DHAKA: The 2-day seventh meeting of the Bangladesh-Myanmar Joint Trade Commission (JTC) took place at Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, from January 14.

Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed led the Bangladesh delegation comprising officials from ministries concerned, leaders of business bodies including FBCCI president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, and Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Anup Kumar Chakma.

Meanwhile, a 43-member Myanmar team, led by Deputy Minister for Commerce Dr Pwint San, participated in the JTC meeting.

Bangladesh and Myanmar were agreed to work out ways to increase the volume of the annual bilateral trade to $500 million from existing $100 million through establishing greater connectivity.

Mahbub Ahmed underscored the importance of connectivity and expressed satisfaction over the start of operation of flights on Dhaka-Yangon-Dhaka route and finalisation of the draft shipping agreement between the two countries.

Issues related to border trade, cooperation in agriculture, food, fisheries, power and mineral resources sectors figured in the meeting.

Shipping arrangement; exchange of business delegation; participation in trade fairs; popularising business through the Letter of Credit; exploring possibilities of reducing duty on certain products and finalisation of bilateral investment agreement also discussed in the meeting.

BDST: 1830 HRS, JAN 18, 2014
Edited by: Morshed Jahan Mithun, Newsroom Editor/ RoR