Bangladesh is about to finalise a deal to import cotton from Uzbekistan aiming to ensure supply of 200,000 tonnes of the commodity annually for the local textile industry, sources said.

The two countries already exchanged the draft of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) which is now under scrutiny, they said.

Uzbekistan is the sixth largest cotton producer in the world with 4.6 million bales produced in 2011.

Bangladesh is also holding talks with India for getting 1.5 million bales of cotton a year.

The country's yearly requirement of cotton is nearly 4.0 million bales of which 0.12 million bales are produced locally. Rest of the demand -- nearly 98 per cent -- is being met by importing it from various countries.

Every year, Bangladesh imports nearly 0.9 million bales of cotton from India, the second largest producer of the item globally. The other sources from where Bangladesh imports cotton are Africa, the USA, Australia, Pakistan and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

A senior Commerce Ministry official said about 35 per cent of total cotton import comes from Uzbekistan, a CIS member.

"Since Uzbekistan is a major source of cotton for us, we want to make the import process easier and uninterrupted. So, we are finalising the draft of the MoU for signing as soon as possible."

Sources said Bangladesh and Uzbekistan have agreed for cooperation on various bilateral trade issues including cotton supply in a meeting of the Joint Working Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation held in Tashkent in May 2012.

The draft MoU states that both the parties will cooperate with each other for direct delivery of raw cotton from Uzbekistan to Bangladesh on regular basis.

The Uzbek state-run foreign trade companies namely 'Uzprommashimpex', 'Uzinterimpex' and 'Uzmarkazimpeks' will supply the cotton to any importer registered in Bangladesh.

The proposed cotton deal with India has become stuck up due to differences over providing guarantee by Bangladesh for mandatory import of the item. Bangladesh was negotiating with India for getting 1.5 million bales of cotton a year.

Bangladesh has moved forward to sign a MoU with India after New Delhi slapped a ban on cotton export in March last year. A similar ban in April 2010 also raised global cotton prices manifold hitting Bangladesh's textile industry hard.