Chittagong, Bangladesh: Commerce Secretary M. Ghulam Hossain will lead a 16-member delegation comprising officials from different ministries and divisions to the Joint Trade Commission (JTC) meeting that will be held on July 19 in Rangoon, according to official sources.
The last JTC meeting was held on September 22 last year in Dhaka.
Sources also said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is making preparations for the foreign office consultation for which it sought opinions from other ministries.
The government is likely to offer ten river ports and jetties to Burma for use in exchange for similar facilities from that country to boost trade between the two neighboring countries. The plan was discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Bangladesh Tariff Commission on July 12, with the commerce secretary in the chair.
A shipping ministry official who attended the meeting said they also reviewed the present situation of the river ports and jetties. The ports and jetties include Frigi Bazaar Jetty in the Chittagong port area, BIWTC one and two jetties, Cox’s Bazaar Nurchari Ghat, Teknaf, LGRD Jetties, Naryanganj Khanpur jetties, Khulna speedboat Ghat, and Rocket Ghat Jetty of Khulna. The offer will be presented at the Bangladesh-Burma (JTC) meeting on July 19 in Rangoon.
“Commerce ministry officials said Myanmar has vast unutilized lands, where there is scope to produce food grains. Being handicapped by various international sanctions the army-ruled nation can hardly trade with Western countries.”
