Washington now ready to seal Tifa with Dhaka

The United States of America has now agreed to sign the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) with Bangladesh after keeping the initiative into freeze for three years as the country has recently ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption- UNCAC.
Commerce Ministry Joint Secretary Mostafa Mohiuddin said the ministry is examining the pros and cons of a revised draft for the deal Washington sent last month to Dhaka.
“We received the text last month and already held an inter ministerial meeting in this connection finding the country's possible stance on the issue,” Mostafa added.
The US government originally proposed the Tifa to Bangladesh in 2002 to promote trade and investment between the two countries.
According to the draft, Tifa will cover removal of non-tariff barriers, implementation of intellectual property rights, promotion of trade and private investment, improvement of workers' rights and pursuing WTO talks on the basis of the Doha Development Agenda.
Earlier a clause titled 'bribery and corruption' evoked debate among the two parties and Bangladesh wanted to replace it with a 'prevention of malpractice' clause. Later the US agreed to the issue.
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