The WTO mini-ministerial meeting held last month in Geneva yielded some positive outcomes for Bangladesh, which will have to be processed carefully for reaping the benefit, trade experts and policy makers said Monday.
They laid emphasis on building a coalition among the SAARC countries and reaching consensus with African countries to take a common stand in the next World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiating meetings in a bid to securing more benefit from the developed world.
The observations came at a dialogue on "Collapse of recent WTO talks and Bangladesh: experience and options" in the city Monday.
The last WTO mini-ministerial meeting was held in Geneva from July 21-31 last where 31 countries participated to reach a consensus on different trade issues.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a local private sector research institution, organised the dialogue to share the experience of the last WTO meeting and explore possible options open for Bangladesh in the future negotiations.
Presided over by the chairmen of the CPD Prof Rehman Sobhan, ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh to the WTO, United Nations offices and other international organisations in Geneva and Vienna Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya presented the keynote paper.
Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, commerce secretary Feroz Ahmed, ex-ambassador Farooq Sobhan, adviser of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Manzur Ahmed, executive director of the CPD Prof Mustafizur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury and others spoke on the occasion.
Dr Bhattacharya said Bangladesh, in the Geneva meeting, had suggested that the developed countries should allow the least developed countries (LDCs) "commercially meaningful market access" instead of the existing duty-free quota-free access (DFQF).
Besides, Dhaka in the "green room" meeting in Geneva also raised the migration of the natural persons from LDCs to developed nations under the Mode-4 of the WTO, he said.
"The meeting included the Bangladesh's proposals and discussed on the issues. The US has, in principle, agreed to give a "meaningful enhanced market access for all LDCs", Dr Bhattacharya added.
He said Bangladesh's another important outcome was building of a consensus among the SAARC countries to take a common stand in the WTO talks.
The ambassador to WTO in Geneva urged Bangladesh to reach a consensus with some African countries, which took stand against Bangladesh, other LDCs and SAARC countries aiming to get fruitful results in future.
Hossain Zillur said: "I do not want to say the Geneva meeting has collapsed rather I will say it has not been completed. I believe the member countries will reach a consensus in the future."
"As Bangladesh has been able to get some issues favouring the LDCs included in the last mini-ministerial meeting, it gained some outcomes. Now the country's negotiating capability will have to be strengthened in the next meetings."
