'Banker to the poor' lobbies US to save textile jobs in poorest nations

DHAKA, Monday (AFP) The Bangladeshi pioneer of micro-credit loans said he has lobbied the US Congress for duty-free access for textile products from the world's 14 poorest countries to stave off stiff competition from China.

Mohammed Yunus, the founder-chairman of micro-lending pioneer Grameen Bank, said he had just returned from Washington where he urged US lawmakers to pass legislation this year that lets the 14 poorest countries, including Bangladesh, sell textiles duty free to the United States.

"We need duty-free access of Bangladeshi textiles to the United States, if we want to save millions of jobs here," Yunus told AFP after returning from the US capital. Five months after the end of global textile export quotas on January 1, concern is growing that China will grab a lion's share of the business with its cheap labour and extensive infrastructure to ship products.

Chinese textile exports to the United States reached 3.5 billion dollars in the first three months of the new trade regime, up 70.5 percent from the same period last year, while exports to the European Union rose 48 percent to 3.9 billion dollars. Yunus, 64, and known by leaders around the world who seek his advice on reducing poverty through small loans, said the gains by China threaten more than a million women in the Bangladeshi garment industry with no other source of income.

"The garment industries employ 1.5 million women. A slowdown in the sector will be disastrous for not only to these poor girls, who have nowhere to go, but also to entire country," said Yunus.

There are an estimated 3,800 garment factories in Bangladesh that account for more than three-fourths of country's 7.7 billion dollars in exports.

Yunus said he received support from several lawmakers in the United States including senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

"Imagine the social impact if the Bangladesh textile sector loses out to China or other nations. It will destroy the livelihood of millions of urban women and their social dignity," he said.

Yunus, an economics professor, is credited with developing a unique micro-credit system to help overcome poverty for millions of poor in the world. It has an estimated 4.1 million woman borrowers in rural Bangladesh alone and has drawn the attention of world leaders including former US president Bill Clinton.

Textile exporters from Bangladesh said recognition was why they brought Yunus to Washington to lobby for the textile bill.

"Professor Yunus successfully campaigned for the bill, arguing that like micro-credit, employment in garment factories also contributes to women's empowerment in Bangladesh," said Anisul Haq, the president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

"He is a champion of the poor and is known throughout the world. So when he seeks support for a cause, even the US leaders cannot ignore him," said Haq.