Monday, April 30, 2012 -
Bangladesh hopes to nail down a deal to secure Uzbek cotton imports and sell the Central Asian republic ready-made garments during negotiations in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent next week.
"The major aim of the visit to Uzbekistan is to talk about cotton imports from the country,” said Bangladeshi Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hussain, according to the Financial Express news agency.
“The Bangladeshi delegation also hopes to step-up the volume of ready-made garments, pharmaceuticals, and jute yarns and goods," the official added.
Businessmen from the two countries will also hold use the visit to hold negotiations from May 5-8 within their Bangladesh-Uzbekistan Joint Working Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The visit is part of an effort by Bangladesh to bolster trade relations with member nations of the post-Soviet alliance Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Uzbekistan still operates a number of Soviet-era jute mills that require a large quantity of jute yarn, the head of Bangladesh Jute Association Mahfuzul Huq said.
The official, who will participate in the upcoming visit, said his industry earned around $400 million from the sale of 440,000 tons of the fiber to Uzbekistan during the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Uzbekistan spent a total of $2.6 million on Bangladeshi jute and other textile goods during the same period.
Many Western firms have boycotted Uzbek cotton because the Uzbek government compels children to work in the fields to pick the crop.