The Department of Trade (DoT) under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment, in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has initiated a three-day workshop on Identifying Potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA)  Partners and Developing Negotiation Capacity from 28-30th April 2025.

The workshop brought together representatives from 15 key government agencies and resource speakers from the ADB. Over the course of three days, the participants engaged in comprehensive sessions focused on the identification and prioritization of potential FTA partners, drafting model trade agreement texts, and utilizing data analytics tools to support evidence-based negotiation strategies. The workshop also emphasized on building the team, giving all the relevant agencies a better understanding of the negotiation process, and providing practical tools each  can use going forward.