The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on March 7 voiced concern over the country’s bad performance in international trade due to poor negotiation skills as 21 out of the 44 Bangladesh missions abroad failed to reach targets in first six months of the current fiscal. A DCCI delegation, led by its President Hossain Khaled, met with Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury to express their concern and made a 17point recommendation to boost the external trade and remittance.

The DCCI suggested review of the list of products and items enjoying preferential and duty-free access because most of these products are redundant making least contribution to export growth. It called for efforts to send teachers, engineers, nurses, doctors, accountants and IT professionals from Bangladesh to Muslim countries alongside unskilled and semiskilled work forces. It said D8 and OICTIPS could be the vehicles to increase Bangladesh’s trade with the Muslim nations.

The DCCIs recommendations include visa-free travel or visa on arrival among SAARC countries and visa on arrival in ASEAN countries as well as proactive role by commercial wings of the Bangladesh missions abroad to highlight exportable commodities like leather, agro-products, fruits and vegetables along with RMG so they could play a better role in export diversification.

The chamber also called for simplification of rules and regulations on sending remittance by Bangladeshi labour force because red tape forces many to send their earnings through illegal channels. If the red tape can be reduced, they said, additional remittance will easily jump by another US$1.52 billion annually. They suggested setting up of separate channels for immigration and customs at the airports for expatriate Bangladeshi workers who brought in $4 billion in foreign currency earning or remittances last year.

Talking to the reporters, foreign affairs advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said they discussed how to expedite cooperation between the government and the private sector to increase the country’s export and expand the export basket. He said Bangladesh would raise the issue of visa-free travel among the SAARC countries. Replying to a question, he said the government would take up the matter of reintroduction of on-arrival visa at Hong Kong with the Hong Kong authorities.