Bangladesh should make its investment packages lucrative in real sense to lure more foreign investors to build huge infrastructures as a prerequisite for achieving the aspired middle-income status.
Such a suggestion came from outgoing US Ambassador Dan W Mozena who sees Bangladesh as a potential and a resourceful country that can make leaps forward for economic advances.
The diplomat said political commitment and wills could help the country to unlock the potential in an ambience of good governance, greater political stability and the rule of law.
"I do feel about potentials. I do believe about those realizations….the good thing for Bangladesh is that all the challenges are resolvable," he said.
He thinks the authorities should first recognize the challenges and then get down to holistic work to overcome those.
The US diplomat gave vent to his thoughts while talking to the Financial Express on Tuesday evening during an exclusive interview at his office. The interview was arranged prior to the conclusion of his assignment as the US envoy to Bangladesh to discuss a wide range of completion of his tasks, including success in improving the US-Bangladesh relationship and investment scenario, during the three years of his tenure.
Ambassador Mozena is set to leave the country on December 21.
Mr Mozena said investors would come when packages will make sense for them to come into this country. Citing an example, he said some 30 international oil companies are now working in Myanmar for making sense for investors to come to that country.
On the contrary, he referred to ConocoPhillips which refused to explore gas and oil in deep-sea block in the Bay of Bengal. The ambassador said the US company did not extend the contract because of the decision stopping export of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The step changed the financial sense of the company.
The US envoy said the authorities here should consider risk factors and realities of the country based on the demand and expertise in the financial package.
Ambassador Mozena, who made effort to help Bangladesh retain the generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility for the apparel industry, however, talked about transformation of the industry to the level of premium brand than getting back the facility.
"We focus on transformation… transformation to bring to the highest standard, premium brand, the best brand, the preferred brand."
Though the ambassador admitted that the readymade garment sector has made considerable progress after the Rana Plaza and Tazreen fire tragedies, he said much more remains to be done to turn the sector world-standard. Doing this is also necessary to help the country attain middle-income-country status.
He also emphasized development of a mechanism to ensure safety of the factories and workers without the help of development partners and brands.
Resolving immediately the labour disputes which are still experienced in many factories, ensuring labour rights in all other industrial sectors and promulgation of the Labour Act into rule are among other challenges he listed as hurdles to getting to the goal.
The US envoy termed his efforts to strike the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) as fabulous and said it set up the bilateral form at high level to assess obstacles to increasing trade and investment.
"It is not anything more, nothing to do with GSP, nothing to do all the other things. Only does one thing: two countries sit together at high level and identify obstacles to increasing trade and investment and identify how to overcome those obstacles," he said.
Referring to what he considers as highest success during his tenure, Mozena mentioned the formation of four platforms to hold discussion. "I am happy with the effort of institutionalised partnership between the US and Bangladesh. The partnership dialogue, security dialogue, bilateral dialogue, military dialogue--we have four platforms we used."
Asked about the development of the US-Bangladesh ties, he categorically termed it 'stronger, deeper and broader than ever before.
To elaborate the US partnership with the government, the ambassador referred to the US involvement with the health sector, reduction of maternal mortality, child-under-five death, farmers, family size, global climate change, maritime security and so.
The US also has been engaged with the government, people and civil society of the country trying to help it achieve middle-income-country status.
However, when his attentions was drawn about the strains in the relationship over some recent political issues, Mozena said his focus always remains on the price of promoting Bangladesh as a peaceful, secure, prosperous, healthy and democratic country.
"We focus on that, we focus on the partnership - broader, deeper, stronger and making it deeper, stronger than ever before to the benefit of the people of Bangladesh and America. Everybody gains so that is win-win. That is our focus," he added.
The ambassador said Bangladesh is no doubt rich for its soil, weather, climate, coal, gas and so many things. But its hardworking, energetic, dynamic, creative, entrepreneurial, resilient people are the biggest asset of the country which will lead to the country to be next Asian tiger.
He felt that the country's pharmaceutical companies, leather industry, jute, silk, frozen foods, flower etc have potential to grow and export to the United States and European countries. The experiences he gathered through roaming around every corner of Bangladesh made him believe, understand how rich the country is.
"I want to tell the story -- They (American) only know Rana Plaza, Tazreen Fashion, they know cyclones, floods, corruption, political issues….They do not know the rest of the stories that I will tell," he said regarding the use of his free time on return home.
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