In
the wake of the collapse of Cancun
world trade negotiations, Bangladesh
is preparing for the official talks
in Geneva by December 15 this year
and the next ministerial meet in
Hong Kong in 2005.
Against the backdrop of widespread
criticism that Dhaka went to Cancun
with wrong agenda and failed to
look after its own interests, Commerce
Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury
said Bangladesh instead achieved
successes at the global trade talks.
"We are getting ready for the
next round of the official-level
trade talks in Geneva," said
Khosru while speaking as chief guest
at a dialogue on "Cancun WTO
Ministerial: An Ex Post Assessment"
at the city's CIRDAP Auditorium
yesterday.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
and Economic Reporters' Forum co-organised
the dialogue. The
commerce minister as chief guest
and former commerce and industries
minister of the past Awami League
government Tofail Ahmed as special
guest attended the dialogue chaired
by M Sayeeduzzaman, former finance
minister and member of the Trustee
Board of the CPD
"The
Dhaka Declaration was the basis
of our negotiations at the trade
talks and we were very successful
at Cancun," Khosru said.
He said Bangladesh's first concern
was getting access to the developed
countries' market, which was incorporated
in the Dhaka Declaration earlier
as the priority agenda for the
least developed countries (LDCs).
The free movement of natural persons
was second on the agenda in the
Dhaka Declaration although many
Sub-Saharan and African countries
were not interested in it, and
the third was agricultural subsidy.
All these issues were incorporated
in the draft text of the ministerial
declaration, which was a recognition
to the Bangladesh's concerns,
he said.
"The
way the draft text came at Cancun
was a great achievement for Bangladesh,"
he said adding, "The text
is going to be used as a reference
in all future trade talks, including
the next meeting in Geneva."
The
commerce minister observed that
the cotton issue was not a concern
of Bangladesh. "It was taken
as a humanitarian issue instead
of a trade issue at the WTO ministerial,"
he said.
Khosru also emphasised capacity
building for future trade negotiations.
"The government has set up
the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute
(BFTI) to take care of capacity
building of both public and private
sectors in the country."
He
said all future commercial counsellors
who will be working at the Bangladesh
missions abroad would be trained
at the BFTI. "If the government
is satisfied with their performances,
they will get appointment as commercial
counsellors."
