Form taskforce to devise export turnaround

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Wednesday called for a special taskforce for quick implementation of different decisions in the sector.

The garment sector has been going through a tough time due to spiralling production costs, price fall of apparel items, a drop in garment shipments and weak infrastructure.

So, the government needs to form a special taskforce to address different challenges so that the sector can rebound soon, the BGMEA said in a letter sent to Ahmad Kaikaus, principal secretary to the prime minister.

The leaders of the apparel makers’ platform handed over the letter to Kaikaus during a meeting with him at his office. They also urged the government to include commerce, labour and foreign ministries along with the BGMEA and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association in the taskforce.

The garment sector’s trade body wants Kaikaus to head the taskforce, according to the letter.

It will mainly resolve different short- and long-term outstanding issues of the sector, like establishment of coordination among different ministries and trade bodies and do future planning for the sake of the sector’s development.

The taskforce will also work on drafting a policy to promote manufacturing of non-cotton textile as the demand for clothing made from manmade fibre is on the rise.

But Bangladesh has been failing to avail a bigger piece of the global $150 billion-market for manmade garment items as the country does not produce such yarns and garment in large volumes.

Bangladesh is still very focused on cotton-based garment although the demand for such apparel is on the wane worldwide due to changes in lifestyle and fashion of Western consumers.

The special taskforce will also resolve any dispute regarding the minimum wage of workers, skills development of workers and assessing whether the garment industry has surplus capacity or not.

It will also work for preparation of a database on production capacity and find out ways to adjust overproduction in the sector.

The taskforce will work towards: assessing the good and bad bank borrowers and their definitions, sector diversification, creation of innovative and fresh entrepreneurs in the garment sector; and further development of the garment sector.

The BGMEA also requested the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inauguration of the manufacturing of the world’s largest T-shirt on the occasion of the centennial celebration of the International Labour Organisation.

The apparel trade body also expressed their interest to disseminate information worldwide about the Mujib Coat, which is now preserved at the Bangabandhu Museum.

The Mujib Coat is a vest favoured by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The BGMEA suggested the government to preserve the intellectual property rights and geographical indication rights of the Mujib Coat as the nation is going to celebrate the Mujib Borsho this year.

Usually, the source tax related decision is taken on the first day of July every year. But last year the decision was published in October, so the apparel exporters demanded retrospective implementation of the 0.25 percent source tax.

In the letter, the garment makers also demanded at least Tk 5 devaluation of the local currency against the dollar for 25 percent of their exports to give them a leg up in global apparel trade.

The BGMEA also demanded the government write off some Tk 649.74 crore of 133 sick garment factories as they are not in operation now.

In the first five months of fiscal 2019-20, Bangladesh’s garment exports declined 7.74 percent year-on-year, whereas its two competing countries, Vietnam and Pakistan, saw their shipments jump 5.56 percent and 4.76 percent respectively, the BGMEA said in the letter.