US ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena said there was no direct link between Ticfa and GSP, but Ticfa would have been a good forum for discussing and resolving the issues that led to the suspension of GSP.
He said: “Sri Lanka, for example, used its own Ticfa to address and successfully resolve GSP-related issues. So Sri Lanka did not lose its GSP privileges. Ticfa does only one thing – it acts as a forum for identifying and resolving barriers to increasing bilateral trade and investment.”
The US envoy made the comments in a chat about Bangladesh’s economy on the Facebook page of the US Embassy on Wednesday evening.
When asked whether Bangladesh would get GSP and Diversity Visa (DV) facilities back, Mozena said: “I think Bangladesh is making progress in addressing the points in the Action Plan for restoring the GSP privileges. The next review of GSP is scheduled for December, which is coming really fast.”
If Bangladesh could stay focused on the GSP issue even if the political scene heated up before the national elections, then much more progress could be made in the next couple of months, he added.
Responding to a request for reconsidering GSP and making visa and scholarship procedure easier for Bangladeshi students, the US Ambassador said: “When President Obama suspended Bangladesh's GSP privileges on June 27, he provided the government of Bangladesh with an Action Plan or roadmap for how Bangladesh could regain those privileges. All are working hard to engage constructively on the various points of the Action Plan.”
Regarding the issues of caretaker government and upcoming national elections, Mozena said: “Our position is that the major parties must engage in constructive dialogue to find an agreed way forward for elections that are free, fair and credible.”
The Ambassador expressed hopes that once the parties come up with a mutually agreed path, well-wishers from the outside, like USA, and other friends of Bangladesh, would try to help.
Earlier in the day, the social media page of US embassy in Dhaka posted a status saying “Join Ambassador Mozena for a Facebook chat on Bangladesh’s economy! What is the way forward on the GSP action plan? What signs of economic development has the Ambassador noticed in the country? Find out more on our chat today! Post your questions at any time in the comment section.”
The chatting request got a huge response as hundreds of people clicked on to the Facebook page to take part in the open conversation.