The domestic RMG or textile sector need not worry over the recent announcement by US secretary of state Antony Blinken, said state minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam on Tuesday.
This was not at all Bangladesh-specific, he added.
Mr Blinken did not deal with Bangladeshi RMG or textile sector. He rather cited some measures under which US ambassadors globally are given authorities to deal with host countries on labour issues, said Mr Shahriar.
Mr Blinken's comment was misinterpreted in a section of the media here, according to the state minister.
Shahriar further said that the US appointed a labour attaché in Bangladesh one year ago to deal with labour issues.
No other competitor countries of Bangladesh in RMG exports give as much facility as we do in dealing with labour issues, he pointed out.
"Labour issue is very tropical in the USA as domestically they are facing many challenges on labour issues," said Mr Shahriar.
For example, he said, female workers in the USA are still less paid then the male workers, adding that Mr Blinken's speech covered policies to address domestic issues also.
Mr Shahriar said Kalpona Akhter never said in Bangladesh that she felt threatened here.
She along with her colleagues was arrested here in 2010 while taking part in demonstration on duty but later she was released and cases were withdrawn.
But when she went to the USA to demand compensation from the western buyers for Rana Plaza victims, she was arrested by the US authorities in the USA, according to Mr Shahriar.
She is successfully running an NGO here, he added.
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