Google Alert – Bangladesh Army
Bangladesh plans to offer a “package proposal” to the United States in a bid to secure an exemption from the additional tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, said Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday.
He disclosed the development after a meeting of the Advisers’ Council Committee on Government Purchase at the Secretariat.
“Our trade adviser has gone with a package. There is more in it – what they can buy from us,” he said, reports bdnews24.com.
A four-strong government delegation comprising Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, and Additional Secretary Nazneen Kawshar Chowdhury flew to Washington on an Emirates flight Monday evening to attend negotiations with Trump administration officials over Tuesday and Wednesday.
To counter the 35 per cent Trump-era tariffs, Bangladesh has already waived duties on 626 American products.
The interim administration has also decided to import wheat and soybean oil through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to help reduce its trade deficit with the US.
Plans are also under way to boost cotton imports from US private suppliers.
Most notably, the interim government has announced it will purchase 25 aircraft from American manufacturer Boeing in an effort to present goodwill during this high-stakes diplomatic effort.
Asked whether more such measures are in the pipeline, Mr Ahmed said, “Yes, there is more, but I would not speak about it now. I will share details once the team returns.”
Meanwhile, he said the government would not sell any more land at a token price.
He said the textiles and jute ministry had proposed handing Jalil Textile Mills in Chattogram over to the Bangladesh Army for the expansion of Bangladesh Ordnance Factory.
The ministry wanted to get the mill at a token price. But the Advisers’ Council Committee on Government Purchase at a meeting decided not to hand the mill over at a token price.
“From now on, we will avoid the token price because those who take properties at a token price do not utilise them properly,” the finance adviser said.
Mr Ahmed said when land is given at a symbolic price, someone needing 10 acres seeks 100 acres due to the lower price.
Asked whether the ordnance factory would get the Jalil Textile Mills land, the adviser said they would, but the proposal has to come by fixing the market rate.
He also said the purchase body meeting had approved the procurement of two cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertiliser, among others. Of the two cargoes of LNG, one will be supplied by M/S Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore at a cost of Tk 5.03 billion, with per MMBtu LNG costing $11.97.
The other will be supplied by M/S Posco International Corporation, South Korea at a cost of Tk 4.86 billion, where per MMBtu LNG will cost $11.95, a cabinet division memo says.
Besides, the meeting approved two proposals from the Ministry of Shipping and one each from the Bridges Division, Local Government Division, and ICT Division.
Also, the meeting approved a proposal for spending Tk 1.62 billion on buying two ship-to-shore gantry cranes under a project for the construction of the Payra seaport’s first terminal.
Moreover, a meeting of the Advisers’ Council Committee on Economic Affairs, also chaired by the finance adviser, approved a proposal in principle for signing a deal between Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company of Saudi Arabia to import urea fertiliser under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement for the current fiscal year.
syful-islam@outlook.com