"I recognise and congratulate Bangladesh's efforts in social and economic reforms. The UK government continues to support these efforts," said Blair in a letter to Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed.

The letter dated June 25 was in response to Fakhruddin's May 22 letter to him highlighting trade issues faced by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) like Bangladesh in the context of the Doha negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Blair has also referred to a recently pledged support of his government to the tune of £200,000 to the WTO to establish capacity-building effort in LDCs, including implementation of the Doha text on Trade Facilitation. Bangladesh has already sought support from the programme.

"I remain open to exploring alternative avenues by which the needs of the LDCs may be met through special and differential treatment to ensure a genuinely ambitious, pro-development outcome to the Doha negotiating round," he said.

Earlier, Fakhruddin Ahmed had written to all the leaders of the G-8 countries prior to their summit in Germany to draw attention to the challenges faced by the LDCs.