Bangladesh to resume TIFA negotiation with US
All Headline News | January 25, 2009
Bangladesh To Resume TIFA Negotiation With U.S.
Siddique Islam - AHN Correspondent
Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) — Bangladesh will resume the pending talks with the United States on striking a deal —Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) — as new governments in both the countries have assumed office.
Commerce Minister of Bangladesh Faruk Khan said the Awami League-led government is ready to resume the suspended negotiations on the proposed agreement when the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, James F. Moriarty, called on him in the ministry in the Dhaka on Sunday.
"We are going to resume TIFA talks based on an already prepared position paper soon after necessary exercise at the government’s political level," the minister told reporters when he was asked about the signing of the agreement, according to the New Age, a local newspaper, reports. If such an agreement is signed, the two countries will constitute a joint council on trade and investment to cover a wide range of issues such as intellectual property, labor and environment, and cooperation in the area of small and medium enterprises.
"It [agreement] will be helpful for Bangladesh to increase both trade and investment," Moriarty said after his meeting with the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Shafique Ahmed in Dhaka on the same day.
The latest and third rounds of negotiation on TIFA were held in Dhaka in February 2005, preceded by two other rounds in March 2004 and August 2003, officials said.
