Dhaka plans to hold bilateral talks with some developed and developing countries to reap maximum benefit from the upcoming WTO negotiations.
The government is also contemplating to formulate a separate strategy to ensure its optimum market access to the world market under the WTO regime, a commerce ministry source said.
The final negotiations on decisions reached at the Hong Kong ministerial are supposed to be completed by 30 April at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. At the Hong Kong meeting, the developed and developing countries agreed to provide the 97 percent products from least developed countries (LDCs) with duty-free access.
An expert team has already started identifying products in an effort to keep those on the duty-free list of 97 percent items as decided in the last WTO ministerial.
A priority list of products will also be developed to exclude them from the 3 percent sensitive list of a few countries, including the US.
At the same time, Bangladesh will request the countries not to put the products, for which the country is getting GSP facility, on the sensitive list.
Earlier the commerce ministry formed three committees on market access, diversification of export and services sector comprising all stakeholders from the public and private sectors to develop strategies to protect the national interest.
The committees are supposed to submit their recommendations by February 28 to commerce ministry.
The committee sources said the members want extension of February 28 deadline of report submission.
Earlier, the commerce minister announced that a high-level government committee would be formed to evaluate the list of products and other strategies for the upcoming WTO Geneva meeting. But the committee is yet to be formed.
