Hammer-fist
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2012
- Messages
- 1,221
- Reaction score
- 0
B’desh to appoint lobbyists to get duty-free mkt access for RMG to US
Published : Sunday, 10 February 2013
Talha Bin Habib
Bangladesh will appoint lobbyists in the United States of America (USA) to pursue Congressmen to get duty-and quota-free market access of ready made clothes to the US market and safeguard the interest of the country's RMG sector, a high trade official said.
The move came following the recent suggestions by some congressmen to the high ups of the government to appoint lobbyists for protecting the interest of the country's garment sector, the biggest source of foreign remittance earnings of the country.
With this end in view the ministry of commerce (MoC) has asked the ready made garment (RMG) exporters to take a move for appointing lobbyists.
"We told them (RMG exporters) to take initiative for the appointment of lobbyists so that the generalised system of preferences (GSP) given by the US are not withdrawn and ensure the sector's interests," Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed told the FF on February 7 last after meeting of Social Compliance Forum (SCF) on RMG with the stakeholders at the MoC.
At present the US has withheld the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facilities citing the causes of recent fire incidents at the garment factories recently that claimed scores of workers' lives and also the killing of a trade union activist Aminul Islam.
The US is also pressing the garment owners to improve the working condition of the workers, fire safety measures and for the formation of trade unions (TUs) at garment units.
Earlier, a four-member US Congressional delegation (Republican) during the meeting with the foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni in January last in the city suggested the government to appoint lobbyists to get duty-and quota-free market access of RMG to the US market.
The US delegation during their meeting with the government high ups and RMG exporters also discussed the GSP facilities and signing of the proposed Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) with Bangladesh.
An influential ready made clothes exporter told the FE that appointment of US Congressmen as 'lobbyists' will require millions of US dollars. And the government or the apparel sector alone cannot, therefore, appoint lobbyists as it involves millions of dollars.
He said appointment of lobbyists is possible through joint efforts by the government and the export-oriented garments owners.
"We are now considering the matter seriously. There should be concerted efforts by the government and the RMG entrepreneurs. We will decide the matter once we appear in the hearing of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) next month," President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Shafiul Islam told the FE Friday.
The country has a target to export knitwear worth US $ 10610.89 million while woven items of $ 10927.37 million during the fiscal year (FY) 2012-13. The volume of knitwear and woven items exported during the first six months of the current fiscal was $ 4975.89 million and $ 4971.06 million respectively.
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
Published : Sunday, 10 February 2013
Talha Bin Habib
Bangladesh will appoint lobbyists in the United States of America (USA) to pursue Congressmen to get duty-and quota-free market access of ready made clothes to the US market and safeguard the interest of the country's RMG sector, a high trade official said.
The move came following the recent suggestions by some congressmen to the high ups of the government to appoint lobbyists for protecting the interest of the country's garment sector, the biggest source of foreign remittance earnings of the country.
With this end in view the ministry of commerce (MoC) has asked the ready made garment (RMG) exporters to take a move for appointing lobbyists.
"We told them (RMG exporters) to take initiative for the appointment of lobbyists so that the generalised system of preferences (GSP) given by the US are not withdrawn and ensure the sector's interests," Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed told the FF on February 7 last after meeting of Social Compliance Forum (SCF) on RMG with the stakeholders at the MoC.
At present the US has withheld the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facilities citing the causes of recent fire incidents at the garment factories recently that claimed scores of workers' lives and also the killing of a trade union activist Aminul Islam.
The US is also pressing the garment owners to improve the working condition of the workers, fire safety measures and for the formation of trade unions (TUs) at garment units.
Earlier, a four-member US Congressional delegation (Republican) during the meeting with the foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni in January last in the city suggested the government to appoint lobbyists to get duty-and quota-free market access of RMG to the US market.
The US delegation during their meeting with the government high ups and RMG exporters also discussed the GSP facilities and signing of the proposed Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) with Bangladesh.
An influential ready made clothes exporter told the FE that appointment of US Congressmen as 'lobbyists' will require millions of US dollars. And the government or the apparel sector alone cannot, therefore, appoint lobbyists as it involves millions of dollars.
He said appointment of lobbyists is possible through joint efforts by the government and the export-oriented garments owners.
"We are now considering the matter seriously. There should be concerted efforts by the government and the RMG entrepreneurs. We will decide the matter once we appear in the hearing of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) next month," President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Shafiul Islam told the FE Friday.
The country has a target to export knitwear worth US $ 10610.89 million while woven items of $ 10927.37 million during the fiscal year (FY) 2012-13. The volume of knitwear and woven items exported during the first six months of the current fiscal was $ 4975.89 million and $ 4971.06 million respectively.
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
