Bangladesh can obtain duty-free export privilege to Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) countries, which include Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. At a time when the industry is actively looking at market diversification, duty-free export privilege to the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to go a long way towards facilitating the same. A protocol has been signed between Bangladesh and Russia.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, 11 ex-Soviet states constituted a political block named the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Five member countries of EEU are also members of the CIS. The Eurasian Economic Union was created in 2015 and meant to be the first successful post-Soviet initiative to overcome trade barriers and promote integration in a fragmented, under-developed region. It covers a single economic market of 170 million people and a gross domestic product of 2.7 trillion dollars.

On paper, the EEU is an economic, technocratic project that offers some benefits to members, particularly in easing cross-border trade and facilitating labor migration. Access to Russia’s labor market has been an important motivator and, on balance, a positive outcome for struggling post-Soviet economies. There are also expected to be long-term gains from harmonising customs and trade rules.