Labour rights will be one of the key issues during the US –Bangladesh Economic Dialogue, officials of the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The dialogue is scheduled to be held in Washington on June 2.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen held a meeting with US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Hass at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Wednesday on the preparations for the upcoming economic dialogue.
Talking to the newsmen after the meeting, the foreign secretary said Bangladesh so far made significant progress in addressing the concerns of both the US and the European Union over the labour issue.
Replying to a question, he said that the labour issues include the prevention of child labour, intimidation and trade union rights.
“These issues are known to all and we have been trying to make progress in this regard,” Mr Masud added.
“A committee comprising the law secretary, labour secretary and myself have been working to find out the solutions and we hope that the issues can be resolved,” Mr Masud informed.
But the foreign secretary made it clear that Bangladesh differs with the US and the EU on many issues related to labour rights.
“Bangladesh will also seek facilities like GSP during the upcoming economic dialogue,” he informed.
Asked about the RAB sanction the foreign secretary said that this was not raised in the meeting.
US Ambassador Peter Haas said that he discussed a wide range of bilateral issues with the foreign secretary, mainly about the US Bangladesh Economic dialogue.
Responding to a question, the US envoy said that they did not discuss the sanctions against RAB.
During the meeting, the US envoy proposed to form a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the decision taken during the series of dialogues between the two countries.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com