BD to seek US investment in special economic zones

Bangladesh would seek US investment in the country's proposed Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the fourth TICFA meeting to be held in Washington on September 13, officials said.

Investment opportunities, market access for locally made products, customs and supplementary duty structure, labour issues and implementation of trade facilitation agreement will figure high on the agenda during the meeting, they said.

Bangladesh, however, might not push for the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility in the US market, they added.

The much-talked-about Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) was signed between the two countries on November 25, 2013.

When asked, a top official of the commerce ministry said they are now working on setting the agenda to be discussed in the upcoming TICFA meeting.

"We are unlikely to place the issue of GSP as Bangladesh is going to graduate from the 'Least Developed Country' status to a developing one," he said.

After the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1100 people, mostly garment workers, the US suspended the GSP facility for Bangladesh over 'serious shortcomings' in safety and labour standards.

However, Bangladesh's exports to the US market was not hampered due to the lack of GSP facilities, as less than 1.0 per cent of the exportable items got that facility, he said.

The GSP facility does not cover Bangladeshi readymade garments, he pointed out.

"The government is going to set up 100 SEZs across the country and we will request the US to make investment in the zones," he said.

The ministry held a meeting with stakeholders on August 14 and asked them to send their proposals to be discussed in the next TICFA meeting, another official said.

After receiving the stakeholders' proposals, the ministry would finalise the agenda, he added.

Terming the GSP issue 'political', President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) said the private sector is interested in negotiating issues which will help increase bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

Local exporters are interested in manufacturing garment items using US cotton and export them to that country, he said.

So, the issue of waiver of US duty is more important, he added.

The ministry officials said the US side would focus on the market access for American pharmaceutical products and cotton to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh would raise the issue of preferential market access for Bangladeshi products as per the 9th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation in Bali, they said.

At the meeting, Bangladesh would also present the progresses related to workplace safety and labour rights issues and stress the ethical buying practices on the part of the US buyers, they added.

The first TICFA meeting was held in Dhaka in April 2014, the second in Washington on November 23, 2015 and third one in Dhaka in May last year.

Bangladesh's exports to the US stood at $5.27 billion last year. Garments fetched $5.06 billion, out of the total export earnings.

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