Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are looking to strengthening their bilateral ties. Their bilateral trade is valued at $142 million and has the potential to be boosted. Even though goods are traded at a significant level, emphasis will be given to increase the trade volume and further diversify the product range benefitting both countries.

Sri Lanka imports from Bangladesh pharmaceutical products, electrical machinery and equipment, edible vegetables and roots, apparel and clothing accessories, iron and steel, textile fibers, chemicals, sacks and bags, toilet and facial tissues, cellular phones and bicycle parts. Sri Lanka exports to Bangladesh textiles and textile articles, enzymes, chemicals, minerals, plastics, rubber products, paper products and tea.

Bangladesh is also a country that exports apparel to the global market but has not been able to secure GSP Plus that Sri Lanka currently enjoys. Hence, Sri Lanka is able to export apparel to the European market at cheaper rates than Bangladesh can. On the other hand the cheap labor in Bangladesh is the main attraction for apparel investors. Labor in Sri Lanka is no longer cheap. The apparel industry has been suffering from lack of sufficient labor.

Bangladesh’s gross domestic product growth accelerated to 7.1 per cent in 2016 from 6.6 per cent in 2015. Sri Lanka’s economic growth in 2016 was at 4.4 per cent, lower than 4.8 per cent in 2015.