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Move to coax trade bodies to rally round govt fails

STAR REPoRT
A move of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) to rally the business community behind the government in the current volatile political situation appears to have stumbled as it failed to persuade key business leaders to attend a meeting with the prime minister yesterday.
Sources said the BNP-leaning FBCCI leadership sought more time to lead a business team comprising chairs of the country's major trade bodies to a meeting with the PM apparently to strike a balance with the business leaders' visit to the opposition leader a day after the August-21 grenade attack.
FBCCI President Abdul Awal Mintoo and other directors yesterday met Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and discussed the country's current FROM PAGE 12
political situation. Although invited and coaxed by the FBCCI, most of the chiefs of the country's principal chambers and trade associations, except three, did not show up at the meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office at 3:30pm yesterday. They rather sought time to meet the PM separately.
The FBCCI had wrote to the chiefs of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association (BGMEA), International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-B), Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Bangladesh Textile Mills' Association (BTMA), Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters' Association (BFFEA), Bangladesh Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers' Association (BPMA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association (BKMEA), Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) , American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (Amcham), Bangladesh Insurance Association, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) and Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association inviting them to take part
in yesterday's meeting.
Except the chiefs of BTMA, BFFEA and BPMA and a representative of the DCCI, none of the invitees showed up in the meeting.
Sources said the FBCCI leadership felt embarrassed before the prime minister for its failure to persuade the business community to rally round the government in the current situation.
The FBCCI leaders at yesterday's meeting appreciated the government for its prompt action after the grenade attack to form a judicial probe body and invite Interpol to dig out the culprits.
A team led by ICC-B President Mahbubur Rahman met Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina on August 22, the day after the grenade attack that left 19 people killed and hundreds of other maimed, to show sympathy to the AL chief.
The team included the chiefs of BAB, BGMEA, BKMEA, MCCI, BTMA, DCCI, Amcham and Ficci. An FBCCI team led by its First Vice President Kamaluddin Ahmed met Hasina separately the same day in the afternoon. After returning from India, Mintoo also paid a visit to Hasina the same day in the evening.