By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh will lobby with the US Congress for the passage of an apparel-related bill with the hope of increasing its export of readymade garments.
Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed assured the government’s full support to the move.
The embassy in Washington is lobbying — along with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) — for smooth passage of “The New Partnership for Development Act of 2007”, now before the US Congress.
“During my recent visit to the US, I emphasised to the authorities concerned the necessity of giving duty- and quota-free entry of Bangladesh garments to the US market. Bangladesh Embassy in that country in association with BGMEA representatives continues lobbying hard for passage of the bill,” Ahmed said Thursday.
The US is the single-largest market of readymade garments for Bangladesh. If the bill is passed, apparel export to the US would increase in a big way, Ahmed said at the opening of BATEXPO 2007, an international textile fair.
The garment sector contributes about 76 percent of the country’s export earning — about $9.2 billion. Around 2.4 million people, 85 percent of them women, work in the sector.