DHAKA,Bangladesh- Government officials, business leaders and trade analysts in Bangladesh have hailed Chinese President Hu Jintao's speech at the recently concluded Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Honolulu of the United States, which Hu proposed "early harvest" agreement in the Doha Round within this year, aimed at offering concessions on tariffs and quotas to the least developed countries (LDCs).

They said that it is high time for the world's second largest economic power to play its full role both in the region and in the world.

Bangladesh's Industries Minister Dilip Barua told Xinhua Monday, "Hu's proposition, of course, is to help usher in a new era for further economic boom of LDCs including Bangladesh."

"We admire him and his speech at the summit," he said, adding that it's the exposition of China's greatness and commitment to her responsibility to stand by the people of LDCs across the world.

Hu said while addressing at the APEC summit on November 13, "we should endeavor to reach an early harvest agreement in the Doha Round within this year on giving tariff-free, quota-free treatment to products from the least developed countries, and we should demonstrate the political will to achieve comprehensive and balanced outcome in the Doha Round negotiations at an early date and realize the goals of the development round."

China has also announced its decision to give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China from the LDCs having diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

APEC, since its inception in 1989, has grown to encompass 21 members spanning four continents and become the most economically dynamic region in the world, accounting for approximately 40 percent of the world's population, around 50 percent of the world GDP and about 44 percent of world trade.

"We appreciate his announcement," Bangladesh's apex trade body chief AK Azad said.

Azad, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), said that Bangladesh will see big boom in her exports not only to China but also to many other developed countries if there is any such agreement by the parties concerned within this year.

Echoing similar view, Md Shafiul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said that this will definitely help to boost up export of Bangladesh and other LDCs.

"We highly appreciate Hu's proposition and look forward to hearing good news soon from the developed countries," said the president of the BGMEA which has around 5,000 garment factories and employ about 3.5 million workers. Garment exports make up more than three-fourths of Bangladesh's annual exports which stood at 22.93 billion U.S. dollars in the last 2010-11 fiscal year (July 2010-June 2011).

"We hope China would play a pivotal role so that the developed nations can reach consensus to the issue," he added.

"It's definitely a positive development," Mustafa K. Mujeri, director general of the state-run think tank Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, told Xinhua.

In today's global context, he said, "China has a major role to play. Its time for China to move forward like a leader. We hope China would take initiative to help other major players reach consensus over the issue."

Welcoming the Chinese President's proposition, Executive Director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading local think tank, Mustafizur Rahman told Xinhua, "China, India and Brazil now need to move together for early harvest agreement on giving tariff-free, quota- free treatment to products from the least developed countries."

He added, "we would also appreciate China's announcement to give zero-tariff treatment to 97 percent of the tariff items of exports to China."

Chinese President Hu Jintao has brought forward a three-point proposal on the economic development in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In his keynote speech delivered at APEC summit, he called on economies in the region to be firmly committed to maintaining growth and promoting stability so as to add momentum to the regional economic development.

As his first point, Hu highlighted the importance to improve the mechanism for global economic governance and build an equal and more balanced global partnership for development. Secondly, APEC members should make unremitting efforts to speed up the shift of the growth model.

Thirdly, APEC members should build consensus and continue to promote economic globalization and regional economic integration, Hu said.