Improve labour rights to attract more FDI

Bangladesh should improve the copyrights, supply chain efficiency, labour rights, transparency and business environment for attracting more foreign direct investment from the USA, said Peter D Haas, the newly appointed American ambassador to Bangladesh.

Hass was addressing a group of businessmen at an iftar party hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) at Hotel Sheraton Dhaka yesterday.

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With Bangladesh's economic development over the last 51 years, the country is going to graduate to a developing country from the least developed country (LDC) category. At the same time, Bangladesh has also qualified for receiving funds from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), he said.

The DFC, a development finance institution, partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world. 

But, unfortunately, Bangladesh could receive the fund from the DFC as the country was not qualified for the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to the US markets, an important condition to be eligible to receive the fund from the DFC, Haas also said.

Earlier, the US government suspended the GSP status for Bangladesh in June 2013 following the nation's deadliest industrial accident in April 2013 citing the poor labour rights and poor workplace safety in the garment factories.

It also gave 16 conditions to be improved by the Bangladesh government and private sector to regain the GSP status.

Bangladesh has already improved the 16 conditions and submitted the progress reports to the US Trade Representative twice for reinstatement of the GSP but the American government is yet to reinstate the status.

Before the suspension of the GSP, Bangladesh used to export goods worth $34 million under the GSP category.

The US government does not allow import of garment items under the GSP without the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) status.

So, Bangladesh is also not exporting the garment items to the US under the GSP and currently facing 15.62 per cent duty on export of apparel items to the US.

Dry fish, sleeping bags, tobacco items and some other non-traditional items used to be exported from Bangladesh under the GSP.

Syed Ershad Ahmed, president of AmCham, also spoke.