Middle-income country status won't affect EU trade benefit: Tofail
Bangladesh will continue to enjoy a zero-duty benefit on exports to the European Union even when the country graduates to a middle-income country, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said yesterday.
As a least developed country, Bangladesh has been enjoying the zero-duty export benefit to the EU since 1971 under the Everything but Arms programme of GSP.
The EU provides the zero-duty export benefit to all LDCs under the GSP (generalised system of preferences).
If Bangladesh gains the middle-income country status, it will not enjoy the duty-benefit under the same scheme; the country will enjoy the benefit under the 'GSP Plus' scheme, the minister said.
However, Bangladesh will have to sign four important international conventions on human rights, labour rights, environment and governance to enjoy the GSP Plus benefit from the EU.
“So, our exports to the EU will not be hampered,” Ahmed said, in response to queries made by journalists at a press meet at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.
The minister was explaining his government's ongoing initiatives to graduate to a middle income country by the end of 2021.
He said every economic indicator is positive under the incumbent government's regime; the country's GDP growth has been continuing at more than 6 percent for the last couple of years.
He said the government has been constructing the Tk 36,000 crore Matarbari power plant, to generate an additional 1,200 megawatts of electricity, a deep-sea port, a new petroleum product refinery and eight new special economic zones across the country.
He said a Chinese firm has agreed to develop a "garment village" at Bausia, Munshiganj at a cost of $1.5 billion.
“We have also set a target to export garments worth $50 billion by the end of 2021. I hope Bangladesh will successfully achieve the target by the stipulated time as buyers' confidence has been improving due to strong safety measures in the workplace after the Rana Plaza building collapse.”
“Rana Plaza is not everything. We have a lot of success stories in the garment sector,” he said.
On regaining the GSP to the US market, Ahmed said the trade privilege is currently suspended for all countries.
“So, Bangladesh is not gaining the trade privilege. But I am hopeful that Bangladesh will regain the GSP to the US market once the programme is re-launched in the US.”
Bangladesh is a model in eliminating child labour from the garment sector, Ahmed said. Regarding foreign relations, he said different people explain it in different ways.
"Some say that Bangladesh is following a 'look east' policy and some say it is a 'look west' policy. But we say our foreign policy looks in all directions.”
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