Int'l civil society meet for LDC cause starts tomorrow
Staff Correspondent
A three-day international civil society forum meeting begins in the capital tomorrow in order to promote the interests and concerns of least developed countries (LDCs) in the ongoing negotiation under the Doha Development Agenda (DDA).Forty-nine participants from 27 countries, mostly LDCs, will participate in the meeting organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in connection with the forthcoming WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting to be held in December this year. Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of National Advisory Committee on Pre-Hong Kong International Civil Society Forum and president of the International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh, revealed this at a press briefing at the National Press Club yesterday. Issues like the state of Doha Development Round, agriculture, non-agriculture market access, GATS, TRIPS, trade facilitation, implementation issues, special and differential treatment and trade related technical assistance will be discussed at the meeting, CPD Executive Director Deba-priya Bhattacharya said at the briefing. "The forum will put pressure on the ministerial meeting to consider interests of producers and consumers in the negotiation which were neglected for long," Bhattacharya said, adding that the meeting will also help setting LDC governments' stance on the negotiation. The forum will also help create an opportunity to advocate stakeholders' concerns and provide a platform for interaction on issues of concern among various civil society organisations, networks and special interest and advocacy groups from various regions of the world, he said. At the end of the meeting, the forum will prepare "Dhaka Declaration" on civil society's views regarding LDC perspectives on the Hong Kong Agenda. Action Aid International, Consumers International, Enda Tiers Monde, EU LDC Network, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Oxfam International, South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment and Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiation Institute are the co-organisers of the forum. Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury will participate in the inaugural session as the chief guest while Foreign Ministry Advisor Reaz Rahman will attend the closing session. Project Coordinator of the Gonoshasthya Kendro Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies Chairman Zafrul Hasan, SUPRA Secretary General Rezaul Karim and CPD Research Director Mostafizur Rahman, CPD executives Fatema Yusuf and Dr Moazzem attended the briefing.
| 
