Security concern that had surfaced among the global apparel buyers following the killing of two foreigners has eased, BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman has claimed. “Following the incidents of killing, there was overreaction both at home and abroad,” he said while speaking at a press briefing held at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) headquarters in the city Saturday last. But the situation has now become stable to a great extent as the law and order situation is fully under the control of the government, he added. Mr Rahman also trashed a recent media report that the business executives from top global clothing giants including H&M had cancelled trips to Dhaka after the killings of two foreigners. Responding to a question, he said H&M didn’t cancel any of its visits recently rather a big delegation, headed by its managing director for Global Production and Purchase, visited the country last week. “I held a meeting with the visiting MD who was in Dhaka on Wednesday and Thursday last,” the BGMEA chief said. Global apparel buyers are ‘unethically’ reducing the prices of locally- made apparel products despite a significant rise in production costs, he alleged. Quoting from the OTEXA and Euro State data, he said, “Prices of apparel products imported from Bangladesh dropped by 2.45 per cent and 1.41 per cent in the USA during the January-July and January-June of 2015 respectively.” “Production cost has increased by 10 per cent during the last one year because of various reasons including wage and other utility costs hike. On the other hand, buyers are unethically lowering the products’ rate,” he said. RMG is a big sector and ‘uneven’ competition also exists among local makers over the products’ prices, he admitted. The BGMEA is planning to sit with all stakeholders to discuss the liability of all involved in the global supply chain especially the role of buyers regarding fair prices of products and also the responsibility of makers in fixing rate, Mr Rahman said. The issue of formation of a unified code of conduct for audit will also come up at the meeting for discussion. The BGMEA chief also came up with some of his office-bearers’ future plans for next two years to help the sector flourish further and achieve the $50 billion export target by 2021. “One of the agendas of the new board is to increase the industry’s capability by reducing production costs,” he said, explaining that his board will hold dialogue with the authorities concerned to discuss issues including lowering the high bank interest rate, special US dollar exchange rate for exporters and availability of skilled human resources. About the ongoing factory remediation in line with the Corrective Action Plan, the BGMEA president requested the IFC to raise its funds for the purpose and make it accessible for all Accord and Alliance-listed factories. “Each factory needs between Tk 50 million and Tk 200 million to fix the fire, electrical and structural flaws according to its size,” he mentioned.
