US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena called on Tuesday for massive transformation of the country's apparel sector to overcome the challenges and make it more compliant with global standards.
"A successful transformation of the RMG will not only enhance the competitiveness of the country's readymade garment (RMG) sector in global clothing market but also make it more sustainable," said the US Ambassador while addressing a meeting of Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
He also suggested adoption of a dynamic programme to explore gas both in offshore and onshore areas in the country and concentrate on quality education to help turn Bangladesh into an Asian tiger.
"The county could cash in the nation's demographic dividend by providing world class education and skills training to the millions of young Bangladeshis so that they can build a modern thriving Bangladesh," he said.
When asked about restoration of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) for Bangladesh, he said the GSP is not an issue. The issue is transformation of Bangladesh's apparel sector into a world-class apparel industry. "Transformation of the apparel sector is much more important than that of the reinstatement of GSP," said the envoy.
The GSP is a matter directly dealt with by the US Congress, the envoy said suggesting maintaining strong lobby to convince the Congress for restoration of the trade benefit in the US market.
The Obama administration suspended Bangladesh's GSP status on June 27, 2013 citing serious shortcomings in safety standards and workers' rights in the factories, especially in the garment sector.
The senior US diplomat, however, said the country has, by this time, made a significant progress in ensuring fire safety and rights of workers after the Rana Plaza disaster and is moving forward with this transformation idea.
He shared his experience of visiting a number of RMG factories which are undergoing massive transformation process.
But still, Mr Mozena pointed out, there remain some areas where additional progress is needed. He said the RMG factories, which still remain out of inspection, need to be assessed immediately to stop repeat of another Rana Plaza incident.
According to Mr Mozena, disputes between management and workers are inevitable in an industry that consists of thousands of factories. But such disputes must be dealt with transparently and effectively in real time, he felt.
"Still there are many challenges, but all these have solutions and could be overcome provided there are strong commitments to do so. If these can be resolved effectively, I think Bangladesh will emerge as the number one apparel supplier to the world clothing market," he added.
The meeting was also addressed among others by ERF president Sultan Mahmud Badal while its General Secretary Sajjadur Rahman presented the theme of the meeting, first of its kind with the US Ambassador.
The US Ambassador rejected apparel entrepreneurs' claim of paying about US$ 700 million duties for exporting Bangladesh apparels to the US market. "It is the US buyers who paid the money for importing apparel from Bangladesh, not the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs," said the Ambassador adding that all countries have to pay equal tariffs unless they have especial trade relations with the USA.
The Ambassador, who has been working here for three years, identified poor infrastructure, underdeveloped port, lack of good governance and rule of law as the biggest challenges for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, according to Mozena, will emerge as the next Asian tiger provided it meets challenges of education revolution to build up skilled and trained workforce.
The country needs also to develop a strong physical infrastructure including Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane highway, double tracking of Dhaka-Chittagong railway line, ensure political stability, enhance port facilities and capabilities and attain energy safety by exploring gas and importing gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas) from neighbours.
Other challenges include checking corruption, removing bottlenecks in the administration and establishing rule of law. If these challenges are properly addressed, the country's desired economic growth will be achieved, he added. "All of these challenges have solutions," he, however, added. He said it is surprising that the rail link between Dhaka, one of the world's great mega cities, and Chittagong, the nation's premier port and link to the global economy, is only a single track, largely a remnant of the British era nearly 70 years ago.
Regarding energy exploration, the US envoy said many international oil companies, many of which are from the US, are interested in exploring gas reserves in Bangladesh which needs to go for aggressive onshore and offshore exploration of energy resources, especially gas, to meet the growing demand of energy and attract foreign investment.
"You see a very broad international interest in exploring the Bay of Bengal area both offshore and onshore. The American companies are also keen on exploration," he said.
About the price structure, he said: "Bangladesh can ask for whatever it feels is best for its interests and the companies around the world would act on that price structure."
Citing about the immense potential of the country, the US Ambassador said that Bangladesh will be a prosperous country in Asia. "I believe Bangladesh will be the Asian tiger in real sense one day."
"My vision of Bangladesh is that of the world's largest exporter of apparels, a huge player in the global marketplace for generic pharmaceuticals, shoes, finished leather goods, frozen shrimp, small freighters, software development, semi-conductor production, bone china, flowers, silk products, creative jute products and the list goes on," said Mr Mozena.
"My vision of Bangladesh is of an exporter of skilled, semi-skilled and professional manpower to build the Middle East, Southeast and East Asia, and of course the nexus of the 21st century's great trade routes, Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor," he said.
"That is my vision of Bangladesh as the next Asian Tiger, a vision based on three years of my crisscrossing this country from one end to the other," he added.
mzrbd@yahoo.com