Bangladesh and India have decided to jointly establish a new institution to deal with the production, development and marketing of jute and jute products.
“Both the governments agreed to have more cooperation in the field of jute and jute products, and we also agreed to set up a new institution jointly to promote jute and jute products,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.
During his visit to India last month, the foreign secretary discussed the issue with Indian officials including their Textiles Secretary Zohra Chatterji.
The tenure of International Jute Study Group (IJSG) would conclude in April, and Bangladesh and India – the two biggest jute producers in the world – felt that an institution was needed to move forward, Shahidul said.
“In my meeting with Indian textiles secretary, we agreed that concerned officials of the two countries should soon start working on the modalities,” he said.
A high-powered Indian delegation would visit Dhaka soon to discuss on the issue, he added.
Meanwhile, the issue was also discussed in a recent joint working group meeting between the textiles ministries of both the countries.
“Livelihood of millions of farmers is dependent on it and we felt that we need to have an intergovernmental agency for jute and jute products as we have developed jute genome mapping,” said an official of the foreign ministry.
In the post-2015 development agenda, green economy was a big issue and the demand for jute and jute products would grow in the coming days, he added.
“Sustainable production and consumption of natural fibre is a prominent issue in the green economy debate and countries like Bangladesh can take advantage by joining hands with other like-minded countries to supply natural fibres including jute,” the foreign ministry official said.
The proposed institution may include other natural fibres in the future to broaden its membership.
“We are planning not to limit the organisation only to producing countries, but we will also invite key consumer countries like China to join the institution so that demand and supply sides can interact,” the official said.
In the joint working group meeting, both sides discussed that after the expiry of the IJSG, another intergovernmental organisation was needed for the development of jute products.
“The International Jute Study Group is going to expire in April and it is the only intergovernmental body dealing with jute and jute products,” the official said.
Dhaka and New Delhi reportedly sent a joint letter to the UNCTAD secretary general to try extending the tenure of the IJSG, as the group is operated under the guidance of UNCTAD.
