Kaladan News
Date:
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Bangladesh, Burma Signed Coastal Shipping Agreement
Chittagong, July 28: Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a coastal shipping service agreement in Rangon on Monday to increase trading between the two
countries, according to The Daily Star of toady.
Joint Secretary of Shipping Taiyebur Rahman signed the protocol on behalf of Bangladesh government.
Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain
Choudhury and Deputy Minister for Transport of
Government of the Union of Burma were present in the signing ceremony.
The first meeting of Bangladesh-Burma Joint Trade Commission was held earlier
on Monday at the Grand Plaza Park Hotel of Rangoon.
Bangladesh commerce minister and Commerce Minister of Burma Brig.
Gen. Pysone Se led the delegation of their respective
sides.
In his opening speech, the Bangladesh commerce minister mentioned that a number of measures for
facilitating bilateral trade have been undertaken such as signing of Account
Trade Agreement, Coastal Shipping Agreement and Construction of Road Link which
are very important measures for smooth movement of
goods.
The commerce minister urged the Burma government to work together more closely for
implementation of these trade-facilitating measures as fast as possible.
In the meeting both sides agreed in principle to increase the amount of bank
draft from $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 under the Border Trade. Both Burma and Bangladesh emphasized the need for frequent visits of government and
private sector representatives of the two countries.
Bangladesh delegation stressed the need for construction of road
between the two countries. Burma government is working on the construction of road to
establish easy communication.
Burma side offered contract farming for Bangladesh investors. Under this, Bangladesh investors may grow agricultural produces and buy back the
products. Both sides agreed to form a working group for detail examination of
the procedure of contact farming.
Burma is potential market of Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals
products. The Bangladeshi delegation proposed to expedite registration process,
which was welcomed by the Burma authorities. ##
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