Commerce Minister Hafizuddin Ahmed received a letter this week from her in which she has sought suggestions from the Bangladesh minister about how the abandoned talks may be revived.

Susan has explained the background that led the talks to failure. It has created a dangerous retreat from realising an ambitious opening of free trade in the global scale, she pointed out in her letters to ministers and policymakers.

WTO Secretary General Pascal Lamy in postponing the talks last month said the major negotiating partners -- the developing and the developed countries -- remained locked in big differences. They have failed to narrow the gap in agreeing cuts to agricultural tariff and non-agricultural market opening by reducing tariff and subsidies.

He announced the postponement of the talks in an emergency general council meeting of the WTO and emphasised the need for a new political environment to drive the negotiations to a successful deal making.

It appears that moves have been in place at different levels now to create political environment and goodwill, and the contact by the US trade representative with commerce ministers of different countries immensely speaks of it.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh ambassador to Geneva has urged the WTO to implement the Hong Kong declaration relating to duty free and quota free market access of LDCs' exports sidestepping the deadlock in reaching a final deal.

The request was made recently by ambassador Dr Taufique Ali to secretary General Pascal Lamy, sources here said.

The Bangladesh move was taken in view of the uncertainly now prevailing following the postponement of the negotiation last month as big players differed on major tariff issues.

If negotiation faces inordinate delay how long the LDCs can wait for better treatment of their exports to which they have attached big hopes. Bangladesh's proposal have exactly made this case at a time when its apparel export to the USA is poised to benefit enormously from it, the sources said.

In another development, the G-20 group has called for a meeting in Brazil on September 9 and 10 to discuss new negotiating strategies to avoid further deadlock in the talks.

The Cairns group, to which countries like Australia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Canada belong, is also scheduled to meet in Sydney on September 20 to 22 to discuss new negotiating outlines.

Many such groups and moves are working worldwide and their purpose is to take the failed talks back on the track. The sources say, the talks cannot go indefinitely, contrary to it, there is a set timeframe when it should end.

It was originally scheduled for December 2006, but later the timeframe has been extended up to December 2008.

But seeing a longer prospect of hangover, the Bangladesh ambassador to Geneva where the WTO headquarters are located, has asked the secretary general to take the move for implementation of the Hong Kong offers to the LDCs without a look back.

The WTO ministerial conference at Hong Kong says all developed countries must offer 100 percent duty free and quota free market access to all exports from all LDCs.