Garment buyers unnerved by security fears

International retailers postponed their scheduled meeting in Dhaka today with garment makers citing security fears, after two foreign nationals were gunned down in Bangladesh in a space of one week.

The buyers' forum meeting, a regular monthly discussion between the retailers and garment makers has been deferred, Faruque Hassan, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said yesterday.

Representatives from nearly 65 to 70 international retailers, which account for about 90 percent of the country's $25 billion receipts from garment exports a year, participate in the meeting.

The retailers that participate in the meeting include Walmart, Gap, JC Penney, C&A, Tesco, G-Star, H&M, Target, Inditex and Carrefour.

In the forum meeting, they mainly discuss their various problems and find solutions, according to Hassan.

A Japanese national was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Rangpur on Saturday, just five days after an Italian aid worker was murdered in the capital's diplomatic zone.

Following the deaths, the international retailers have started cancelling or deferring their trips to Dhaka, according to industry insiders.

“One of my major US buyers asked me through email whether he will come to Bangladesh or not as two foreign nationals were killed. I asked him not to cancel the trip as the situation has not worsened,” said a major garment exporter asking not to be named.

Industry insiders fear a reduction, cancellation and shift of work orders to other countries due to the situation.

Some retailers have shifted the meeting to Hong Kong, Dubai, China, India and Thailand and asked the garment makers to go there instead.

“One of my American buyers cancelled his trip to Dhaka. We were supposed to hold a meeting on October 12, but he asked me to go to Dubai to attend the meeting,” said Shahidullah Azim, managing director of Classic Group, one of the leading garment exporters.

“It is very sad that the garment sector becomes a casualty of external factors as always -- either it's political turmoil or security concern for foreigners.”

This is the peak time to bag work orders for the fall season in the western world, he said.

If the retailers cannot come to Bangladesh during this important season, the garment makers will lose work orders again, he added.