Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed today said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement would not hinder the readymade garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh. “Bangladesh is the second largest RMG exporting country. We have already got duty-free access to many countries. TPP won’t harm the RMG sector of Bangladesh interest,” he said. Tofail Ahmed was addressing a discussion on “Strengthening Institutions to Accelerate Growth and Lower Poverty” at the Second Bangladesh Economic Forum-2015 at Bangladesh Bank Training Academy in the city, BSS reports. State Minister for Finance M A Mannan attended the discussion as the special guest while Policy Research Institute Vice Chairman Dr Sadiq Ahmed was in the chair. The commerce minister said, “In spite of various limitations at home and abroad, we have achieved remarkable progress in many sectors than our neighboring countries, including India and Pakistan. The newly approved Seventh Five-Year Plan (SFYP) will help us become a middle-income country.” He noted that Bangladesh’s overall development including export is on the rise under the prudent policy support and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the quality she inherited from her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Tofail expressed the hope that Bangladesh would achieve on average 7.4 percent growth during the SFYP and reach its goal of becoming a middle-income country before the 100th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020. Among others, noted economists Dr M Wahiduzzaman and Dr Mohiuddin Alamgir also spoke on the occasion. The TPP is a free trade agreement currently being negotiated by nine countries: the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
