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."