US needs Bangladesh to prosper for its own success, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat says

The US needs Bangladesh to prosper for its own success, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat has said.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 12 May 2016, 02:40 PM
Updated : 12 May 2016, 06:09 PM

She praised Bangladesh for the “impressive growth that has led to striking improvements in living standards, education levels and public health” while speaking at the annual general meeting of International Business Forum of Bangladesh in Dhaka on Thursday.

“As I have said on many occasions, I am so proud that the United States is such a strong partner with Bangladesh on this successful journey. I never finished that without saying that there is so much more we can do. And we can do it together,” she said.

“I want to be absolutely clear that the United States sees a strong, prosperous and stable Bangladesh with its all prosperity and stability. We need you to succeed for our success,” she added.

The ambassador said over the past years, US-Bangladesh bilateral trade on goods had increased by 8.5 percent to nearly $7 billion.

“Most of this growth consists of Bangladeshi exports to the United States. Not surprising that we are your number one single country destination for Bangladeshi goods primarily and readymade garments sectors,” she said.

“It is clear that our bilateral trade creates a significant number of jobs, brings new technology and best practices and stimulates further direct foreign investment here in Bangladesh,” she added.

Bernicat emphasised ‘improvement in business and investment climate in Bangladesh and flow of trade’ in order to increase the number of jobs and amount of foreign direct investment.

“The more predictable and reliable investment climate is including tax collection, dispute resolution, political stability, infrastructure, electricity generation, among others,” she elaborated.

FBCCI President Abdul Matlub Ahmad called for more foreign investment. “Look at Bangladesh. Growth was no less than 6 percent in the previous few years. It can be 7 percent in the future, which you can find in only a few countries. And we are doing this without GSP facilities.”

IBFB President Hafizur Rahman urged the US to set up two trade centres, one each in Dhaka and Chittagong.