BD to get back GSP whenever US revives it for all: Tofail

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed expressed Thursday the hope that Bangladesh would win back the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from the US whenever the US Congress revives this opportunity for many countries, reports BSS.

Bangladesh fulfilled all 16 conditions imposed by the US Administration to get back the GSP facility, he said and added that right at the moment there was no scope for Bangladesh to get the GSP.

He was unveiling the cover of a book on 'GSP: Economy or Politics' at the Shawkat Osman Auditorium of the Public Library in the city. Oitijjo published the book.

Former caretaker government adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former ambassador of Bangladesh in the US Humayun Kabir, executive director of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) Dr Ahsan H Monsur, president of Exporters Association Bangladesh (EAB) Abdus Salam Murshedi, president of American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AmCham) Aftab-ul-Islam and labour leader Roy Ramesh Chandra also spoke.

Tofail said the government already inspected over 15,000 garment factories and steps had been taken to shut down 19 factories found problematic.

"We don't want to see any garment disaster like Rana Plaza," he said.

The minister said the government waived import duty on fire fighting equipment for development of the multi-billion dollar garment industry.