Govt prepares draft of Ticfa deal with US

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Ahead of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Bangladesh, the government has prepared the draft of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) that the two countries may sign in future.

A copy of the draft was sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a few days ago for her approval, a highly-placed source in the commerce ministry told The Daily Star yesterday.

When signed, Ticfa will offer a platform for Bangladesh and the US to discuss bilateral trade issues, including the trade barriers and opportunities and also investment in the two countries.

The Ticfa issue might come up for discussion during Hillary Clinton's Dhaka visit on May 5, but signing of the agreement is unlikely this time, the source said, preferring anonymity.

Among other things, trade-related issues like duty-free garment export to the US might be discussed during her visit.

Hillary is coming to Bangladesh as part of her tour to different Asian countries.

This will be her first visit to Bangladesh as the secretary of state. Earlier, she came to Bangladesh in 1995 when she was the US first lady.

Ticfa came as a second effort from the US after the first effort, the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa), did not get through.

The US government has been pressing Bangladesh to sign the Tifa, but the two countries could not reach an agreement over the issue of standard of labour in industrial units.

Recently, the issue of labour was revised in consultation with the US.

But the US government later renamed it Ticfa that promises to protect investment and form a platform for dialogues to remove obstacles in bilateral trade, officials said.

Bangladesh has long been demanding duty-free access for garment products to the US market.

Ninety-seven percent Bangladeshi goods have duty-free access to the US market, but the list does not include garment, the main export item of the country.

At present, Bangladesh has to pay more than 15 percent tariff for garment products to get in the US market.

In a recent statement, US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena linked Bangladesh's demand for duty-free access for garment exports with the Ticfa.

“Soon we hope to conclude a bilateral Ticfa, which will establish a forum that will identify and address obstacles for increased trade and investment between the two countries,” Mozena said at a discussion on the US-Bangladesh trade relations at the FBCCI office in Dhaka on April 16.

Source:  The Daily Star, 30 April 2012