US-Bangladesh trade agreement on February 9; adviser and secretary not there in person

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US-Bangladesh trade agreement on February 9; adviser and secretary not there in person 

Special Correspondent, Dhaka

Published: February 5, 2026, 13:24

                                Bangladeshi and American flags in a file image

Next Monday, February 9, in Washington, the capital of the United States, a trade agreement on reciprocal tariffs will be signed.

On February 8, however, the signing ceremony will start one day earlier. Despite this, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman and Commerce Advisor Sk Bashir Uddin would not be physically present at the two-day event.

On Thursday afternoon, our correspondent received separate phone confirmations of the issue from the Commerce Secretary and the Commerce Adviser.

Prothom Alo was informed by Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin that neither he nor the Commerce Secretary will be attending the signing ceremony in the United States.

Nonetheless, Bangladesh will send a five-person delegation to Washington for the occasion. The identities of the five members are listed in a government order (GO) that the Ministry of Commerce issued on February 3.

Khadija Nazneen, Head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Wing and Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce, will lead the delegation. Senior Assistant Secretary Sheikh Shamsul Arefin, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Commissioner Rais Uddin Khan, and Joint Secretaries Firoz Uddin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman make up the remaining four members.

The GO states that the group would leave Dhaka on Friday, February 6, and return to the nation on or around February 10.

At approximately 1:45 PM today, the Commerce Secretary and the Commerce Adviser departed Dhaka for Japan. Tomorrow, Friday, the Bangladesh–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (BJEPA) is set to be signed in Tokyo. To attend the three-day event from February 4–6, they are flying to Tokyo.

According to the government directive, the delegation for the Japan event includes four other officials in addition to the Commerce Secretary and the Commerce Adviser.

They are Senior Assistant Secretary Mohammad Hasib Sarkar, Deputy Secretary Mahbuba Khatun Minu, Joint Secretary Firoz Uddin Ahmed, and Ayesha Akter, Additional Secretary and Head of the Ministry of Commerce's Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Wing.

These four officials have already spent the last two days in Tokyo, with the exception of the Secretary and the Adviser. On or around February 7th, they are anticipated to return to Dhaka.

Prothom Alo was informed by Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman that they will return to Dhaka following the signing of the EPA with Japan.

The Commerce Secretary stated that the Commerce Adviser will sign the agreement online in response to a question over who would sign the deal with the US on behalf of Bangladesh.

Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin has already signed the contract in Dhaka, according to Ministry of Commerce sources. The delegation from Bangladesh will take the signed copy to Washington. US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer will sign the deal on behalf of the US.