He termed the existing interest rates much higher compared to that in neighbouring countries and recommended that the interest rates should be further lowered to make Bangladeshi products competitive in the global market.

The recent decision of the central bank to raise cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 4 to 4.5 percent will continue to cause trouble to financial institutions for some more time and put pressure in the call money market, Rahman felt.

The ICC-B organised the two-day workshop on 'Moving into the New UCP' that began at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday.

Rahman underscored the need for preparing proper documents for international trade to avoid documentary discrepancies in letters of credit (L/C) transactions.

Problems between importers and exporters, dealing with a foreign counterpart, often arise when they get involved in business deals and do not use appropriate wordings in their contract to avoid any potential dispute.

"If dispute arises, neither the ICC nor the concerned bank can help them because of the inappropriate provisions in the contract," he explained.

ICC-B will also organise a workshop on 'Frauds in International Trade' for banks and financial institutions, importers, exporters, shipping agencies and carriers in November this year, Rahman said adding that international frauds are now growing at an alarming rate due to the extensive use of Internet.

Mamun Rashid, chairman of ICC Bangladesh Banking Committee and CEO of Citibank NA, Bangladesh, urged all concerned to be familiar with the fast changing technology and rapidly improving communications to safeguard business.

Gary Collyer, technical advisor on ICC Banking Commission in Paris, and Latifur Rahman, ICC-B vice-president, also spoke at the inaugural session of the workshop.

A total of 60 senior and mid-level executives from different banks, non-banking financial institutions, multinational companies, law firms and chambers of commerce are participating in the two-day workshop.