Product diversification, technology upgradation, skill development, and apparel diplomacy along with environmental sustainability are the key areas the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh has been working on to scale up its capabilities and retain competitiveness in the coming years, especially in the post-LDC era, said Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
“While Bangladesh’s graduation from the LDC category is an incredible achievement and a matter of pride for us, it will present a new reality to the country having both challenges and opportunities,” he said.
“Bangladesh will need to prepare well to overcome the challenges and harvest fruits of potential benefits from the graduation,” he remarked while addressing the participants of the National Defence Course 2023 on a topic titled ‘RMG sector in Bangladesh economy – prospects and challenges after becoming middle-income country’ at the National Defence College in Dhaka on Tuesday (9 May).
In his speech as a guest speaker, Faruque Hassan said the immediate impact of LDC graduation on Bangladesh’s industry, particularly the export-oriented industries is the possible changes in the market access.
“Bangladesh being an LDC gets duty-free market access to major markets including the EU, Canada, Japan, Australia, and to a few Asian countries like China, India, South Korea, etc.”
With graduation, Bangladesh would no longer be eligible for LDC-specific special and differential treatment, he added.
“Bangladesh will need to improve its diplomatic efficiency to face economic challenges in the post-graduation period. To tackle the challenges from loss of preferential market access, from now we need to think about bilateral and multilateral trading arrangements including FTA, PTA, RCEP etc. with our potential trade partner countries,” he observed.
Developing the capacity of manufacturing diversified high-value products, especially non-cotton items, alongside enhancing capabilities in product-process-technology innovation, reskilling, and up-skilling of people are the key priorities where the industry is putting a lot of emphasis to overcome the challenges and maintain the growth momentum, the BGMEA president further said.
