BD has great potential to go forward: UNCTAD secy gen

Bangladesh is doing well and it has great potential to go forward, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Dr Mukhisa Kituyi said Sunday.
The visiting UNCTAD secretary general was talking to the media after a views exchange meeting with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed at the latter's secretariat office.
Bangladesh is now on the right track. It has 160 million (16 crore) people and the GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate of the country is more than six per cent every fiscal. This indicates that the country will not take much time to get out of the level of an LDC (least developed country), he said.
Bangladesh is doing well day by day and also has great potential to go forward, for this the country can expect to move forward at the same level as the world economy, he said.
Dr Mukhisa Kituyi stressed that politicians of the country should think about sustainable development and poverty reduction.
He assured of necessary help to graduate Bangladesh from an LDC.
The commerce minister briefed reporters after the views exchange meeting with the UNCTAD secretary general.
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said many countries in the world are providing duty- and quota-free (DFQF) access of some 97 per cent of Bangladeshi export products to their market.
"But I have no hesitation to say that instead of giving the DFQF facility to our products, USA is imposing various conditions like improvement in labour standards in the garments industry."
Bangladesh pays some US$ 880 million to the US government in duty for its exports ever year, he mentioned.
Dr Mukhisa Kituyi arrived in Dhaka Saturday last to attend a two-day international conference in the city.
Meanwhile, Germany expressed interest to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving Tk 10 million with Bangladesh for the development of country's the garment industry.
A German delegation, led by Parliamentary State Secretary of Germany and also Governor of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Hans Joachim Fuchtel met with the commerce minister at his secretariat office on the day. They expressed their interest to sign the MoU.

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