Representatives of top garment buyers in a meeting expressed their serious concern Thursday about the ongoing volatile political situation that threatens safety, security, smooth production and timely shipment of apparel items.
In the meeting with Labour and Employment Minister Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain in the city they said many of the buyers already started looking for new destinations of sourcing their products while a good number of them were planning to shift their orders to other competitor countries, meeting sources said.
More than 20 top garment buyers' representatives including Li & Fund, H & M, Jcpenney and Kappahl and leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) attended the meeting.
However, the meeting proposed formation of a committee with representatives from the government, BGMEA, BKMEA, labour leaders and the buyers' forum to take immediate action in any incident in the garment sector.
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar, Commerce Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, BGEMA President Md Atiqul Islam and Vice President Md Shahidullah Azim, BKMEA Acting President Md Hatem, Industrial Police Director General Abdus Salam and Highway Police Deputy Inspector General Asaduzzaman, among others, were present in the meeting.
"Buyers are concerned about the present situation in the country as they are doing readymade garment business and have invested billions of dollars here," the minister said.
They (buyers) were feeling insecure to travel here, he quoted them as saying. He requested them to have patience for two or three weeks and gave assurance that the law and order situation would improve shortly.
"We have assured them that the government will do everything to protect the sector and also the buyers' investments," he said. "I believe that they will get back their confidence," he added.
Quoting the buyers' representatives, Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar said some of them informed him that 50 per cent of their officials who were scheduled to visit Dhaka cancelled their tour and looking for alternatives to Bangladesh.
"The local representatives also informed them that they could not visit factories to follow up orders because of the security concern," he said.
Replying to a question about the committee, he said there was already a standing committee comprising 13 members including top officials from labour, commerce, foreign, finance and home ministries and from Prime Minister's Office, Bangladesh Employers Federation, BGMEA, BKMEA, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, IndustryAll and National Coordination Committee for Welfare and Education.
"We are considering inclusion of five buyers' representatives in this committee as the purpose of the committee is similar as proposed in the meeting," he added.
"Foreign buyers are also frequently making queries through mobile or email messages to the BGMEA expressing their concern over the present situation and their messages also say that they are going to look for new destinations," the BGMEA president told the FE. "It is a very negative signal for us," he added.
The representatives in the meeting also expressed their worry over safety and security, smooth supply apparel production and timely shipment, he added.
He said foreign buyers were forced to stay in other countries due to the nationwide blockade and the political instability in Bangladesh. They were looking for other countries to place their future orders.
The orders would fall by about 30 per cent following the recent political turmoil, he said. Many good readymade garment (RMG) factories were now becoming sick due to the ill politics.
Md Hatem of BKMEA said they also raised the issue of an attack on a Spanish buyer which sent a negative message to the global community that they were not safe in such a confrontational political situation.
"None dares to come here now. They discuss their previously-placed orders outside the country like in Hong Kong," he added.
The trend of placing orders during October to December was not up to the expectations, he said adding the export growth in October was only 2.0 per cent in Bangladesh while it was over 30 per cent in India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia, Mr Hatem said. It clearly indicated that orders were shifting from Bangladesh to other countries.
The meeting also discussed the recent arson attack on the Standard Group factory and the steps taken by the government and the central bank to help the affected unit.
The meeting was also informed that police arrested 40 to 50 miscreants in connection with the fire incident, in which four gave confessional statements as inquiry was going on in this regard.
