Leaders of the country’s readymade garment sector sought on Sunday one-stop service from the sponsoring authority in a bid to lessen their business hassles.An entrepreneur needs more than a dozen licences from the government’s various agencies for setting up a factory, said Md Hatem, former vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA). At present the Directorate of Textile (DoT) is the sponsoring authority of the textile and clothing sector and if the agency fails to provide one-stop service, it would be nothing but another place of harassment, he alleged.The former BKMEA leader was speaking at the first meeting of the advisory committee headed by Mirza Azam, state minister for textile and jute (MoTJ) at the Secretariat in the city.On July 20 last the government formed the 37-member advisory committee in line with the textile policy 2017 under the MoTJ aiming to provide all required guidance and assistance for planned industrialisation of the country’s RMG sector and their effective administration. The committee would also act as a coordinator among all concerned ministries and agencies and provide the required policy recommendations to remove the problems of the existing units.It would also take necessary decisions and measures to implement the textile policy 2017.The government is working for a safe and environment-friendly textile and clothing industry and help the sector be globally competitive by raising productivity, increasing employment, export and investment, the minister said.The Textile Act 2017 has already been approved in the cabinet meeting, he said expressing his hope that the Act would be placed in the next parliamentary session for approval. Speakers also stressed the need for strengthening the proposed research and development cell in line with the textile policy for updated knowledge about the world textile and clothing industry and the competitor countries’ measures and policy recommendations.The meeting discussed further development of the primary textile sector to help meet the local demand and help the export-oriented RMG sector to add more value, meeting sources said. Other issues including setting up of a textile industrial park, measures to attract foreign direct investment in the sector and RMG market and product diversification were also discussed.MoTJ secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, Bangladesh Bank deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury, DoT director Ismail Hossain, Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation chairman Mahbub Ahmed Jakaria and representatives from Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association and BKMEA, among others, were present in the meeting.
