BGMEA eyes $18b export in next 3 years

FE Team | Published: October 26, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Setting an export target of ready-made garment (RMG) worth $15-18 billion dollars in the next three years, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is going to hold its three-day apparel and textile exhibition in the city on November 15, reports UNB/bdnews24.com.
During the last fiscal (2006-07), the sector earned $9.2 billion.
BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury told the members of the Overseas Correspondents Association (OCAB) that the exhibition called
BATEXPO-07, the largest textile fair in the Asia Pacific region, would facilitate the foreign buyers to see Bangladeshi textiles, clothing and accessories.
He said, significant number of buyers, particularly from the US, Canada, the UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia and many other countries of the world, participated in the previous BATEXPO fairs.
The buyers from Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Hong Kong and host Bangladesh will display their products in the exposition, for which 41 different companies have already registered.
The BGMEA president hailed US Congressman Jim McDermott for introducing a bill, "New Partnership for Development Act 2007", in the US House of Representatives on October 18 to facilitate more market access of the RMG products from the LDCs, including Bangladesh, to the US market.
He said, BGMEA would send an 11-member delegation to the US to discuss with the US congressmen, including McDermott, and officials of USTR and the labour organisations, so the bill is passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The bill, once approved, would ensure duty-free access of some Bangladeshi apparel products to that country, the BGMEA chief said.
"We greatly appreciate the efforts...in introducing the bill that will benefit all LDCs including Bangladesh," Chowdhury further said .
"We are hopeful that the United States Congress will pass such a legislation as soon as possible, on the most liberal terms to the LDCs, as it is critical to the economic and political future of Bangladesh," Chowdhury said.
If the bill is passed it could help boom the country's burgeoning garments sector further as it is continuously gaining more export earnings despite an end to quota system for export to the developed countries.
Although China, India and Sri Lanka were the major competitors of Bangladeshi RMG products, the BGMEA president said, Bangladesh would be the main source of RMG export in the ultimate analyses, mainly in low and medium price garments.
In reply to a question, Chowdhury said, export of garments worth $8.0 million to India is a starter, saying that in the near future India could be the third largest destination of Bangladeshi RMG products after the US and Europe.
He dismissed campaigns in the UK against Bangladeshi garments for alleged child labour and low wages, saying that the campaigners could not produce any evidence in support of their allegations.
However, Chowdhury said, BGMEA was now giving attention to human resource development, image building and improved relations between the entrepreneurs and the workers.
Presently some 2.4 million people, 80 per cent of whom are women, are directly employed in the RMG industry in Bangladesh.
In reply to another question, the BGMEA president said, the buyers this time around would feel more confident to participate in the exposition, because there was no political unrest.
The value of last year's spot order was $68.61 million, about 12 million higher than that of the previous year. The organisers expect more spot orders this year.
Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed will inaugurate the exposition as the chief guest at Sonargaon Hotel on November 15, and Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed will be the chief guest at the concluding ceremony.