BSS, Dhaka :
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday turned down any possibility of holding dialogue with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Talking to reporters at his secretariat office here, Tofail also said there is no possibility to hold the national poll before five years of the government.
“Usually a government comes to power for five years. we will go ahead implementing our electoral commitments under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said after a meeting with envoys of the UK and European Union (EU) respectively.
British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert Gibson and EU
Ambassador William Hanna made the courtesy calls on the minister. Tofail said the government’s main aim is to promote the country’s trade and commerce side by side with implementing development projects.
On a query, the commerce minister said the government is not under any pressure.
Referring to the various countries’ congratulations to the government after the 5 January polls, he said the EU and UK too want to work with the government specially in the field of trade and commerce.
“The EU wants to cooperate with Bangladesh in various sectors,” he said quoting the EU Ambassador as saying during the meeting. They (EU) also want to strengthen the bilateral relations,” he said.
