DHAKA: Bangladesh and the United States signed a trade agreement yesterday in a move Dhaka hoped would bolster a relationship damaged by the collapse of a garment factory earlier this year.
Dhaka’s foreign ministry said the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement, which was signed in Washington, would pave the way for regular discussion on trade and labour issues in the wake of a series of disasters that highlighted appalling conditions in Dhaka’s $22bn garment industry.
The US is the biggest destination for Bangladeshi apparel with two-way goods trade totalling $5.4bn in 2012, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) website.
Acting Deputy USTR, Wendy Cutler, and Bangladesh Commerce Secretary, Mahbub Ahmed, signed the pact, Dhaka’s foreign ministry spokesman Shameem Ahsan said. Ahsan quoted USTR Michael Froman as saying that the deal would provide a “formal mechanism” for talks.
The US suspended duty-free trade access to some Bangladeshi products in June in the wake of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse that killed 1,135 people.
AFP
