GSP facilities for Bangladesh needs to be restored for the economic development of the country, says US Congresswoman Grace Meng. She also stated there was no ‘political reason’ behind the suspension of the facilities for Bangladesh.
Meng, a Democrat, was speaking to a delegation of Bangladeshis at her office on Thursday.
Bangladeshi American Democratic League President Khorshed Khandaker led the delegation of five members.
Quoting Meng, he said US congresspersons had a meeting at Capitol Hill last week over the GSP issue.
Joe Crowley, the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Bangladesh, was also present at the meeting at Capitol Hill. Meng is a member of the Caucus.
Khandaker said the delegation submitted a memorandum to Meng soliciting her help for a revival of GSP facilities for Bangladesh.
He said they noted in the memorandum that Bangladesh had followed all the instructions the US issued to secure safe workplaces.
Meng assured the team of ‘doing her best’ for Bangladesh, Khandaker said.
The other members of the Bangladeshi delegation were US Awami League President Siddiqur Rahman, acting General Secretary Abdus Samad Azad, Vice-President Abul Kashem and Executive Member Shahanara Rahman.
The US suspended the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facilities for Bangladesh after Rana Plaza collapsed in 2012 and the Tazreen Fashions fire in 2013. Under the GSP facilities, the US had provided duty-free access to 5,000 types of Bangladeshi products, according to bdnews24.com. – Idrak
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Source: Financial Express
