Bangladesh needs to comply with 32 conventions to enjoy GSP+: EU envoy

Ratification and implementation of the conventions on environmental, labour and human rights standards are the most important, he told a press conference, which was also attended by the envoys of Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Spain.

"We're also working and will launch this year negotiations on a new-generation agreement. So what we call a partnership and cooperation agreement or PCA," Whiteley was quoted as saying by media reports from the country.

"This new agreement will cover all sorts of policy areas from climate change, energy, cybersecurity and maritime science and technology to trade, and if you're interested in seeing an example of how comprehensive those agreements are," he said.

"We no longer refer to ourselves as development partners. We're international partners, and one of the vehicles for that international partnership now in terms of assistance is the Global Gateway scheme," he said.

"And I'm very happy that here in Bangladesh, we will have a flagship programme on the Global Gateway as a Global Gateway, as you might know, is designed to support infrastructure around the world," he added.

An EU exploratory mission is expected to arrive in Bangladesh in July to assess the feasibility of sending election observers to the country.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)