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Download PDF Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the government has taken steps to import 10 lakh tonnes of rice to stabilise the food prices.
Meanwhile, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee spoke over telephone on Friday and discussed the planned purchase of rice by Bangladesh from India.
Speaking at the conference of the elected representatives of local government institutions in the city, the chief adviser said contract for the import of 4 lakh tonnes of rice has already been given under which the rice has started reaching the country.
He said a high-level government delegation will go to India this week to finalise the import of 5 lakh tonnes of rice from there. “Tender has been floated to import 1-2 lakh tonnes of rice from Thailand while a process to import rice from Vietnam is going on.”
The CA mentioned various government steps, including OMS, VGF, VGD, TR and Food-for-Work programme, and hoped that these steps would cast a positive impact on the prices of commodities and stabilise the food prices.
IFTEKHAR-PRANAB TELEPHONE TALKS
Talking to the Indian minister over phone, the foreign adviser said an official negotiating team would soon be in India for the purpose.
Bangladesh government will procure the rice from Indian state agencies, said a foreign ministry handout yesterday.
Wishing each other “a happy new year”, they hoped that the bilateral relations between the two countries would further improve for mutual benefits during the current year.
Speaking to the media, Iftekhar expressed satisfaction at the reported decision by the Indian government to lift ban on Bangladeshi investments in India.
“My belief is that it will help those Bangladeshi businessmen who are eager to invest in northeastern India,” the adviser said.
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