Bangladesh seeks US support for accelerating economic growth

UsaNewsOnline.Com Desk, Washington D.C : Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Mohammad Ziauddin met with Congressman Ted S. Yoho in Washington D.C. Monday and requested US support, among others, for economic development of Bangladesh. Republican Congressman from Florida, Mr. Ted Yoho is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific. The Ambassador congratulated the Congressman on his new position as the Chairman of the Asia Pacific region which represents the maximum number of population and generates almost 80% of total trade in the world. In this connection, the Ambassador renewed his call for Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) market access of Bangladeshi products to the USA along with thirteen other Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which are left out from US SFQF scheme. Currently, only 34 LDCs, under a group called ‘AGOA’, get DFQF access to US market. However, the European Union provides such benefit to all the LDCs. Therefore, the Ambassador stressed that the US should ensure equal opportunity to all the LDCs. Ambassador Ziauddin also briefed the Congressman how women empowerment is taking place in Bangladesh. He said that more than four million garment workers of Bangladesh are women who are contributing to society by alleviating poverty, reducing child labour and containing the menace of terrorism. Therefore, he said Bangladesh would be able to progress further in women empowerment and elimination of terrorism by its own resources if it can increase its volume of trade in the US market with the help of DFQF benefit. He also highlighted the ‘zero tolerance’ of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina against all forms of extremism and terrorism. He mentioned about the ongoing cooperation including intelligence sharing between Bangladesh and the USA and other friendly countries in countering terrorism. He mentioned that the madrasa education is being modernized in Bangladesh so that the students can get rid of the extremist ideology and can better adapt with society. Congressman Ted Yoho thanked the Ambassador for the briefing. He said that his priority would be trade, economic growth and empowerment of the people in the Asia Pacific region, and therefore, he would like to work with small countries like Bangladesh. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Toufique Hasan, Minister (Political) of the Embassy and Mr. Hunter M. Strupp, Asia Policy Analyst, Committee of Foreign Affairs of the US Congress. Press Release.