Bangladesh should increase its bilateral and regional cooperation activities in the East Asian countries as the Western countries were not keeping their promises, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said on Monday. ‘Those who are vocal about our labour rights and workers’ safety, they are not giving us tariff-free facilities which would help the country and our workers. The US ambassador recently assured to give zero tariff facility to Bangladesh, but that promise is yet to be fulfilled,’ he said while speaking as a special guest at a symposium organised by Japan External Trade Organization.
He said it is time for Bangladesh to explore new horizons to fulfil the dream of becoming a middle-income country by 2021.
‘So as we are not getting such facility from the west, we should now look to the east. East Asian countries like Japan are our trusted partners in development for a long time,’ he said.
He said some labour leaders were spreading propaganda in the international arena about Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza accident which killed more than 1,000 people.
‘In my recent visit to Australia, I found that two of our labour leaders went there earlier and talked too many things about our country,’ he said.
Tofail also said the country’s export to Japan was increasing. ‘I hope it will cross US$ 1 billion soon. We have a market for leather products in Japan. Now we have to diversify our product line.’
Japanese ambassador to Dhaka Shiro Sadoshima said Japan and Bangladesh should think about the prospects where they can help each other.
‘Japan is one of the largest importers of readymade garments and Bangladesh is one of the largest exporters. But Bangladesh exports only 2 per cent of Japan’s RMG import,’ he said.
He said such gaps indicate there is so much to do between the two countries.
‘Bangladesh has very cheap labour that also got some skills.
Japan can provide training to the workers and make them more productive,’ he said.
Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said Japanese investors should come to Bangladesh alongside with the government of the country.
‘Japan is a very close ally of Bangladesh and it helped us a lot. Japanese businessmen get very afraid hearing about the Hartal (general strike), but I want to assure them when the risk is high then the return is higher,’ he said.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said Bangladeshi businessmen are keen to develop their relations with Japanese counterpart.
‘There is some untapped market in Japan because of our lack of focus in that market. But I believe now is the right time to develop our bond with Japan,’ he said.
He also said Japanese businessmen should invest in industries like light engineering and agro processing.
-With New Age input
