M Morshed Khan said, "Unless adopting quality management system in producing any product, you will certainly be kicked out from the competitive global market."

He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a three-day Quality Fair 2006 at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Association of QMS Professionals (BAQP) in association with Katalyst and Strategica Limited organised the fair. Dewan Sultan Ahmed, vice-president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), MA Momen, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, Ahmed H Kabir, president of BAQP, and Rajib Parvez, chairman of Strategica Limited, also spoke at the inaugural function.

The fair aims to highlight the companies that have achieved management standards such as ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and HACCP certifications and the QMS consulting and certification houses that offer services for gaining such management standards.

A total of 25 companies, including Abul Khair Steel, BSB, Certification International, Daffodil PC, MSS, NHPC, ORI, PMTC, QIA, RDER, Shah Cement, StarShip, SEYLON, URS, USAID and other QMS certified organisations, are showcasing their products at 25 stalls at the fair.

Organisers said the prospective companies seeking certification will have the opportunity of exchanging views with the companies that have already achieved management standards.

Terming ISO certification a short-term accreditation for a company, the foreign minister said it can be achieved by maintaining different parameters. But it should not be used as a signboard, he added.

"If we want to survive in the world's competitive market, we have to do better than ISO parameter," he observed.

The minister also urged the stakeholders to take initiative for developing human resources.

He lamented that so many people in the industrial sector are not well aware of quality control.

"We have to create awareness about quality management. Today, awareness is the biggest challenging issue to control quality at every level of the society," he said.

The FBCCI vice-president said many international buyers now want ISO certified products. "So, as part of the country's export diversification, we have to move forward to international standard line," he added.

In the present global trade scenario, non-tariff barrier appears to be a major obstacle than the tariff barriers be, said the DCCI president, adding "Keeping this in mind we have to be aware of quality management control to examine sanitary, phytosanitary measures in the production level".

Quality is a matter of courage, said Mahfuz Anam. "There is no other alternative to maintaining quality, as consumers are becoming more conscious about quality of products, he said.

Citing an example that through improving quality of their products the Japanese have now grabbed the global market, he said the products made by them in the 60s had no quality, though those were on sale at the cheapest price at that time.

"Without quality, every other way to succeed in business is a short-cut way. So, everyone should look at the global market to find out the reasons why a company is respected while the other is denied," he said.

Quality is also integrated with a company management, he maintained, adding that compromise with quality may be a blunder for a company.

The BAQP president said the society is suffering at every level because of lack of quality control. So, quality management should be improved, he added.

During the fair, a number of seminars will also take place which aim to specifically highlight QMS and related issues. However, the name of any participant in any seminar is required to be registered through visiting www.baqp.org/qualityfair.