Scholars Bangladesh organized a seminar on ‘The state and status of trade between Bangladesh and the United States and on pending bills in the US Congress’ in 28 December, the second day of NRB conference. In this seminar speakers told that, the government and private sector should launch a concerted effort for the passage of the new US trade bill for getting duty-free market access of exporting product originate from Least Development Countries (LDCs) to the US market, specially Garment products of Bangladesh. Samarukh Mohiuddin, an NRB residing in US, presented the keynote paper in the seminar.
Industry leaders and trade negotiators urged the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) to lobby hard with the US lawmakers to mobilize necessary support for the enactment of the bill though it contained a set of conditions on meeting compliances and provisions discriminatory to Bangladesh in exporting garments to the US market.
Presenting the keynote Shamarukh Mohiuddin pointed out that Dhaka would have to lobby with the African countries to win their sympathetic support to get the bill passed.
President of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute Farooq Sobhan chaired the seminar moderated by former BGMEA president Annisul Huq. Industries Secretary Nurul Amin, Trade Adviser to the Delegation of the European Commission to Bangladesh Zillul Hye Razi, BTMA President Abdul Hai Sarker, and acting BGMEA president Abdus Salam, among others, spoke at the seminar.
Speaking as chair Farooq Sobhan said the passage of the new trade bill will depend on how the government and private sector people address the issue. The NRBs and Bangladeshi embassy to US can play a very important role in the passage of the bill, he added.
‘It would be very difficult to get the bill through the US Congress… However, I see the chance is 50-50 and it is the best chance. There is a reasonable chance if we can mobilize enough support in six months,’ Farooq Sobhan, a former foreign secretary, said when asked if Bangladesh hoped to get the bill passed before the US presidential elections in late 2008.
President of US-Bangladesh Advisory Council Sabbir Ahmed called upon all local trade bodies including Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh embassy to US, the government and the NRBs to work hard for the passage of the bill.
Citing US as a potential market for Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals and human resources, Sabbir said, “We should find out ways and means on how Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals and human resources can enter the US market.”
He said that at present there are 400,000 vacant posts for nurses in US. Bangladesh can export skilled human resources against those posts.
He also said that the Bangladesh embassy in Washington had no knowledge about the passage of another trade bill in 2000 giving duty-free access facilities to Sub-Saharan and Caribbean countries.
Zillul Hai Razi, Trade Adviser to the European Commission delegation in Dhaka, questioned why Dhaka had failed in the past seven years in making any progress related to duty-free access to the US market and urged the authorities concerned to make their arguments stronger in favor of the market access.
Former president of BGMEA Anisul huq highlighted the recent development in addressing the salary issue of the garment workers. He said the passage of the bill is largely depending on the standard of labor issue, child labor and elimination of forced child labor from garments industry.
He said the overall export earning from the garment sector declined until October of the current year, although the sector had been maintaining more than 20 percent export growth since 1990.
Acting BGMEA president Abdus Salam said that currently 97 percent garment factories are paying wages to the workers as per the tripartite agreement to address the labor issue. He called upon Bangladeshis living in the US to write letters to the Congressmen for supporting the cause of Bangladesh.
The speakers also urged both the government and the private sector entrepreneurs to put an extra effort in collaboration with other LDCs especially from Africa to help pass the bill.
In addition, the passage of the bill- `The New Partnership for Development Act 2007 (NPDA)’ in US Congress will ensure duty-free access of textile products from least developed countries (LDCs) to US market.
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