|
|
Change Your Life! |
Pakistan likely to allow duty free access of Bangladesh tea |
|
News |
May 15, 2000
Dhaka,
May 14 (UNB) – Pakistan is likely to allow duty free access of
Bangladesh tea by the end of this year as the tea has good demand there. This
was stated by a member of a visiting Pakistani trade and investment
delegation while exchanging views with leaders of the Federation Of
Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) today (Sunday). “Your
tea is excellent in quality… But, increased domestic demand against
stagnant production in Bangladesh caused decline in tea export to
Pakistan,” said Mohammad Hanif Janoo, who imports tea from Bangladesh
for long. Buyers
in Bangladesh also remained very strong due to the increased domestic
demand compelling Pak importers to look for other markets, he told a
questioner from Bangladesh side about the declining trend of Pak Tea
import from Bangladesh. “Currently,
we are importing 7 million kilos of tea from Bangladesh… if the price of
your tea goes up, Bangladesh would loose its market to Vietnam,” he
said. FBCCI
president Abdul Awal Mintoo led Bangladesh side while Chairman of Latif
Jute Mills in Dhaka Yahya Ahmed Bawany led a 12-member delegation from
Pakistan. Both
the sides focused on ways of boosting bilateral trade, currently against
Bangladesh, and joint venture investment in Bangladesh. Like
duty free access of tea in Pakistan, Bangladesh businessmen proposed to
their Pakistani counterparts to convince Pakistani government for
facilitating duty-free access of some Bangladeshi products to Pakistan. “We
should go for bilateral trade,” said FBCCI president Mintoo. He
said SAPTA is on the verge of failure, and India has already made
significant progress in bilateral trade. So, bilateral trade could be an
alternative to boost cooperation, he added. Mintoo said the government of Bangladesh is currently divesting a number of state-owned jute mills, textile mills and engineering enterprises. “Entrepreneurs of Pakistan with their vast experiences may avail of these opportunities.” |