Business Report :
The meeting with a delegation of the US Trade Representative (USTR) and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Monday focused on exercising labour rights, freedom of trade union formation, and ensuring fair prices.
According to the sources from the BGMEA, Brendan Lynch, assistant USTR for South and Central Asia, led the USTR delegate where BGMEA President SM Mannan Kochi represented the domestic apparel industry.
The participants of the meeting said that the USTR delegates appreciated the progress Bangladesh made in a few areas like the labour rights sector.
This high-level engagement aimed to discuss critical issues surrounding bilateral trade and policies including workers’ rights, well-being, and market access matters.
The USTR delegates also said that there is room for improvement in the places like amendments to the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA).
Regarding the meeting, Shovon Islam, director of the BGMEA told Dhaka Tribune that the attitude of the USTR delegates in today’s meeting was very positive.
“We don’t say that all our activities have fulfilled their demands, but they have expressed satisfaction with our progress.
We have been working on the formation of trade unions for a long time, they have suggested simplifying the process of forming it,” he added.
He also said that in the recent draft of the BLA, they made significant changes as per the International Labour Organization (ILO), EU and USA’s recommendations.
