The newly elected board of directors of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) — the country’s apex trade body of the readymade garment (RMG) manufacturers — will work to resolve the domestic issues the entrepreneurs are facing, said leaders from the winning panel.
They also said that they will continue collaborating with the government about tackling the challenges in the post-LDC era and to sustain the incentives, or its best alternatives.
On Saturday’s BGMEA biennial elections for 2024-26, SM Mannan Kochi-led Sammilito Parishad decisively clinched victory by bagging all 35 directorship posts.
From Sammilito Parishad and Forum, a total of 70 candidates took part in the elections held in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Election officials said that a total of 2,226 BGMEA members exercised their voting rights out of 2,496 eligible members in the elections. Of them, 1,839 voted in Dhaka and 387 in Chittagong.
Talking to Dhaka Tribune, SM Mannan Kochi, panel leader of the Sammilito Parishad, said that in the coming days, they will work to resolve harassment by NBR, customs, ports and bonds.
“This harassment slows us down. Despite being the largest productive sector in the country, our entrepreneurs feel helpless and disrespected in the face of this harassment, which is not good for our economy,” he further said.
He also said that ending this harassment will be their priority and they will discuss this matter with the senior officials and ministers of the concerned departments and ministries.
“We have increased wages for our workers. Eid is coming, and we want to celebrate the first Eid with workers by paying wages and bonuses on time,” he added.
He also said that LDC graduation time is approaching and they will discuss with the government how they can be supported as an alternative if the cash assistance is withdrawn.
“We will continue the discussion by forming a team, if necessary,” he said, adding that the opposition panel also has many talented and qualified entrepreneurs and they have to move forward in this critical time with everyone together.
Shovon Islam, a newly elected director with eighth highest votes and also managing director of Sparrow Group, told Dhaka Tribune that they had massive plans ahead.
“This time we want to focus on domestic matters as there is room for improvement. As our business is with countries abroad, we have to continue working with them but there are lots of domestic challenges lying ahead that need to be resolved,” he added.
Clean sweep
Making history, Sammilito Parishad bagged all 35 out of 35 seats.
Among the candidates, SM Mannan Kochi of Seha Designs bagged highest votes, 1,510, where Classic Fashion Concepts MD Shahidullah Azim bagged second highest votes, 1,486.
Urmi Group Md Asif Ashraf got 1,449, where Team Group Md Abdullah Hil Rakib got 1,436 and Laila Style Md Imranur Rahman bagged 1,412 votes.
SM Mannan Kochi said that this landslide victory is the reward of the work they have done over years for the RMG manufacturers of the country.
“I have been working for the sector for the last 24 years and all the other directors have won, also working for the sector. We formed a panel with a combination of experienced members and fresh blood, which excited the voters,” he added.
Shovon Islam said that the country’s RMG entrepreneurs are always wise and they evaluate the work the candidates do very carefully.
“We won because we work for the entrepreneurs. If you do not work for the sector, the entrepreneurs never vote for you, no matter how large an entrepreneur you are,” he added.
Mohiuddin Rubel, another elected director and also a director of the current board, told Dhaka Tribune that unity and strategic planning helped them to ensure a groundbreaking victory.
They formed a panel with both experienced and new entrepreneurs which helped them to attract voters, he went on noting that 14 totally fresh directors entered the board this year’s elections.
Two panels — Sammilita Parishad and Forum, led by Kochi and Faisal Samad respectively, took part in the elections.
Vote casting started at Dhaka and Chittagong regions at 10:00AM on Saturday and ended at 5:00PM as scheduled, with a final turnout of 89.18%, both in Dhaka and Chittagong regions.
At the Dhaka centre, 1,839 out of 2,032 votes were casted, around 90.5% of the city’s total votes, while in Chittagong 387 out of 462 votes were casted, around 83.4% of the total votes.
In both regions, 2,226 votes were casted out of 2,496 votes — 89.18% of total votes, said Jahangir Alamin, chairman of the election board.
