Dhaka: Bangladesh has reiterated its call to the US government to restore the GSP facility and grant duty-free access of Bangladeshi products, particularly RMG, to strengthen Bangladesh’s ongoing fight against religious extremism.

‘Bangladesh apparels are subjected to high tariff in the USA as opposed to zero tariffs to almost all other developed countries in

the world,’ said Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Mohammad Ziauddin.

The envoy said this predicts a dire consequence for the export of

Bangladeshi RMG to the US with devastating impact on Bangladesh’s

apparel industry, women empowerment, poverty alleviation and above all, the country’s war against extremism and terrorism.

The envoy said this when he met Congressman Eliot Engle (D-NY) who is a Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Congressman Daniel Donovan (R-NY) on Tuesday, according to a message received in Dhaka on Wednesday.

They discussed a wide range of Bangladesh-US bilateral ties and multifaceted cooperation.

The issues that came up during the separate meetings held in the Capitol Hill include Dhaka’s fight against religious extremism and restoration of GSP facility for Bangladesh.

Mohammad Ziauddin said Bangladesh is working closely with the USA,

neighbours and other friendly countries to eliminate extremism and terrorism from Bangladesh and beyond.

‘Present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed zero tolerance against all forms of extremism and terrorism,’ he said.

The envoy said that education is the key to ensuring social awareness against extremism and the present government is relentlessly working on education and empowerment of women.

‘Ninety percent of four million workers in the RMG industry are women. These women have stepped out of their homes, contributing to poverty alleviation, literacy, and above all weakening extremist network and reinforcing the government’s efforts to root out extremism.’

He said the empowering of women with job opportunities is transforming our society into a progressive one, which is a panacea of getting rid of radicalisation.

On bilateral trade, the Ambassador apprised the Congress members that

Bangladesh does not enjoy any trade preference from the US government while the US. Preferential treatments given to its trans-pacific partners shall undermine the competitiveness of Bangladeshi products in the American market.

On the political front, Ambassador Ziauddin briefed the Congress members on the brutal killing of Bangladesh’s founding father

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibar Rahman in 1975, indemnity to the killers, rehabilitation and rewarding the anti-liberation forces.

He also briefed on creation of religion-based political parties, consecutive military rules and recent incidents of arson, killings and violence engineered by the BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami to destabilise the country.

The Ambassador said Dhaka-Washington relation is based on mutual trust and respect and both the countries share same values and objectives.

He said Bangladesh and US senior officials meet regularly in the gamut of partnership dialogue, military to military dialogue, TICFA and security dialogue to strengthen and deepen the bilateral cooperation.

Taking careful note of the deliberations by the Ambassador, Ranking Member Eliot Engle, a high profile Democrat Congressman, said that his door is always open for the Ambassador to discuss any issue of mutual interests.

Earlier, Congressman Daniel Donovan, who is also a member of the

Foreign Affairs Committee thanked the Ambassador for the briefing on Bangladesh. Political Counsellor Nayem Uddin Ahmed was present at the meeting.