Production cost continues to rise in the apparel factories amid the hike in gas, electricity and transportation cost, posing a big challenge for the garment sector, leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said at a pres conference on Saturday. BGMEA arranged the press conference to introduce the newly elected office bearers of the apex trade body of the country’s apparel makers at its headquarters at Karwan Bazar in the capital. Reading out a written statement during the press conference, new BGMEA President Md Siddiqur Rahman said production cost at the RMG units has jumped by 10 percent in the last one year. “According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) of the US, prices of Bangladeshi apparel items dropped by 2.45 percent in the US market during the January-July period. Bangladeshi garment items lost value by 1.41 percent in the EU market during the January-June period,” the BGMEA leaders told the press conference. “Moreover, garment factories have to spend at least Tk 5 crore each to implement the action plans, especially for building new infrastructure and installing modern fire safety equipments,” Siddiqur Rahman said.Saying that Bangladesh could not sign the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal due to the political decision of the US authorities, the new BGMEA chief said, “This will affect our competitiveness in the international market.” “A total of 12 countries have signed the TPP agreement. Of the 12 countries, Vietnam is our direct competitor. After the deal, they will get duty-free access to US, whereas we will have to export by paying additional duty. The government should take diplomatic efforts to include Bangladesh in the TPP league,” he added. Shafqur said lowering bank loan rate to a single digit, reducing fees for trade license and addressing the infrastructure deficit are crucial to overcome the looming crisis. The new BGMEA president highlighted the key points of their plan for the next two years to help the apparel sector flourish further. Mentioning that productivity of Bangladeshi workers is 25 percent lower than he workers of Vietnam and China, he said that schemes like ‘Center of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry’ and ‘Skill for Employment Improvement program’ will be taken for skill development of the RMG workers. “To achieve the target of $50 billion worth of exports by the year 2021, we need to build deep sea port, Dhaka-Chittagong expressway along with more investment in the ICT sector,” he added. Former BGMEA Presidents Anwar Chowdhury Parvej, Shafiu Islam Mohiuddin, Abdus Salam Murshedy, Current Vice Presidents Faruk Hasan, Mainuddin Ahmed SM Mannan Kochi, MohammadNasir and other directors were also present in the pres conference.
