"Such action is consistent with US WTO obligations, the spirit of the Doha Development Round, as well as Congressional and Administration policy," Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Shamsher M Chowdhury said Thursday in support of the country's demand.

TRADE (Tariff Relief Assistance for the Developing Economies) Act seeks duty-free access of goods from Asia-Pacific LDCs to the US.

The US Congress has previously acted generously towards the LDCs in the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean region, allowing them preferential market access.

Unfortunately, the least developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region are the only group that has been left out of US preferential programme, the envoy said at a discussion at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

He pointed out Bangladesh, which has a meagre share of only 1.7 percent of the US apparel imports, does not pose any threat to the American textile industry.

In this context, the ambassador referred to the generous preferential treatment extended by the OECD countries to all the LDCs of the world.

The Association on Third World Affairs Inc., an advocacy group that creates awareness among US policymakers and promotes the trade and economic interests of the low-income developing countries, organised the panel discussion. The Bangladesh ambassador delivered the keynote speech on 'Helping the Least Developed Countries Through Trade', said a message received in Dhaka.

Congressman Jim Kolbe, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and the main sponsor of the TRADE Act 2005, among others, participated in the discussion.

Cambodian Ambassador to the US Ek Sereywath and representative from the Embassy of Kyrgyztan also spoke. The seminar was widely participated by academics, trade journalists, congressional staff and US administration officials.