European Union-Bangladesh trade relations and their effect on Bangladesh economic growth

Md Belayet Hossain

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The main aim of the master’s thesis is to examine the trade relationship between the European Union and Bangladesh, as well as their impact on Bangladesh's economic growth, from 2001 to 2020. Based on the partial secondary objectives, this aim has been achieved. These were designed to identify and verify elements that might have an impact on Bangladesh's income per capita and economic development. Both theoretical and practical aspects of this thesis were discussed. The theoretical part includes the theoretical background of foreign trade theories, determinants of foreign trade development, international organizations. Moreover, the EU-Bangladesh bilateral agreement, the history of cooperation, as well as the methodological framework has included in this part. End of the theoretical part, the impact of international trade on economic growth are analysed. The practical section contains of the Reveal Comparative Advantage (RCA), the Balassa Index, commodity, and regional trade structure, net FDI inflows to Bangladesh, net bilateral aid inflows, and selected macroeconomic indicators to illustrate Bangladesh's economic performance. The econometric analysis was based on the time-series data at the end of the practical part. According to this analysis, all independent variables (net export with EU, net FDI inflows from EU, net bilateral aid inflows from EU) had a positive impact on Bangladesh's GDP per capita (dependent variable). The regression analysis results are presented, along with some recommendations.

Keywords

Bangladesh, EU, International trade, Trade structure, Trading partner, Revealed comparative advantage, Regression analysis, Per capita GDP, Net export, Foreign direct investment, Bilateral Aid

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 31. 3. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Elena Kuzmenko, Ph.D.
• Reader: Alena Hatskevich, externi

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Economics and Management

Master programme / field:
Economics and Management / Economics and Management