News Report Overcoming the security concerns, foreign buyers of the readymade garments have started coming to Bangladesh though some are still finding the third place comfortable for their negotiations. Many buyers are coming to Bangladesh, others will come soon, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Siddiqur Rahman told The News Today on Thursday describing the current scenario. He said there has been ‘exaggeration’ over travel advisories by various foreign countries in the wake of the recent murders of two foreign nationals. Even many termed it red alert without understanding it properly, the BGMEA leader said adding that wide scale media coverage also created panic to some extent. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Well Group Syed Nurul Islam also gave the similar picture while talking to UNB, one of the leading news agencies of the country recently. A number of buyers are asking us to meet them in China or Hong Kong for their convenient,” Islam told UNB. The Well Group has clients like JCPenney, C&A, Kmart, Wal Mart, Carrefour, Aeropostale, George target, Sears, Family Dollar, Dollar General and Tesco. Former BGMEA first vice president Nasir Uddin Chowdhury said nobody should create unnecessary panic considering the country’s interest, and things are now fine with the foreign buyers. Nobody can avert accident but fearing accident no one can stop giving up driving, he added. Chowdhury, also Managing Director of the Eastern Apparels Limited, referred to a recent incident in Turkey where some 90 people were killed but people have not stopped visiting Turkey. BGMEA Vice-President (Finance) Mohammad Nasir said the association is continuously monitoring the situation. The situation is now under control of the government. We are now set to go ahead with our business involving the foreigners. The foreign buyers are now expressing their satisfaction over the measures taken for ensuring security for the foreigners. The BGMEA sources said the scheduled monthly meeting of the buyers’ forum was not held this time but will take place regularly in the coming months. The international retailers’ meeting was scheduled to take place in the first week of this month with garment makers, but it was postponed after the killing of two foreign nationals in Bangladesh in a span of one week. Representatives from nearly 65-70 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 BGMEA. After the twin incidents, the government tightened security measures for all foreign nationals in Bangladesh and the international community in Bangladesh expressed satisfaction over the measures. Meanwhile, buyers are monitoring the situation in Bangladesh closely. “We are in close dialogue with other buyers regarding the situation,” H&M spokeswoman Anna Eriksson said, according to Reuters. Marks & Spencer said the firm stopped travel to Bangladesh for seven days a few weeks ago. Travel has since resumed, a spokeswoman said, and added there was no impact on business orders. Gap declined to comment on a change in its travel plans. Tesco said it had not stopped business travel to Bangladesh, but had asked its employees to be vigilant and consider their movements carefully. A Dhaka-based garment manufacturer said the government had increased security in the area where foreigners lived, police had spoken to them and confidence was returning. Business was strong, but if there is another attack on a foreigner, it could hurt the sector. The readymade garments industry is the economic lifeblood of the country, employing around 4 million people, most of them women. It is in the midst of a massive safety overhaul after the collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013 in which more than 1,100 workers were killed and exposed the unsafe working conditions. In recent years, Bangladesh has also faced competition from Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, although its wages remain low.
