Dhaka, Feb 16: Dhaka and Washington have finalized a draft Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investment between Bangladesh and the US, reports Xinhua.

The draft, which emerged after a four-hour meeting of the two commerce ministries Tuesday, now requires the approval of their national governments before being signed.

The US had originally proposed TIFA to Bangladesh in 2002.

The areas proposed included removal of non-tariff barriers, implementation of intellectual property rights (IPR), promotion of trade and private investment, improvement of workers' rights and pursuing World Trade Organisation's talks on the basis of the Doha Development Agenda.

The agreement was to have been signed in July 2004, but arguments over the trade union issue and the US presidential elections last year delayed the process.

The US demanded that the Bangladesh government should enact a law to allow trade union rights in the country's six export processing zones and also insisted on the elimination of certain trade distortions and the enforcement of IPR protection in Bangladesh.

Although both sides have refused to divulge the details, the US government representative Betsee E. Steelman was quoted as saying there was no dispute any more.

The US is the single largest investor in Bangladesh, with the total investment topping $1.4 billion mainly concentrated in the energy and power sector.

Courtesy Indo-Asian News Service