ICC conference

The conference on 'Economic Governance and Challenges of Multilateralism', organised by the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh, saw Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra delivering his keynote speech following its formal inauguration by Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The two leaders addressed some issues concerning world and regional trade.

The points made by them are important both in the contexts of multilateral trade and expansion of bilateral ties. The Thai prime minister attached great value to cooperation among the Asian countries and offered tariff concessions to Bangladesh on another 101 items -- a clear testimony to his conviction carrying much weight when it comes to dealing with regional trade partners. He has also assured his Bangladesh counterpart of cooperation in all other fields where Bangladesh may seek Thai assistance.

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So, from the standpoint of bilateralism, Thailand and Bangladesh have made tangible progress. However, the main thrust of the meet was on multilateral trading which had suffered a big setback at Cancun. Our prime minister pointed out certain limitations that the developing countries are beset with in the world of trade. Debt burdens and the failure to attain the desired level of export diversification stand in the way of the developing economies gaining the much-needed momentum. She also referred to market distortions by the rich nations still propping up sectors like agriculture through subsidies. That was indeed the point of discord in Cancun where the developing nations took a firm position against domination of world trade by a few rich nations.

The prime minister has actually raised some issues which were pushed to the fore by coalitions of developing countries in successive trade meets. However, the idea of global trade based on the principle of equality and fair play will never materialise as long as the playing field remains uneven.