Dhaka, Nov 17 (bdnews24.com)--Bangladesh will seek more manpower export from the least developed countries by developed nations and a cut in extra charges on their importing foods in the upcoming minister-level conference of the World Trade Organisation.

A 17-strong team, headed by commerce minister Faruq Khan, will join the conference at Geneva, Switzerland scheduled to take place from Nov 30-Dec 2.

Tariff Commission chairman Mojibur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Mustafizur Rahman, and representatives from different ministries, trade bodies and NGOs participated in the conference preparation meeting.

The meeting was headed by the commerce minister, Amitav Chakravarty, director general of the WTO cell under the commerce ministry, said on Tuesday.

The meeting discussed Bangladesh's position and strategies in the conference, meeting with the representatives from the SAARC, IDB and LDCs. It also discussed the issues on bilateral meetings with the WTO member countries.

Chakravarty said it is a regular conference where the scope of discussing demands is little. Despite this, Bangladesh will raise several issues.

The conference was supposed to be held every two years, but the session did not convene in 2007.

Bangladesh will discuss the progress on the decisions made at the Hong Kong conference in 2005 and closely watch the WTO chairman's speech so that no harmful issues are included for the LDCs, he added.

The Bangladesh delegation will join two working sessions of the conference and several bilateral meetings.

Dhaka will seek to secure pledges on more manpower export from the LDCs without quota and no imposition of additional charges on importing food in the recessionary periods.

Chakravarty also said Bangladesh will press for measures to deal with the adverse affects of global economic meltdown, ensuring quota-free access to the global market and for aid in the service sectors.

CPD chief Rahman said the US is giving quota-free access to about 97 percent products and the rest is still under embargo, where most of the Bangladeshi export products fall.

"We will try to get the pledges so that this situation does not last for long," he added.

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