The Maldives wants to sign agreements with Bangladesh which do away with double taxation and guarantee and protect investment for increasing bilateral trade and investment, says the archipelagic state’s foreign minister, Abdulla Shahid.
The current volume of bilateral trade is very negligible, comprising just a handful of products, for the absence of bilateral trade and investment guarantee and protection agreements, he said.
The trade volume is also low for the same scenario afflicting people-to-people and transport connectivity, as is in the case of flights between Dhaka and Malé, said Shahid.
However, very high trade potential exists between these two members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) because of commonalities in goods on demand, a rising middle-income population and geographical proximity, he added.
So, the Maldives has been negotiating with Bangladesh to get some agreements signed for increasing bilateral trade, Shahid told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview during a visit to Dhaka to meet his Bangladeshi counterpart last month.
In the meeting, both Shahid and AK Abdul Momen were said to have agreed to encourage private sector entrepreneurs to get more involved in bilateral trade and investment.
The Maldives is not interested in signing free trade or preferential trade agreements (FTA or PTA), rather it wants a comprehensive trade and economic agreement foreseeing Bangladesh as a potential trading partner in South Asia, said Shahid.
Such comprehensive agreements comprise vital issues like trade, investment, employment and intellectual property rights, he said.
Generally, each country provides a technical panel to start negotiations to formulate the agreement. Then its draft is discussed at the political level for finalisation. Such an initiative will be taken up within this year, said Shahid.
Commerce secretary-level talks will also start soon to explore areas for business, he also said.
Coming on frequent travels to Bangladesh, Shahid said he was thrilled to arrive this time as he had a lot of friends here connected to politics.
Adding to this were celebrations marking Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centennial and the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence, he added.
Connectivity first needs to be improved while the private sector given the confidence that their investment will be protected, said Shahid, a former speaker of the Maldives parliament.
Both countries enjoy a huge advantage in terms of the immense size of their youth population, who should take on leadership roles for their nations’ future survival, fighting common climate change-induced challenges, he said.
Mainly thriving on tourism, the island nation has gradually turned into a regional destination for some Bangladeshi job seekers.
A lot of Bangladeshis have gone to the Maldives to make their fortune but unable to show valid documents, many of them have fallen victim to unscrupulous traders.
Shahid said their estimates say 151,000 Bangladeshis are currently in the Maldives, of which 80,000 have official documents while the rest were unregistered.
“This is a very sad situation, we have very unscrupulous employers and individuals who have taken advantage of those individuals,” he said.
So the Maldives wants to send back the unregistered Bangladeshis as their laws did not permit so many foreign nationals of a particular country to stay back, he said.
The Maldives parliament allows around one lakh foreign skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled foreign workers from a particular country to stay, he added.
Last year, they sent back 10,000 Bangladeshis and the Maldives government needs to reach to “the required target”, the minister said.
“So we are requesting the high commission of Bangladesh in the Maldives to expedite the requirement,” Shahid also said.
No one will be sent back forcefully as it is a voluntary process and all dues of the Bangladeshi expatriates will be paid, he assured.
The Maldives government will bear the repatriation cost and their market was dependent on how this situation turned out. If the economy grows in the future, the requirement threshold of foreign workers may increase, he added.
Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, the minister said the situation in the Maldives was under control.
The Maldives government provides treatment irrespective of nationalities. So far, over 3,000 Bangladeshis tested positive and only one or two passed away, he said.
Since vaccines have been rolled out, not only Maldivians but also foreign nationals, including Bangladeshis, will be provided the jab free of charge, he said.
Following a request of the Maldives, Bangladesh has already sent a medical team to provide treatment to the Bangladeshi community because of a gap in communication that exists, according to a statement from the Maldivian foreign ministry.
Many cannot easily communicate, said the minister.
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