Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) has turned into a meaningless arrangement as the country is yet to reap any trade facility from the US government, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said here yesterday. “Despite Bangladesh signed the TICFA, we are yet to get any sort of trade and investment benefits from the USA government under the framework,” he told the inaugural ceremony of a two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo held at a city hotel. The exhibition kicked off with an aim to fetch US$7bn of the brand fabric’s global market share within 2021. “It would be meaningless until and unless we can achieve something under TICFA, which has already become a platform for nothing but holding meetings only,” Tofail said. Strongly criticising the US government for not restoring the GSP facilities, Toail said, “Unfortunately we did not get any trade and investment benefit from the US government in the last five years, rather it suspended Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) of our products to the US market even after the signing of the TICFA.” EU Head of Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said, “It’s not only about prices, rather the European consumers are very much directly connected with Bangladeshi workers and that is why we had reacted very strongly two years back.” He repeatedly called for compliance with the conditions set in the sustainability compact signed to improve workplace safety and workers’ rights in the RMG sector. Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit Pierre Laramee said, “Price and quality are no longer factors for the Canadian customers.” Rather, what the customers want is that the workers are respected, treated with dignity and their rights and safety ensured, he added. Regarding denim, he observed: “As denim has tremendous potentials, investment is necessary to grab more market share. Bangladesh Denim can play a lead role in achieving the US$50bn target.” Criticising Accord’s recent activities in connection with the termination of workers in a factory, BGMEA President MdAtiqul Islam accused the Accord’s Executive Director Rob Wayss of over exercising his power, which is beyond his jurisdiction. He also alleged that Wayss asked the factory owner to re-appoint the sacked workers, or else, he warned the owner of blacklisting the factory by its buyers. Twenty-five exclusive denim and jeans manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and Bangladesh are taking part in the exposition. “The show aims not only to promote denim trade in Bangladesh but also to encourage greater business practice to raise the living standard of the people in the country,” said Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd and also organiser of the Expo MostafizUddin. According to the industry insiders, Bangladesh is the second largest denim exporter in European markets while it is holding the third largest position in the USA market. Around 400 factories are exporting nearly 180 million pieces of denim jeans to the world. Bangladesh currently has 25 denim producing factories with total investment of over $834m. After this show, the next Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on November11-12 this year.
