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| Sunday, 29 January 2006 |
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Lanka Bangaladesh to strengthen trade ties Altaf Hossain Chaudhury, Minister of Commerce of Bangaladesh paid a courtesy call on Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Minister of Trade, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Marketing Development and Highways at his office last week after his visit to Bangladesh's first trade fair in Colombo. The two ministers discussed ways of strengthening and expanding trade and economic co-operation between the two countries at bilateral, regional and international levels. The importance of establishing Friendship Associations affiliated to the Chambers of Commerce and Industries of the two countries was highlighted during the discussions to create a platform for the business community of the two countries to interact more frequently with each other to establish business contacts. The Bangladesh Minister welcomed the suggestion by Minister Fernandopulle to hold a country exhibition in Bangladesh and proposed that November/December would be the best period so that Sri Lankan exporters can also attend the Dhaka International Trade Fair during this period. The Bangladesh Minister assured his fullest cooperation and assistance to Sri Lanka in organising such an event. The possibility of introducing environment friendly jute based shopping bags to Sri Lanka from Bangladesh was discussed at the meeting. The two ministers also focused on introducing new products to each other's market. The issue of technical standards being applied by Bangladesh for coconut oil was discussed at the meeting. The export of coconut oil from Sri Lanka to Bangladesh has been drastically reduced due to the revision of technical standards by Bangladesh in 1990. Based on the facts highlighted by Minister Fernandopulle, the Bangladesh Minister agreed to take up this matter with the relevant authorities in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been the main market for Sri Lankan coconut oil. The need to persuade the European Union to introduce flexible rules of origin under the EU GSP scheme for products of common export interest to the two countries such as apparel was emphasized by the two ministers. They agreed on the need to continue their dialogue in pursuing common objectives to achieve the desired results for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries. A.M. Yakub Ali, High Commissioner for Bangladesh in Sri Lanka, Mir
Shahabuddin Mohammad, Vice Chairman, Export Promotion Board of Bangladesh,
Brig. Gen. Md. Zakir Hossain, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Export
Processing Zone Authority, Ms. Abida Islam, Counsellor, Bangladesh High
Commission, Colombo accompanied the Bangladesh minister H. R. Mithrapala,
Deputy Minister of Trade, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Marketing
Development, Dr. R.M.K. Ratnayake, Secretary, Minister of Trade, Commerce,
Consumer Affairs and Marketing Development K.J. Weerasinghe, Director
General of Commerce, P.H.J.B. Sugathadasa, Additional Secretary of the
Ministry and senior officials of the Department of Commerce also
participated in the discussions. |
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