Duty-free access of LDCs products to developed nations: Bangladesh

Dhaka, May 28 (UNI) Bangladesh today urged the G-8 Summit leaders to ensure 'special and differential treatment' to least developed countries (LDCs) and developing countries in WTO dialogue.

Chief Advisor of interim caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed made the appeal in separate letters to the G-8 leaders who are meeting at Heiligendamn in Germany from June 6 to 8.

Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury handed over the copies of the letter to the envoys of the G-countries--US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Russia stationed in Dhaka.

In his letter, the Chief Advisor said,'' The Doha Development Round started dialogue with a promise to ensure duty-free access of LDCs products to the markets of developed countries. This has not yet yielded any fruitful result. The developing and Least Developed Countries have opened up their markets for the developed countries; but they (developed nations) did not reciprocate in that way.'' Referring to the WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in 2005, the Chief Advisor said, ''The last impediment to the duty-free access came from that meeting. Although the Hong Kong meeting provided duty-free and quota-free access of 97 per cent products of the LDCs, but the remaining three percent 'trap' created obstacle for the poor countries to get duty-free access to their important products into the developed countries' markets.'' Bangladesh being the largest LDC, the chief advisor requested the G-8 leaders to ensure the legal basis for issues like ''special and differential treatment'' for the products from developing and least developed countries in next WTO dialogue.

Dr Ahmed, a former bureaucrat of the World Bank, also requested to open up service sectors under Mode 4 allowing free movement of labourers, which will benefit the LDCs like Bangladesh.

He said Bangladesh has enough skilled and unskilled manpower to export.

The chief advisor said despite challenges from globalisation, Bangladesh has immensely advanced socially and economically by adopting macro-economic policy and with the cooperation of its development partners.

Dr Ahmed hoped that the international community, particularly G-8 countries will extend all cooperation to developing nations like Bangladesh in future.

He hoped that the request from Bangladesh would be reflected in the G-8 summit declaration.

German Ambassador to Bangladesh Frank Meyke, whose country is hosting the G-8 summit, appreciated Bangladesh's move, saying that Dhaka has taken the opportunity to make G-8 aware about some particular interest during the deliberations of the G-8 countries.

Talking to reporters, he said G-8 Ambassadors have very much welcomed this initiative from Bangladesh and ''we are glad and confident that G-8 will take up this initiative in a positive way''.

UNI