The meeting between Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and US Secretary of State John Kerry has apparently had an impact on the signing of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (Ticfa) as Bangladesh is likely to conclude the deal soon.
“There are some procedural matters to complete and it [Ticfa] will be signed after that,” Bangladesh Ambassador to US Akramul Qader told the Dhaka Tribune at 7:30am on Saturday, eight hours after the meeting.
In reply to a question, he said: “I do not know whether it will be signed during the partnership dialogue.”
The second annual Bangladesh-US partnership dialogue will be held on May 26-27 where Bangladesh foreign secretary Md Shahidul Haque and US state department’s under-secretary Wendy Sherman will lead their respective delegations.
Cabinet must endorse the deal before it is signed. It was included in the agenda of the last cabinet meeting on May 13 but was withdrawn because the foreign minister was not present. Dipu Moni was in New York at the time, attending a UN meeting on human trafficking.
Dhaka has been negotiating to incorporate a word – “incremental” or “progressive” or another one similar – in the preamble of the agreement, but Washington refuses to agree.
The US authorities, however, fear that backing off from Ticfa may have negative impacts on the trade interests of Bangladesh.
Dipu-Kerry meeting
In a meeting on May 17, Dipu Moni and John Kerry discussed the generalised system of preference for Bangladesh; Grameen Bank; the partnership dialogue; workers’ rights; the International Crimes Tribunal; the upcoming elections; the Rohingya issue; the 13-point demands of Hefazat-e-Islam and violence by Jamaat-e-Islami.
A State Department statement said Kerry was keen to see Bangladesh move forward.
“We want to see Bangladesh continue to move forward, as it is working to, on a number of different issues of labour and labour standards,” Kerry said.
About the collapse of Rana Plaza, he said: “We hope that this will be able to help all of us cooperate on the issue of labour and labour standards, and workers and workers’ rights, obviously.”
He also said the Rohingya refugee issue is a real problem for Bangladesh. “It creates tensions, and it’s a difficult issue.”
Kerry noted the importance of having the war crimes trials conducted in a fair, transparent manner in accordance with international standards.
A foreign ministry press release said Dipu Moni updated Kerry on Grameen Bank.
“When Secretary Kerry mentioned Grameen Bank, the foreign minister apprised him on the issue and said that as a public statutory body, Grameen is now conducted as per the rules and regulations governing this entity, also updating him on the process of appointing a new managing director and the obstacles being faced in this regard,” the release said.
