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Speakers at a function Thursday stressed the need for capacity building in the context of globalisation to halt marginalisation of least developed countries (LDCs) under the, multilateral trading system. They also said there should be adequate knowledge and awareness on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues among all sections of the society. Organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Centre for Trade Policy and Law (CTPL) from Ottawa, the certificate distribution ceremony of the "Trade Policy Appreciation Workshop on WTO and Bangladesh" was addressed by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Reaz Rahman as the chief guest. Chaired by member of CPD board of trustees M Syeduzzaman, the function was also addressed by Head of Development Cooperation of Canadian High Commission Robert Beadle and Emeritus Director of the CTPL Dennis Browne and CPD Research Director Mustafizur Rahman.

Referring to the collapse of Cancun Ministerial meeting and recent negotiations in Geneva, Reaz Rahman said despite those failures, multilateral trade talks under the WTO will continue. He felt failure in Cancun was a temporary setback and the members have to take lessons from it for being successful in next ministerial meeting in Hong Kong. He, however, said Bangladesh reaffirmed its position for implementation of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) by the end of 2004.

The state minister praised CPD's role for improving under-standing on trade issues in both, public and private sector. He also laid emphasis on organising similar type of policy appreciation workshops, which will greatly contribute towards generating awareness about Bangladesh's interest in the context of the ongoing regional trade negotiations.

The three-day workshop, which began on January 27 last, was participated by 40 professionals from various ministries of the government, academia, training institutions, trade bodies, media, NGOs and civil society organisations. The participants were exposed to various systemic and agreement specific issues of the ongoing negotiations in the WTO. One distinctive feature of the workshop was a simulation exercise by the participants on how negotiations are carried out in the WTO, particularly on systemic issues and special and differential treatment (SDT) of the LDCs.