Cabinet clears Ticfa draft

The Cabinet on Monday cleared the draft of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa), that Bangladesh feels will reduce chances of unilateralism by the US in areas of trade and investment.

The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Ticfa will widen scope to clear trade and investment disparities with the US while curb down their unilateralism in trade and investment, Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told mediapersons after the meeting.

"The agreement will have 16 chapters and seven articles. It will ensure protection of intellectual property, curb corruption and ensure labour rights," he said.

The agreement is expected to be signed respecting the prevailing laws of both countries, Bhuiyan said.

There have been reports that the US was creating much pressure for Bangladesh to sign this agreement.

But the Cabinet Secretary said thery was no pressure behind the Cabinet's approval of the Ticfa agreement draft.

The left parties have been protesting against the Ticfa agreement.

After confusion arose about the name of deal, he told bdnews24.com, “The exact name of the deal is Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement”.

Commerce Minister G M Quader had recently told the media that the government was ready to sign the Ticfa with the US.

“But signing it is not a pre-requisite for continuation of the Generalised System of Preferences in the US market,” Quader had said.

The GSP is a duty-waiver scheme of the US government for the least developed countries, introduced in 1976.

The Minister said that the Ticfa was a necessary platform to resolve bilateral trade issues between the two countries.

“The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladesh. We will do whatever we need to maintain this market,” he had said.

However, the minister did not mention any deadline for the agreement to be signed.