Bangladesh is poised to become the source of most of the European Union’s (EU) apparel as China, the largest apparel supplier worldwide, is witnessing a decrease in its share of trade with the bloc. 

Bangladesh and other graduating least-developed countries (LDCs) might not have received a clear-cut extension of the current duty-free trade benefit at the ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that concluded today (June 17, 2022), but their demand was recognised at the declaration.

As feared, the Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 10-13, 2017 ended in failure. It failed to even produce the customary ministerial declaration reiterating the centrality of the global trading system and the importance of trade as a driver of development.