Dhaka and Washington are set to focus on their diverse trade and business interests at the upcoming second meeting of Ticfa, scheduled for November 23-24 in the US capital, a senior trade official at the commerce ministry said. Three secretaries of the government have been included in the six-member Bangladesh delegation, to be headed by commerce secretary Hedayet Ullah Al Mamun. Two other secretaries are from ministry of foreign affairs and labour and employment ministry. Reinstatement of GSP and duty-free access to the US market are the two major issues that the Bangladesh delegation will press for at the crucial meeting, sources said. ‘Assistant United States Trade Representative Michael Delaney will lead the US side at the Ticfa meeting,’ Mamun told New Age, who declined to say anything on meeting agenda, citing diplomatic restrictions, ahead of the meeting. However, officials concerned in the commerce ministry said they would press the USTR for reviewing generalized system of preference, revoked in June, 2013 on poor records of labour rights in the country’s garment sector. Besides, duty-free and quota-free market access issue would be raised at the meeting, they added. The first meeting of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) was held in April, 2014 in Dhaka, after the much-talked about bilateral trade pact was signed between Bangladesh and the USA in November, 2013. Ahead of the meeting, the commerce ministry has decided to seek US’s technical cooperation on implementing large projects under the public private partnership initiative, technical support for effective implementation of economic zones act, enhancement of US investment in Bangladesh and opportunity on trade in services in the US economy, it was learnt. The US in the meeting may raise a number issues centring their business interests in Bangladesh, as revealed in a diplomatic communication from the Bangladesh mission in Washington DC to the ministry of foreign affairs last week. The issues include reviewing public tender specification, changes in the insurance policy for importation, lifting the probation of fumigation of imported U.S. cotton, stringent import policy on diabetes drugs, currency related disputes, delayed payment, infringement of intellectual property rights, establishment of a regional economic development mechanism, formation of a women economic empowerment committee and a labour affairs committee. The US is the single largest export market for products originating from Bangladesh. The GSP used to bring negligible benefits to Bangladesh in terms of export earnings, as only five per cent of the country’s exports going to the US market were covered by the zero-duty facility under the GSP.
