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Bangladesh:Status quo on rules of origin announced |
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2004-9-17
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It was finally, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia turn to put an end to all controversies surrounding the Central Bonded Warehouse (CBW) when she upheld a Cabinet Committee''s decision to reject the proposal outright.
According to sources last August 31, the Prime Minister approved the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs'' decision, leaving no scope for the garment exporters to fight for their much-needed CBW.
She upheld the Cabinet Committee''s decision to maintain the status quo in this connection.
The garment exporters and the Commerce Ministry demanded the CBW and relaxed rules of origin (RoO) as they argued that the CBW would drastically reduce the lead-time, a major worry for the exporters, and a relaxed RoO would multiply the country''s RMG exports to the European Union.
President of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anisul Haq has, however, remained hopeful that the CBW would get the approval even though he admitted that the chances are dim."I am the last man to be pessimist about CBW. I hope good sense would prevail at last and the government would take into consideration all the factors before deciding on the CBW and the Rules of Origin," Haq told the FE Wednesday.
"Garment exports is a $5 billion industry and is growing at a very good pace. Don''t kill its growth," pleaded the BGMEA president.
The PM''s non-acceptance of the garment exporters'' plea meant a victory for the country''s strong textile lobby, which has been waging a make-or-break fight against the CBW and the relaxed RoO.
The textile entrepreneurs, who have already invested Tk 120 billion in the primary textile sector, argued that both, CBW and relaxed RoO would turn their investments into sick enterprises.
The National Coordination Council''s proposal to adopt a number of projects in port uplift also found poor response from the PM as she decided not to make any monetary commitment in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Shipping Ministry has been asked to increase the efficiency of the country''s ports. The PM''s decisions were conveyed to the NCC, which would sit again on September 18 next to decide the new terms of reference of the Council.
Earlier, the Cabinet Committee in its meeting on August 16 had asked the NCC to submit a fresh set of recommendations by September 30. The committee would discuss the recommendations for final decision in this regard. The NCC was created in April last to propose a set of proposals to the government for preparing the country''s RMG and textile sectors for the upcoming quota-free textile regime.
Sources said since the PM is yet to rule out the creation of a textile fund as proposed by the NCC, there is still hope for the primary textile and the RMG sectors for an easy access to soft loan for making investment in the backward linkage industry.
The PM also instructed the NCC to recommend as to how the textile sector could be made competitive as it is vital for the survival of the country''s RMG in the quota-free regime.
The Cabinet Committee, however, had rejected the NCC''s proposal to create a fund worth Tk 35 million for giving soft loan to both the textile and RMG sectors.
The NCC in its next meeting would scrutinise its tome-like report, informed sources. It also asked the concerned ministries to submit their observations and proposals. |
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