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KATHMANDU, April 6 (BDNEWS): Garment entrepreneurs of Bangladesh and Nepal, on behalf of 14 least developed countries (LDCs), have taken initiatives to convene a minister-level meeting in Dhaka in May to collectively push for a new bill in the United States that, once passed, will allow duty-free access of garments to the US market.
President of Garment Association Nepal (GAN) Kiran Saakha told the news agency that the meeting has been scheduled for May 9-11. "The main objective of the summit is to put pressure on the US to pass this law so that our part of the world is greatly benefited," he said.
The bill -- Trade Act 2005 -- was first tabled in the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives and the Finance Committee of the Senate in January 2005. The Senate is yet to discuss the bill, but the Ways and Means Committee forwarded it to the Trade Committee on March 3 seeking the latter's suggestions.
Once the bill is passed, garments being exported to the US from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Laos and the Maldives, among other LDCs, will be 30 per cent cheaper. Among them, Bangladesh is the largest exporter of garments to the US, while Cambodia ranks second and Nepal third.
Other LDCs being deprived of the duty-free access are East Timor, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Yemen, Kiribati, Samoa, Bhutan and Tuvalu.
Saakha said technical teams will finalise "within a few days" the major issues to be discussed in the Dhaka meeting.
According to GAN, the export of apparel and textile to foreign countries declined by 48 per cent this year, as compared to last year's data, in Nepal. "This is mainly because of the unfavourable political situation in Nepal due to the (Maoist) insurgency," he lamented. "Though it has also declined in other countries, it's not that miserable like ours."
Saakha is hopeful that, after the Dhaka meeting, respective governments will make efforts through political and diplomatic channels to ensure that the bill is passed.
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