"No representatives participate in most of the trade negotiations held at the WTO headquarters due to the dearth of skilled manpower in the Bangladesh's Geneva mission and lack of finance to send negotiators from the country," said Mostafa Abid Khan, deputy chief of Bangladesh Tariff Commission.

Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) organised the roundtable on 'Bangladesh Agenda for WTO Negotiation' in Dhaka.

Dr Hafiz GA Siddiqi, vice chancellor of North South University, attended the seminar as chief guest, while Mahbubur Rahman, president of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh, moderated the discussion. Abid also suggested direct negotiation with the US for getting market access facilities under the WTO rules.

Mahbubur Rahman said, "We need to draw our own ways to find market and become more competitive for sustaining in the world competition."