WTO Brazil Meet
Tokyo to support Dhaka's duty-free access demand
Unb, Dhaka
Japan has assured Bangladesh of its support in getting duty-free access of its products to the global market in the coming WTO meeting to be held in Brazil this month.Japanese Ambassador Masayuki Inoue made the assurance when he met Commerce Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed at his Secretariat office yesterday. The envoy told the minister that his country would support Bangladesh in principle in the WTO talks. Japan is also interested to extend its support in taking effective measures for checking river erosion in Bangladesh, the envoy said. The commerce minister requested the diplomat to take steps to import more products from Bangladesh to reduce the existing trade gap between the two countries. "Japan can import jute, jute goods, leather, leather goods, readymade garments and tea," he said. Hafiz Uddin Ahmed called upon the Japanese government to sign bilateral agreements with Bangladesh to bolster trade and business relations. First Secretary of Japan Embassy Kaji Nitta was also present at the meeting. In FY 2004-05, Bangladesh exported goods worth US$ 122.41 million to Japan against the import of US$ 547.15 million.
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