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Dhaka for SAFTA, lukewarm on FTA

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA Dec. 28. Bangladesh seems to be divided over the proposed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Asian neighbours, including India, while it has agreed in principle to strengthen its commitment to the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).

The top policy planners in the Khaleda Zia Government have reportedly preferred to adopt a `wait and watch' policy on whether to agree to sign FTAs with the neighbours, particularly India, or reject them. Sources said a positive announcement on the FTA with India was likely in the proposed talks between the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, and her Indian counterpart, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on the sideline of the SAARC summit in Islamabad from January 4 to 6.

Press reports have suggested that Begum Zia had discussed the pros and cons of the FTA with two senior members of her Cabinet on Saturday and decided that Dhaka would not make its position clear in view of pending negotiations on the FTA.It is learnt that Dhaka would expect reciprocity from New Delhi for going ahead with the move to sign the FTA.

It is learnt that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which met on Saturday, failed to reach any conclusion on how and whether to proceed with the FTA talks with India in particular, and with Pakistan and Sri Lanka in general.

Begum Zia also had an exclusive meeting on trade issues with six Ministers the same day.

"We discussed the FTA issue, but we are not certain about how much we will benefit out of them," the Finance and Planning Minister, Saifur, told reporters after he chaired the meeting of the Cabinet Committee.Meanwhile, Bangladesh has called for creating an equitable free trade area within the SAARC region to build a base for facing collectively the challenges stemming from globalisation. The Commerce Minister, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, made the call as the SAARC trade-show began here on Saturday."Trade barriers will not help forge regional integration," he told the inaugural ceremony. Mr. Khosru made a strong plea for allowing free flow of products within the South Asian region to enhance intra-regional trade, which holds tremendous untapped potential for growth.

Speaking on the occasion, India's Minister of State for Trade and Industry,

S. Mookherjee, said, "the regional approach relies on essentially pooling of scarce per-capita resources rather than frittering it away on replicating a similar exercise carried out just across the borders."

He called for increased participation in each other's fair to gain leverage for a variety of products into markets represented by these fairs.

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