GM Qauder unhappy at B’desh’s performance among APTA nations
Dhaka, June 13 (UNB) - Commerce Minister GM Quader on Wednesday expressed concern over the country’s poor progress in trade compared to other Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) countries.
Speaking at a national seminar titled ‘APTA Business Implications for Bangladesh’, he said undoubtedly trade among APTA members was upward but Bangladesh’s achievement was not clear at all.
Ministry of Commerce, UNESCAP and ICCB jointly organised the seminar in the city.
Stressing on the need to exploit the markets of the APTA member states on the basis of given concessions, he said the commerce ministry was also trying to find out the problems and prospects into the agreement.
The minister urged the business community to put their best efforts to ensure an effective and speedy conclusion of the fourth round of the APTA.
“We expect a way for expansion of negotiations to the areas such as services, investment and trade facilitations after the round,” he added.
In his speech, Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB), said although APTA had a great potential to play a major role in promoting regional integration it was yet to become effective and beneficial for the members, especially for smaller countries like Bangladesh.
He said export and import data of Bangladesh with D-8 and BIMSTEC, SAFTA and APTA countries show that the trade with these blocks remains the same with total deficit increasing.
The seminar was also addressed, among others, by Dr Ravi Ratnayake, director of the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP, ATM Murtozza Reza Chowdhury, additional secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Mostafa Abid Khan, joint chief of Bangladesh Tariff Commission, Hu Wei, third secretary of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Dhaka, Jae Ho Jung, deputy director of the Multilateral Customs Cooperation Division, Republic of Korea, and Asif Ibrahim, president of DCCI.
Speaking at a national seminar titled ‘APTA Business Implications for Bangladesh’, he said undoubtedly trade among APTA members was upward but Bangladesh’s achievement was not clear at all.
Ministry of Commerce, UNESCAP and ICCB jointly organised the seminar in the city.
Stressing on the need to exploit the markets of the APTA member states on the basis of given concessions, he said the commerce ministry was also trying to find out the problems and prospects into the agreement.
The minister urged the business community to put their best efforts to ensure an effective and speedy conclusion of the fourth round of the APTA.
“We expect a way for expansion of negotiations to the areas such as services, investment and trade facilitations after the round,” he added.
In his speech, Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB), said although APTA had a great potential to play a major role in promoting regional integration it was yet to become effective and beneficial for the members, especially for smaller countries like Bangladesh.
He said export and import data of Bangladesh with D-8 and BIMSTEC, SAFTA and APTA countries show that the trade with these blocks remains the same with total deficit increasing.
The seminar was also addressed, among others, by Dr Ravi Ratnayake, director of the Trade and Investment Division, UNESCAP, ATM Murtozza Reza Chowdhury, additional secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Mostafa Abid Khan, joint chief of Bangladesh Tariff Commission, Hu Wei, third secretary of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Dhaka, Jae Ho Jung, deputy director of the Multilateral Customs Cooperation Division, Republic of Korea, and Asif Ibrahim, president of DCCI.
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