August 11, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 12, 1424

DHAKA, Aug 10: The government of Bangladesh is actively considering the idea of direct bus services linking Dhaka with Kathmandu, Thimphu and Lahore in order to give a much-needed boost to intra-regional business traffic, says Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan.

Observing that the volume of intra-regional trade and goods movement largely depended on transportation among and between the countries of the SAARC, Morshed Khan said, “we are actively considering bus services linking Dhaka with Kathmandu, Thimphu and Lahore.”

Khan said this while inaugurating the roundtable on “Cooperation in Trade: Making SAARC a Prosperous Region” here on Sunday. The conference was jointly organized by the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

He, however, stressed equitable relations between the countries to make regional cooperation fruitful.

The foreign minister also urged the SAARC chamber to form a common body to brace the rules-based issues of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The SCCI president, Padma Jyoti, said that SAARC Chamber is working towards broadening the regional economic and business activities.

“Government-private sector partnership is quite important to enhance the regional economic activities,” he said.