An example Bangladesh diplomats should emulate

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Shamsul Huq Zahid
The government is under pressure from some major importers of Bangladesh goods to lift the ban on the operation of the fully foreign owned shipping companies in Bangladesh.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) through a statutory Regulatory order (SRO) issued recently imposed the restriction, saying that foreign shipping companies would only be allowed if they form joint ventures with local companies and own a maximum of 49 per cent stake.
The SRO also made it mandatory to invest, at least 25 per cent of the net profit locally each year.
The fully foreign shipping companies operating in Bangladesh would have to form such joint ventures before seeking renewal of their licences.
Obviously, the restrictions have not gone well with the foreign shipping companies and also with the governments of the countries of their origin, the rich and developed ones.
The diplomatic missions representing these countries in Dhaka have already made joint as well as separate move to get the order nullified. The heads of these missions have written to the foreign, commerce and shipping ministries requesting withdrawal of the changes mentioned in the NBR order, said an FE report published early this week.
But an official communication from the Bangladesh embassy in Washington might be producing enough of headache for the government policymakers in Dhaka. The embassy has made it clear that the office of the US trade Representative (USTR) wants the restrictions to be lifted. It has also expressed the fear that the proposed changes would affect the Bangladesh's export flow to the USA.
The local operators in shipping business are happy because their long-standing demand has been met through the NBR order. While welcoming the move, they have claimed that nowhere in the world fully foreign-owned shipping companies are allowed to operate and two laws of the land-Foreign Investment (promotion and protection) Act of 1980 and the Bangladesh Merchant Shipping Ordinance of 1983 also debar such companies to operate.
There should not be an iota of doubt that the restrictions imposed by the NBR on foreign shipping companies are aimed at protecting the interest of the nation. But there should not be also any reason to be aggrieved by the steps taken by the western diplomats. For, they are trying to protect the interests of the shipping lines of their respective countries.
The government must have examined the pros and cons before imposing the restriction. If not, unfortunately, it could be considered a policy failure.
Though it is difficult to predict the final outcome, one cannot but appreciate the efforts being made by the diplomats here to protect their own national interests in contrast to the track record of most Bangladesh missions abroad.
True, western diplomats have easy access to the government leaders and high officials in Bangladesh because of understandable reasons. Because of official indulgence, they are often found dishing out sermons on domestic political developments besides protecting the interests of their individual countries in Bangladesh.
One does not expect similar access or role from Bangladesh diplomats abroad. But they can surely help the country particularly in one area-trade promotion. Unfortunately, the scorecard of a large number of missions has been dismally poor. Every year the missions are given export targets and the failure rate has been high in case of most non-traditional export destinations.
Allegations have it that the diplomats concerned remain mostly desk-bound and hardly engage themselves in interactions with the business communities in the countries they are operating. In this age of aggressive trade diplomacy, such lack of commitment amounts to great disservice to a poor country like Bangladesh that is spending its hard-earned foreign exchange on the maintenance of diplomatic missions abroad.
Besides trade, reports on the negligence of the missions, particularly in the Middle Eastern countries, in protecting the interests of the Bangladeshi migrant workers are often published in local newspapers. The expatriate workers have also alleged time and again that the official concerned are hardly accessible.
The indifference of the missions had come again to the fore during the police atrocities against the Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait a few months back. The mission in Kuwait failed to take up with the appropriate authorities the issues of maltreatment by employers in time, leading to an outburst of workers' resentment and their consequent deportation.
The foreign office should try 'carrot and stick' policy with a view to bringing about a change in the attitude of the officials it employs abroad. Otherwise, things would continue the way it has been for years after years.