The government will sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Nepal soon to boost trade between the two South Asian nations, Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said today.

Bangladesh and Nepal have many things in common and both of them are going to be graduated from the least developed country category in 2026, he said.

The commerce secretary is hopeful that the PTA will be signed soon after getting final nod from the Nepalese side.

Ghosh made the comments at a business networking meeting between the leaders of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and the visiting business delegation of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Nepal.

The meeting took place on the premises of the DCCI in the capital.

The 13-member CNI delegation came to Dhaka yesterday and will leave for Nepal on December 16, the DCCI said in a statement.

Bangladesh is a very big market with a huge consumer base especially in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector and Bangladesh has to import a large quantity of consumer items like edible oil, lentil and sugar, the commerce secretary said.

He also urged Nepali businessmen to take benefit of this opportunity.

He also termed that the memorandum of cooperation (MoC) signed between the DCCI and the CNI at the meeting is a milestone for bilateral trade and commerce.

Rizwan Rahman, DCCI president, chaired the networking meeting where he and Vishnu Kumar Agarwal, CNI president, signed the MoC on behalf of their organisations.