh would need the consent of all 15 existing RCEP members to join the bloc. It would also have to demonstrate its ability to comply with the agreement’s rules and regulations and offer market access to member countries.
Bangladesh’s main tasks now, therefore, are to negotiate its membership, make proposals on market access and bargain over various terms of the agreement. Key issues include how much tariff preference will be granted on which products, how quickly those preferences will be implemented and what kind of market access Bangladesh will have to offer.
The Manila meeting reportedly emphasised strengthening regional economic integration through cooperation and constructive dialogue among member countries. It also stressed the need to remove unnecessary barriers to international trade and to put emphasis on the World Trade Organization (WTO) reform process.
Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the private research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told Prothom Alo that after graduating from the LDC category, Bangladesh would need to pursue free trade agreements (FTAs) and comprehensive economic partnership agreements (CEPAs) with various countries. From that perspective, joining a trade bloc such as RCEP would be beneficial for Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh has initiatives under way to sign FTAs with some countries. At the same time, among RCEP members there are some strong economies as well as some weaker ones. Alongside receiving trade benefits, members also have to provide benefits to other member countries. That is the main challenge. Bangladesh will have to negotiate skilfully to address this challenge. I would like to have confidence that Bangladesh will do so,” he added.