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BIMST-EC Meet

FTA deal signed, door kept open for Dhaka

Star Report
The commerce ministers of all BIMST-EC member states except Bangladesh yesterday signed a framework agreement on a free trade area (FIA) in the Thai resort town of Phuket, keeping an option open for Dhaka to join die deal at a later dale, report agencies.
The sixth BIMST-EC ministerial meeting, which concluded yesterday, also decided that the grouping’s summit this year would be held in Bangkok and thereafter take place on a two-year rotational basis.
The two-day meet also agreed
that Bangladesh would host next senior officials' meeting of the grouping in September this year and the next ministerial meeting in February next year.
The meeting adopted a joint statement recommending trilateral highway links among Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, coastal shipping, human resources development and sustainable management of fisheries resources in the BayofBengal.
To facilitate business travel within the BIMST-EC region, the meeting agreed to issue long-term multiple visas and undertake studies on the introduction of BIMST-EC business card.
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and his counterparts from other member countries of the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand - Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC) attended the meet. They and the Thai prime minister witnessed the signing of the FTAaccord.
Bangladesh pulled out of the FTA talks Saturday, demanding compensation for any revenue loss resulting from dropping of tariffs, ignoring other members' assurances that its concerns could be addressed within the agreement.
Commerce ministry officials said Bangladesh's position over tariff reduction issue was not new. They believe the main reason for Bangladesh's not being a party to the deal this time was the absence of Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the meeting, who was forced to stay back home due to illness. Tariff Commission Chairman MA Taslim led the commerce ministry team.
"As per provision, only the commerce ministers are supposed to sign the documents and Bangladesh may sign it later on," a commerce ministry official said yesterday. "The issue of revenue compensation for tariff reduction should have been resolved by last evening."
The framework agreement stipulates preferential treatment including suitable timeframes for tariff reduction for the least developed countries (LDCs). The accord also elaborates that India, Sri Lanka and Thailand would get five years while Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar would get 10 years for tariff reduction.
Nepal and Bhutan have recently joined the originally five-member grouping formed in 1997.
Tariffs would begin to be reduced in mid-2006, with products designated for 'fast-track' treatment to be traded on a zero-tariff basis by mid-2009 for the three developed members - India, Sri Lanka and Thailand - and by mid-2011 for the poorer members - Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
The negotiations on trade in goods under the framework agreement would begin in July next.