Build an effective business-friendly environment, garments makers urge BIDA

Garment makers today demanded creating an effective business-friendly environment and improving the ease of doing business to attract more investment in the country, especially in non-cotton or manmade fibre (MMF) based textiles.

Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), placed the demand to Md Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA).

Hassan was leading a delegation of the association in a meeting with the high-ups of BIDA in Dhaka.

Bangladesh is still lagging behind in MMF-based garment production because of a lack of investment in this rising sector. 

Currently, 74 per cent of the garment items Bangladesh exports a year are made of cotton fibre and the rest is of manmade fibre.

The BGMEA delegation included Miran Ali, vice-president; Inamul Haq Khan (Bablu), Asif Ibrahim, Asif Ashraf, Abdullah Hil Rakib, Vidiya Amrit Khan, and Mijanur Rahman, directors, according to a statement of the association.

They also discussed specific issues being faced by a number of liaison offices of foreign buyers in Bangladesh and requested BIDA to address them. 

Mohsina Yasmin, Md Shaifullah Mokbul Murshed, Avijit Chowdhury, BIDA executive members, were also present at the meeting.