D-8 chamber to work for pegged price deal among members

The D-8 Chamber of Commerce and Industries will work on the signing of a deal among member countries to peg prices for a long term so goods are easily available at fixed rates whenever any crisis arises, said D-8 CCI President Sheikh Fazle Fahim.

"We will call upon all D-8 countries to strike such an agreement, which will help us get products at fixed prices in spite of global hikes. For example, a goods that costs Tk100 today will remain the same even if its price goes up to Tk200 in the international market a few days later," he said while briefing reporters at a city hotel on the eve of the "D-8 CCI Business Forum and Expo 2022".

The event will be held on 26-27 July at Pan Pacific Sonargaon to commemorate the silver jubilee of the organisation. The D-8 CCI is a chamber of the eight developing nations, such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Nigeria and Iran export oil and gas. They will discuss with the two countries how quickly they can take up long-term measures to deal with the ongoing energy crisis, he noted.  

"We will talk about how to ensure energy and food security in a crisis time. We will focus on ways to engage the private sector in this regard," Fazle Fahim also said.

When it comes to manufacturing, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey have a stronghold, he also said, adding, "We should make good use of the advantages that we have."

This year's business forum and expo will explore the possibilities around building value chain integration between Bangladesh and the seven other member countries of the D-8, he added.

The six broad areas of the value chain to be discussed are commodities such as mineral and energy; labour-intensive goods such as textiles, apparel, light engineering and leather products; labour-intensive services such as transportation, agriculture hospitality, healthcare, human resource development; regional processing such as agriculture, aquaculture, livestock; knowledge-intensive goods such as electrical components, semiconductors, cybersecurity equipment and components, logistics and transportation equipment; and knowledge-intensive services such as professional services in ICT, enabling technology across economic sectors, 4IR, Robotics, AI, IOT, cyber securities, skills and R&D.