Rejuvenating RMG sector

The Bangladesh ready-made garments (RMG) sector is slowly losing its grip on the world apparel markets including the United States, and it is not good news for the country. We have many nagging problems like shortages of power, gas and proper infrastructure. If we do not resolve these issues, we may find ourselves in a sticky situation which no one expects.
We should not think that foreign buyers will take the trouble to realise our problem. Moreover, the still-uncertain political atmosphere and the prevailing not-so-impressive human rights situation are adding to our woes. We must bring a drastic change to our present scenario.
Once upon a time jute was our main source of foreign currency, but we have turned away from it. Many ruling party leaders think that the foreign buyers will buy apparel from us as we offer good price, but we should not forget that many other countries are eagerly waiting to start RMG trade. With the help of foreign buyers, they can easily set up apparel industries in their countries.
The Western buyers are already looking for alternative buying sources, so we must take timely and appropriate steps to recapture our market and expand it further. In business, there is no place for complacency and we should always try to work harder and improve quality of our products and service to stay afloat in the present global trade scenario.
Sajjad Hossain
Gulshan, Dhaka