Acknowledging the wider support and popularity of the caretaker government, the European Union (EU) ambassador to Bangladesh, Michael Miller, said there must be democratic elections at the end of the process, leading to a new parliament and government with a popular mandate. taking into account the “rule of law and respect” for fundamental rights.

“For us, these are principles that underlie the relationship between the European Union and Bangladesh,” the head of the EU Delegation told UNB in ​​his first interview after his arrival in Dhaka, noting that ambition is “raised” while changes are always ” difficult”.

The Bangladesh-EU partnership is seen as dynamic and rapidly evolving; and last year, two parties celebrated 50 years of relations.

Ambassador Miller said the popularity of the Chief Counsel and the caretaker government is very clear and the sense of common support across party lines is very strong indeed.

He said it was a difficult time and that maybe not everything – not all reforms – could happen at once, but there had to be some “quick wins”.

Ambassador Miller said that the government must demonstrate that it is capable of taking the reforms forward. “Ambition is sky high. The pressure on the street is extremely strong and somewhere in here there has to be some quick wins that can still be structural in nature.”

“There must be a process leading to elections. We think it is very important to do this process properly and give this interim government some time to prove that it can reform itself,” he added.

Implementation is the most difficult, Miller said, adding that his message to councilors is that they are not without resources.

“We certainly don’t lack political will. Please tell us what your priorities are and then let us work very closely with you. We can do a lot,” he said.

As a newcomer arriving at a time of unprecedented change, Ambassador Miller now looks forward to supporting the country’s transition and reform ambitions, underpinned by the values ​​they both hold dear: good governance, democracy and respect for fundamental rights.

Good governance at board level

The first round of negotiations on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Bangladesh and the European Union (EU) was postponed in August.

The ambassador said that they shared a text for the new EU-Bangladesh agreement, which they shared with the Bangladeshi side two weeks ago.

The European Union will continue talks with Bangladesh on a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), and the intention of the future PCA is to improve their relations to include a wider range of policy areas, including climate change and security.

“We are now preparing a high-level mission from Brussels, which will come to Dhaka in the first week of November and where we will discuss not only this new PCA, but also the update of course of the treaty and also the Joint Commission with interim government,” Miller said.

So all that to say, he said, there are strong political messages and what’s important to them, beyond the political message, is that the transition that they want has to happen in a smooth manner.

“We wanted to have the ambition to introduce good governance in general. Of course, this period must be characterized by respect for the rule of law and human rights, which we see,” added the representative.

Good story to tell

Ambassador Miller said they have a good story to tell about Bangladesh-EU relations and when he leaves in three or four years, he would like this partnership to be political and rights-based as well as trade and development.

There is an opportunity to broaden and deepen the relationship with what they do and have a good starting point.

“But the purpose of doing more together will be in the fundamental political forms, which you have started and where perhaps we can help you,” he said.

The representative said that if they can increase FDI to be more in line with the trade relationship, he would consider that a good outcome.

“We have just established a European Chamber of Commerce, which has this partnership in mind. So it is also about Bangladesh and the EU getting on the same page when it comes to international rules-based order. I can’t imagine that Bangladesh is anywhere but on the same page as us, which is that we need decisions that reflect common interests and commitment between states,” he said.

The EU is Bangladesh’s main trading partner as the country is a garment powerhouse and has made excellent use of duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market, a reflection of the industriousness of its people and the world’s appetite for its products.

The EU says the next chapter in Bangladesh’s success story will be written as they help the country diversify its economy.

To do this, the EU is promoting greater investment – in infrastructure, connectivity, digitalisation and the private sector – through the EU’s Global Gateway initiative as a path to safe, open and sustainable economic growth.

In parallel, they boost our support for business through a new EU Chamber of Commerce and, of course, they will continue to support decent work and labor sector reforms.

Three things to do

In terms of trade and economic cooperation, the ambassador said, there are three things they want to do.

The first is to help the government deal with the difficulty of doing business. “So there must be a one-stop shop, not a shop with 39 shops. It’s that simple. And by doing this, by making business easier, it will be easier for us than to convince our own economic operators to invest,” said the Ambassador .

He said while the trade relationship is “huge” and truly “impressive”, the FDI relationship is not and does not match them.

So compared to some of the other countries in the region that Bangladesh competes with in the European market, the stock of FDI is 10 times less, he said, adding that this is something they need to work on together.

The second thing, when it comes to the priority of the economic relationship, will be how to remove blockages.

“So it’s energy supply, it’s customs and also it’s transport, from ports to markets, all areas where we’re very active and where the European Investment Bank is also active,” he said.

So the ease of doing business, the bottlenecks, and then they try to ensure that the transition to GSP plus, which is the graduation from the status of LDC, but which is also without problems, said Miller.

The representative said that the RMG sector is actually very impressive with highly advanced factories and certainly the ones he visited are impressive.

“There will be a need for a general upgrade. You certainly have a huge capacity. The challenge when it comes to graduating the LDC will be that to ensure that this is a very smooth transition, we will need the RMG sector to improve their workplace safety to ensure that they basically adopt a business model, which is the circular economy,” Miller said.

It is very important that the country applies all labor market standards and environmental standards, he said.

“We would encourage investment in Bangladesh to make sure you move from a business model that is great quality but RMG to something that is more value added,” Miller said.

On diversification, he said he needs to explore with the authorities to see which are the sectors where Bangladesh is competitive. “So I would imagine this is skin. It could be pharmaceuticals. It could be light engineering.”

The reason he talked about this diversification is that currently the trade relationship is very narrowly focused and the GSP plus approach that they are considering shows that Bangladesh does not need to be too focused.

“So it’s time to plan ahead, see this incredibly dynamic country in what other sectors you can be competitive and prepare to enter the European market, which I think is in your best interest, but it’s clearly also ours.” he added.

Regarding the better price of Bangladeshi products, the envoy said it is a shared responsibility.

Miller said European consumers care about the reputation of the companies that make their goods.

The EU said the record in building people-to-people links is strong, with a particular focus on youth. Bangladesh is among the most important partners for EU Erasmus+ scholarships. The country also benefits from significant support for higher education institutions.

The ambassador said that they look forward to working closely with Bangladesh and that they can do more together in international organizations.

“For us, what’s happening in Ukraine is absolutely central to European security. So there’s no doubt that this will continue to dominate the political relationship we have with our partners, including our close partners,” he said. .

Around the world, the EU and Bangladesh have been working together for many years to promote multilateral solutions to global challenges.