It now needs to be decided whether Bangladesh should actively pursue a deferral of LDC graduation.

Bangladesh is yet to make any significant progress in its preparation to retain duty preference set to be withdrawn once it graduates from the group of the least-developed countries (LDCs).

Bangladesh will lose export of goods worth $5.28 billion in a year to its largest export destination, the European Union (EU), after its graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category because of erosion of preferential trade benefits, according to a study.