Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) has sought duty-free facility for export of knit products to Brazil, and also proposed direct trade between the two countries to enhance bilateral business. “Brazil, the eighth largest economy, is a very important market for Bangladeshi knitwear items,” said BKMEA president Salim Osman, seeking necessary measures for removing the barriers in exporting local knitwear products to Brazil. Bangladesh imports cotton from Brazil for manufacturing its knit items. So, joint investment can be made for setting up spinning mills in Brazil to produce fabric using their cotton, he opined. Brazil can offer duty-free facility in importing Bangladeshi knit products, made by using the fabric imported from that country. His proposals and observations came at a meeting titled ‘Promotion of Knitwear Export in Brazil, Unlocking the Potentials’, held in BKMEA’s Dhaka office on Monday. Brazil Ambassador to Dhaka Joao Tabajara de Oliveira Junior was present as the chief guest in the programme. Brazil Deputy Head of Mission Julio Cesar Silva, and BKMEA vice presidents Mansoor Ahmed and Fazle Shamim Ehsan were also present. The BKMEA president also said trade associations can play an important role in developing trade and bilateral relation of any country, expressing the association’s interest in networking with the Brazilian trade associations and making joint foreign investment. He requested the ambassador for taking necessary measures to ease visa processing for BKMEA’s member exporters. The Brazilian ambassador assured the programme that a commerce cell would be opened to increase direct trade between the two countries and solve the existing problems, including visa processing.
