Textile mill owners have demanded that the government take measures in the next national budget to exempt the sector of any duties on imports.In a recent BTMA proposal sent to the Commerce Ministry, they sought such exemption at a time when a good number of textile mills are on the verge of closure as they are in uneven competition with the imported cotton yarns and removal of bonded fabrics in the local market. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, the trade body of the textile sector, in its proposal said the existing 1 per cent duty on imports of capital machinery should go. “The overall textile industry is in trouble due to imported cotton yarns and higher fuel costs,” Khorshed Alam, a BTMA Director, told the Daily Observer.He pointed to the fact that government is allowing import of cotton yarns, which takes local textiles mills’ market share and creates uneven competition. Currently, Bangladesh’s textile secvtor is manufacturing high quality woven fabrics by using its own cotton yarns produced by spinning mills. “Our textile mills are on the verge of closure as demand for our cotton yarns are decreasing due to increased imports of cotton yarns and also removal of bonded woven fabrics in the local market,” he further said. He said, “In our budget proposal we demand full duty exemption on capital machinery imports to make our products competitive with the imported yarns and fabrics.”
