Go-ahead to signing MoU between BSTI and BIS
Sunday, 3 June 2007
The council of advisers at its weekly meeting approved Saturday a proposal on signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to boost Bangladesh's exports to India.
The proposed MoU is expected to remove the existing non-tariff barrier relating to testing by the BIS that Bangladesh faces in exporting products to India, an official handout said.
Under the proposal, the BSTI has been given the responsibilities with regard to quality control, testing and certification of Bangladeshi products destined for India, it mentioned.
Chaired by the Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the council also approved a draft agreement on "Capital investment, Develop-ment and Preservation." to be signed between governments of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Arabia has already given its approval to the bilateral investment agreement, which has been finalised under a consensus between the Saudi and Bangladesh governments.
Besides, the council meeting, in principle, approved the draft 'Grameen Bank (amendment) Ordinance 2007, the handout noted.
Provisions for reducing the stake of the government and its agencies in the Grameen Bank, and also reducing the number of government-nominated directors to the bank's Board of Directors have been proposed in the amended ordinance, it noted.
Under the amendment, the power of appointing chairman has been given to the board of directors while the Securities and Exchange Commission will been given the authority in respect to selling of bonds and credit documents of the Bank, instead of the government.
Expansion of the Grameen Bank's operation across the country has also been proposed in the amendment, it added.
The meeting also approved ratification of an agreement on establishment of SAARC Food Bank, which was signed in New Delhi during the 14th SAARC Summit held in April last.
The meeting, however, gave its nod to a proposal for appointment of an experienced IT consultant of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on a 'voluntary labour' basis to introduce machine-readable passports and machine-readable VISA at the Immigration and Passport Departments.
The meeting has been told that many countries in the world would introduce machine-readable passport and VISA by 2010.