The second Ticfa meeting begins today (Monday) in Washington aiming to further strengthen the bilateral trade and investment relations between Bangladesh and the USA. A delegation from Bangladesh headed by Senior Secretary of Commerce Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon left the country on Friday to attend the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) meeting. Assistant US Trade Representative for South Asia Mike Delaney and Senior Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun will co-chair the meeting, said a statement issued by the US Embassy. On November 25 in 2013, the United States and Bangladesh signed the Ticfa to establish an annual forum to identify and address obstacles to increasing bilateral trade and investment. “This year’s Ticfa seeks to further bolster trade between the United States and Bangladesh which exceeds $ 6.0 billion annually,” the statement added. Quoting the US Deputy Chief of Mission David Meale, who will represent the US Embassy at the meeting, the statement said, “Ticfa is about expanding the potential of two countries’ bilateral trade and investment relationship, which includes promising new areas, from pharmaceuticals to increased investment in infrastructure to information technology.” On the other hand, Dhaka will press for restoration of the suspended GSP and duty-and quota-free market access of its products to the US market during the Ticfa meeting, a member of the Bangladesh delegation told the FE last week. “We will also highlight the progresses made so far in ensuring workplace safety and improving labour rights in line with the US Action Plan,” he added. During the second meeting on the bilateral trade and investment deal, issues like review of trade and investment inflow from the United States into Bangladesh and opportunities for investment, implementation of the Bali Ministerial decisions, trans-pacific partnership and its implications and fair pricing will be raised from Dhaka’s side, commerce ministry officials said.
