The government is going to form a national committee comprising stakeholders from public and private sectors to uphold the country's interest in the upcoming WTO negotiations, Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury said yesterday.
He said Bangladesh has still chances to reap benefits from the upcoming Geneva and Washington talks beginning in April next year as the structure of the duty-free facility had not been worked out in Hong Kong.
"So, we have to look forward to get readymade garments on the list of preferential export items," he said.
The commerce minister was speaking at a dialogue titled 'WTO Hong Kong Ministerial: Lesson for Bangladesh' in Dhaka. Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Centre for Sustainable Development, a NGO, jointly organised the dialogue.
Former commerce secretary Syed Alamgir Farrouk Chowdhury presented a keynote paper at the dialogue, moderated by Mahbub Ullah, chairman of Sonali Bank.
Among others, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, former commerce minister, Mir Nasir Hossain, FBCCI president, Mustafizur Rahman, research director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Mahfuz Ullah, secretary general of Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD), and Annisul Huq, former president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), spoke at the dialogue.
The speakers also said Bangladesh failed to get adequate supports from LDC countries in the Hong Kong negotiations due to lack of proper groundwork.
Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said Mode-4 issue, one of the main agendas of Bangladesh in WTO negotiations, was totally dropped in Hong Kong. The government should highlight the issue in the upcoming negotiations, he suggested.
Although Bangladesh failed to maintain strong lobby in the Hong Kong negotiations, the meeting also offers some opportunities to Bangladesh. As per WTO negotiations, Bangladesh can export more to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries excepting US and Japan by 2008 with zero tariff, said Mustafizur Rahman.
He said Bangladesh exports 85 percent of its total export to the OECD countries.
Annisul Huq called for strong lobby to get the TRADE Bill-2005 passed by US Congress.
The approval of trade bill will Bangladesh's apparels enter US market, he added.
Replying to a question, the commerce minister said it was extremely difficult to bring all LDCs under a common platform because everyone had its own agenda.
He also said Bangladesh's negotiation capacity was weak in Hong Kong talks.
