Preferential market access to different countries can also help Bangladesh survive in the open market regime, they observed.

The Asia Foundation organised the seminar on 'The Phase-out of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement: Policy Options and Opportunities for Bangladesh' in Dhaka.

Speaking as chief guest, Farooq Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), said daily basis monitoring is essential to identify why shipping cost is so high in the country.

"We don't need a corrupt system based on inefficiency. We must improve the efficiency level in services sector," Sobhan felt.

The US decision to offer duty-free access to 72 countries excepting Bangladesh was a highly discriminatory action, he said. Offering duty-free access for Bangladeshi garment products to the US market would not have hurt the American textile industry, he added.

Speaking at the seminar, Annisul Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said Bangladesh is trying to have duty-free access to the US.

Referring to the generalised system of preference (GSP) facility in the European Union that provides 12 to 12.5 percent tariff reduction on exports, he said business is growing there every day. "If we get duty-free access to US, our business will increase by half a billion dollar each year."

Ananya Raihan, research fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the safeguard measures United States takes to control Chinese exports in US market are also very important for Bangladesh.

In fact, Chinese factories are worse than those of Bangladesh. Despite that, the buyers are moving to China, he said.

Gholam Hossain, joint secretary of commerce ministry, said many international studies have exaggerated the possible impact of post-MFA era as far as Bangladesh is concerned.

It has made things very difficult for the government to understand the situation and take decision on that basis, he observed.

Franck Wiebe, chief economist of Asia Foundation, made a presentation on the implications of the new external environment for Bangladesh industry.

Wiebe is also the co-author of the Foundation's recently published report on 'The Phase-out of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement: Policy Options and Opportunities for Asia.' The report draws on the proceedings and recommendations of a roundtable meeting on the phaseout of the MFA that the Foundation organised in Bangkok in October 2004.

The Bangkok meeting brought together policy makers and experts from eight of the smaller exporting countries in Asia including Bangladesh to discuss policy options for government, industry, and other stakeholders.