Where — Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute Conference Hall, TCB Bhaban (5th Floor), 1 Karwan bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
When — 25-27 September 2013
Overview: —Commerce Secretary, Mahbub Ahmed inaugurated the training programme while Honorable Commerce Minister, Mohammed Ghulam Quader announced its closure after certificate awarding ceremony. Dr. Md. Mozibur Rahman, CEO, BFTI chaired the programme.
Participants: —Participants were drawn from business, government, academic, civil society and other key stakeholders. Participating organizations/ companies included:
• Ministry of Commerce
• Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries
• Bangladesh Tariff Commission
• Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation
• Export Promotion Bureau
• Bangladesh Bank
• Bangladesh Tourism Board
• Policy Research Institute
• BOESL
• National Board of Revenue
• Office of the Chief Controller of Imports & Exports
• The Institution of Engineers
• IEB
• Energypac Electronics Ltd
• Department of Accounting & Information Systems, University of Dhaka
• Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Dhaka
• Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism
• BMET
• Board of Investment
• Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute
Scope — It was a well designed training course on General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The objective was to strengthen the capacity of government officials in relevant ministries/divisions, regulatory bodies and those in the private sector engaged in the services trade. The training started with an overview of GATS followed by detailed analysis of the key GATS issues. Schedule of commitment and LDCs services waiver were discussed at length. Topics discussed in the training event were:
• Overview of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
• Introduction on “Three Pillars of GATS”
• Modes of Services
• Basic Principles of WTO
• Two types of general obligations of GATS:
• Unconditional obligations
• Conditional obligations (MA and NT)
• Exceptions and departures in GATS- Annexes
• Trade in services and Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges
• Scheduling Specific Commitments
• Scheduling (How are specific commitments recorded)
• Bangladesh’s Schedule of Specific Commitments
• Service Modalities
• Services waiver: Increased Market Access for LDC’s
Resource Persons —
• Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue
• Professor Dr. Mojib Uddin Ahmed, Chairman, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Dhaka
• Dr. Mostafa Abid Khan, Member, Bangladesh Tariff Commission
• Mr. Nesar Ahmed, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Commerce
• Dr. Mohammad Abu Yusuf, Senior Fellow, BFTI
• Mr. Mohammad Farhad, Fellow, BFTI
• Mr. Md. Shoaib Akhtar, Research Associate, BFTI
• A K M Fahim Masroor, President, BASIS
• Mr. Manzur Ahmed, Advisor, FBCCI