Khaleda-Megawati talks

At their talks in Jakarta, Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia struck a wider Asian note. They underscored the need for a larger forum girdling SAARC and ASEAN in order to try and meet the stupendous challenges of globalization.

At a bilateral level, the signing of four treaties and two memorandums of understanding during the current visit of Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia to Jakarta has been amply illustrative of how productive their talks proved. Though there is a huge trade gap between the two countries, with the balance tilted heavily towards Indonesia, assurances by Megawati that she would encourage her country's businessmen to import more products from Bangladesh have gone down very well in Dhaka. Not only that, in concrete terms, she has agreed to accord duty-free access to 23 Bangladeshi products in the Indonesian market.

There is something that devolves on us following the extension of duty-free access by another country. The gaining of liberal trade terms from Thailand and Indonesia means that we should raise our productivity levels and diversify our exports, let alone firm up the fiscal assistance package. The quality of our products and the timeliness of our deliveries should leave nothing to be desired.

Getting back to the official talks, the emphasis on sharing of information and intelligence among Asian countries pertaining to combating the problem of terrorism couldn't have come a day earlier.

Of immense potential importance is also the fact that in matters of exploration and extraction of natural resources, patronex and Bapex, the public companies of the two countries, would enter into effective cooperation and share their experiences. -- The Daily Star, Dhaka