In the wake of increasing demand for green products globally, experts yesterday suggested framing rules for making the textile industry environmental complaint for enhancing its competitiveness and sustainability. They also made a set of recommendations, including giving financial or fiscal incentives to encourage entrepreneurs to low-cost cleaner production practices and making aware that the reduction of energy consumption can be a real cost-cutter.  The recommendations were made at a seminar on “Legal and Regulatory Issues Related to Environmental Sustainability of the Textiles Sector,” organised jointly by Policy Research Institute (PRI) and International Finance Corporation at the PRI conference room.  Speaking at the function, Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju said his ministry had put its best efforts to improve environment in the country. “There are lots of regulations but effective implementation of them is important to reduce pollution,” he said. He expressed disappointment that the water supplied by the government was not drinkable, which is “unfortunate.”    BGMEA President Atiqul Islam said ensuring quality and environmental matters in the factories is increasingly becoming a global issue. “This means if any of the two is missing, you are simply out of business.” “But it is easy for big factories but not for small factories to address the environmental pollution, which is a challenge.” Atiqul Islam added the textile industry uses ground water as it contains less chlorine. He laid emphasis on financial support at lower interest for implementing the environmental issue.  Senior environmental adviser to GIZ in Bangladesh Tanuja Bhattacharjee said rules and proper guidelines are necessary to make textile industry competitive as environmental sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue in international arena.   “It is high time to look at the issue so that we can set example before the world,” she said. She said GIZ is going to launch mobile testing water wastage programme by June next to identify the level of environment pollution in the textile industry.   Assistant Chief of Ministry of Environment and Forest, Khalid Hassan said the ministry is in the process of enacting Land Zoning Act to help make cluster textile industry outside of the city. Chief Operating Officer of Comfit Composite Limited, Md Kawser Ali described that how his company had reduced use of water by adopting environment-friendly technology. “Use of water has fallen to 50 litres from 180 litres for cleaning per kilogram fabric. ” PRI Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur emphasised the need to address the environmental issue before being late for keeping the environment clean for generations to come. He presented a paper at the seminar putting a number of recommendations, including differentiating water tariffs based on locations, strengthening enforcement and monitoring, tax and duty rationalisation for encouraging environmentally-friendly investment goods and for discouraging hazardous chemicals. The paper said although data on the extent of washing dying and finishing firms with effluent treatment plants (ETPs) are not readily available, the perception of experts is that the coverage is very low at around 30%.  Without the full coverage with ETPs along with strict enforcement of rules, the water pollution could not be addressed, it said.   An assessment of four firms shows that 3 of 7 best practices cost less than Tk4.1 lakh each, two of them cost almost nothing.  None requires more than 15 months to recoup the costs and the improvements could reduce water and energy consumption by up to 25% as well as reduce chemical use significantly, according to the findings.

The government and International Labour Organisation-led safety inspection of the readymade garment factories under National Tripartite Plan of Action is being hindered due to non-cooperation of factory owners and inconsistency in information including factory location and contact numbers. Recently, the ILO informed the government that they found incorrect contact information of 666 factories in the list provided by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association. They also alleged that the authorities of at least 62 factories in the list were not cooperating to conduct safety inspections in the units while authorities of 508 factories claimed that their units remained close. After the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people, mostly garments workers, in April 2013, the EU retailers formed Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh while the North American retailers formed Alliance for Bangladesh Workers Safety. Both the initiatives launched inspection programmes in the Bangladeshi RMG factories from where their members procure products and the initiatives completed their primary safety assessments in their listed over 1,900 factories. The government in association with the ILO announced a separate inspection programme for rest of the garment factories which were not on the lists of Alliance and Accord and which were mainly engaged in subcontracting. According to the ILO officials, the Accord and Alliance have so far inspected at least 1,952 factories out of a total 4,271 BGMEA and BKMEA member factories. The sources said that rest of the BGMEA and BKMEA member factories were supposed to be inspected under the ILO initiative and their number is over 2,300. Out of 2,300, about 100 factories remained closed for long and already 756 units have been inspected up to date, he said. According to the ILO officials, the initiative has set deadline of April 30 to complete initial safety assessments in its 100 per cent listed factories. A BGMEA source said that they have received lists from the ILO of those factories where inconsistency in contact information were found and who were not willing to go for safety inspections. ‘We informed all our members once again to co-operate with the inspection teams and it is mandatory for all member factories to go for safety inspection,’ he said. Based on the ILO list, they have conducted investigation on some factories and found that some of the factories have been closed, but not all the 508 units. A few factory owners said that they have insignificant volume of orders and often their business remained closed due to lack of orders and some of the factories remained closed and changed contacts but did not inform the associations. Syed Ahmed, inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, said that they will take a move to identify how many factories in the list were closed and to know the latest location and contract information of the factories. ‘We will serve notice to the factories which are unwilling to co-operate with inspection teams and our factory inspectors will try to bring them under inspection,’ he said. Despite repeated attempts, if the factories do not allow inspection teams the government would take legal action against them, Syed said. ‘Though the ILO-set target to complete its inspection by April 30, it may not be possible as some problems like unwillingness of owners to carry out the inspection and inconsistency in information will have to be addressed,’ he said. The ILO officials, however, said earlier that the BGMEA and BKMEA collected details of those factories that provided incorrect contract information and sent those to the ILO, but the success rate was very slow.

Toxic discharges from the textiles, especially from dyeing and finishing factories, are contaminating both surface and ground water with serious consequences on life and environment. Speakers at a seminar in Dhaka Saturday deplored such unscrupulous discharge of untreated life-threatening industrial wastes and highlighted the urgency of preventive government steps to stem the rot.  They specifically suggested strict and effective monitoring of import and distribution of harmful chemicals and rationalisation of taxes and duties for encouraging production of environment-friendly goods and discouraging use of such hazardous chemicals. The private think-tank Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) organised the seminar on ‘Legal and Regulatory Issues Related to Environmental Sustainability of the Textile Sector’ in collaboration with the IFC (International Finance Corporation)   Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju attended the programme as chief guest while BGMEA president Atiqul Islam was special guest. PRI Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur presented the keynote paper on the subject, identifying textiles as a major contributor to water pollution and scarcity impacting on health, food production and other economic sectors. According to Mr Mansur, the textile sector in Dhaka currently consumes 1.5 trillion litres of groundwater annually to produce 5 million tonnes of fabrics (300 litres per-kg fabric). The global standard is well below 100 litres per kilogram of fabrics.    “The massive use of groundwater contributes to a major decline in water level (1-2 metres per year),” he told the meet. The impact is already being felt in the capital city, Dhaka, the policy analyst said to ring an alarm bell. Without full coverage of effluent-treatment plants (ETPs) along with strict enforcement of related rules and laws, the water pollution could not be addressed effectively. Furthermore, the PRI executive director observed that in view of the projected expansion of RMG and textile sector by 2030 the problem without cent-percent ETP coverage would become more extensive. At present, according to Dr Mansur, the ETP coverage is about 30 per cent. He also described in details the initiatives taken so far to address the problem, including Bangladesh Bank governor’s commitment for setting up the US$ 500 million Export Development Fund-II for textile factories, to help them adopt eco-friendly technologies and practices. To check improper use of the fund, former Finance Minister M. Syeduzzaman urged the authorities concerned to be more careful so that the deserving industries only could utilise the fund. He also stressed the need for making the country’s textile industry more environment- friendly by reducing the levels of pollution. Most of the speakers at the seminar demanded implementation of earlier recommendations and called for forming a taskforce within the Ministry of Environment and Forests to discuss the issues, taking into account all recommendations. The environment minister, however, pointed out that a lot of policies had been formulated since the Independence, but to little or no effect because of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy, he said, gobbled up almost two-thirds of the budget. Mr Anwar Hossain also identified corruption as one of the major problems holding back the advancement the country could have attained. “It bleeds the economy, eats up most of our achievements. If there were no corruption, there would be at least 3-4 per cent more income,” he told his audience in the brainstorming session. The minister, also chairman of his faction of the JP, expressed his grave concern over the present political situation, too, as it appeared as a roadblock to economic activity, normal course of life and business.  “You cannot do business; there is no gas, no electricity. The water supplied by government cannot be drunk,” he said about the cascading impacts of the political impasse.  “The situation is created by politicians. We, every one, are trying to eliminate one by another,” the minister of the Awami League-led coalition government said on a note of frustration. BGMEA president Atiqul Alam said positive changes had already gained the momentum and Bangladesh’s RMG sector was in its quest for an environmentally sustainable industry. To keep this momentum up, he urged brands and buyers to play a vital role by encouraging eco-friendly suppliers providing premium prices. Held at the PRI conference room, the seminar was also addressed, among others, by Bangladesh Bank Economic Adviser Md. Akhteruzzaman, Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum, Programme Manager, Bangladesh Water PaCT, Mrinal Sircar, Brand Representative, C&A, Kazy Mohammad Iqbal Hossain and Ifty Islam, managing partner, AT Capital. The seminar also called for urgently undertaking a campaign against misuse of harmful chemicals, creating database of importers and distributors of hazardous chemicals and incentives for adopting low-cost cleaner production practices.

The Rana Plaza building collapse has been a “game changer” for Bangladesh, the Danish minister for trade and development cooperation says.Morgen Jensen extolled the progress made by the Bangladesh garment sector after the worst-ever building collapse.”Nowhere in the world have we seen multi-stakeholder collaboration on a scale like this in order to improve standards in a national industry,” Jensen said on Thursday speaking at a high-level conference on RMG sector.”The success of this multi-stakeholder approach is a really valuable lesson that has been learnt,” he said.The Danish government organised the meet on ‘RMG Industry and Beyond: Framing the Future’ to mark two years of Bangladesh’s worst-ever building collapse at Savar.Bangladesh’s Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali also spoke at the conference which was organised to share the lessons learnt after the building collapse and future cooperation.The Danish government also launched its next five year’s strategic plan in Bangladesh at the conference.The Rana Plaza tragedy, in which more than 1,100 people died, drew global attention to Bangladesh’s factory safety standards and workers’ rights concerns.The US cancelled Bangladesh GSP privilege that some of its products enjoyed, though the garments never enjoyed the US GSP.The European Union also rolled out “sustainable compact” package for improving factory safety standards and ensuring workers’ rights.Foreign Minister Ali blasted global buyers in his speech and said that countries like Bangladesh faced a situation in which “buyers take it all”. “Ensuring decent work worldwide is about shared responsibility for shared prosperity. It is about equity and fairness,” Ali said.The Danish minister, however, said Bangladesh had achieved a lot after the Rana Plaza, but challenges remained.”For example,” he said, “the need for a proper enforcement of the new labour act, the need to remove barriers to freedom of association and collective bargaining and the need to continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure safe working conditions is felt.”He said Denmark as many other countries have taken initiatives and made funding available for the effort.He said the Danish government had entered into a “unique” partnership agreement with the Danish textile industry.The focus of the agreement is to ensure a better and more sustainable production in Bangladesh, he said.”I expect tangible results from this partnership, in particular when it comes to social dialogue in the workplace.”During the conference, Denmark also launched a new initiative to work with Bangladesh in the areas of occupational health and safety.The visiting minister, however, said for the last two years all focus had been on the clothing industry for “good reasons”, but “we should not forget the other industries that are also contributing to Bangladesh’s economy”.He particularly mentioned leather and shipbuilding industries.He said this conference would “inspire” other industries in Bangladesh and its stakeholders to look at how they can take advantage of the lessons learned from the clothing sector.He, however, stressed on long-term political stability for investments and development while meeting journalists after the conference.Denmark is one of Bangladesh’s leading development partners that currently works in areas like water, sanitation, agriculture, human rights, and development sectors.Morgen Jensen later met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

A two-day international cotton summit began in Dhaka  Friday with a call to remove all barriers relating to cotton trade and establish good networking in cotton value chain. Textiles and Jute Minister Mohammad Emaze Uddin Pramanik formally inaugurated the summit styled “Global Cotton Summit Bangladesh 2015” at a city hotel pledging all financial supports to develop the country’s textile and clothing industry. Bangladesh is one of the leading countries in textile world and more than 80 percent of its export earnings come from this sector. “But unfortunately we have to import more than 90 of cotton to meet the local as well as export demands,” said the minister hopping that the summit will open up a new opportunity in fulfilling the gap. Since Bangladesh is not a cotton growing country, it has to import huge quality of cotton especially from India, central Asia, USA, Brazil, Australia and Africa. “But the outsourcing is not always smooth and very often makes big impact due to fluctuation of cotton prices in international market,” said Tapan Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) while addressing the inaugural session. The degree of fluctuation is sometimes so acute that both buyers and sellers often face great difficulties in fulfilling and complying contractual obligations. “Moreover, at times cotton exporting countries put export barriers and therefore the import contracts remain unperformed,” said Chowdhury urging the participants to address all these relevant issues. The organisers said the cotton suppliers and buyers had been engaged in disputes because of problems related to weight, quality and LC opening. Such disputes led to the souring of relations between the parties. Chowdhury hoped that the summit will narrow the communication gap between international cotton sellers and Bangladeshi buyers and help reduce the risk on cotton trade as the buyers and sellers will have the opportunity to hold dialogues among them. The apex body of the country’s textile mills, BTMA and Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA) jointly organised the two-day summit at Radisson hotel. More than 250 delegates from Bangladesh, India, Poland, US, Russia, Pakistan, China, UK, Turkey, Egypt, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and France attended the summit. Thirteen sessions on different issues will be held on the sidelines of the summit which is being participated by experts, traders, textile entrepreneurs, manufacturers, business leaders and economists. The inaugural session was addressed among others by FBCCI (Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry) president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and BCA president Muhammad Ayub. BTMA former president Jahangir Alamin and Cotton Incorporated Senior Vice President Mark Messura presented two keynote papers on “Bangladesh Spinning Industry in Next Decade” and  “Global Cotton Outlook, Growths and Economics” respectively. In his welcome address BCA president Ayub said that export from the country’s RMG sector placed the country in a respectable position, adding that the country now imports as much as 5.5 million bales of cotton a year to meet the demand as against 3 million bales 10 years ago. Dwelling on the country’s glorious past of Moslin clothes, FBCCI president Kazi Akram said despite lot of problems, the country’s clothing industry is growing fast.  “Sometimes China dumps cotton, waits for price increase.”  “But braving all these barriers, we are moving forward. Once there is political stability, we will move fast. We want to materialize our dream, want to surpass China,” said the FBCCI president. BTMA ex-president Jahangir Alamin in his paper described how the country’s textile industry came to its present position and became the main strength of the export-oriented garment sector as they play an important role as a backward linkage industry for exports. He pointed out about the sector’s requirement and preparations to achieve an export target of US$ 50 billion by the year 2021. At present, the sector accounted for US$ 24 billion out of the country’s total export of US$ 30.17 billion.

Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA) will organise “Global Cotton Summit -Bangladesh 2015”. The global event will take place on 20-21 March at Hotel Radisson Blu Water Garden in the city. Minister for Textiles and Jute Emaz Uddin Pramanik will inaugurate the two-day summit. “The cotton summit will be helpful for the sector to build strong business relations with global business partners”, BTMA president Tapan Chowdhury said at a press conference on cotton summit at association office in the city Wednesday. He said the primary textile sector has been playing a vital role in the local readymade garment (RMG) sector. He said there are 407 spinning mills across the country where 5.5 million bails of cotton is consumed annually. Mr Chowdhury said now Bangladesh is the second largest cotton consumer and last year there was 65 per cent growth of cotton consumption. He said the local entrepreneurs could fulfil the total demand of spin but the industry owners cannot use their hundred per cent production capacity due to shortage of gas and electricity. He said: “We have a mission to hit the $50 billion mark in clothing exports by the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence in 2021”. He said to fulfill the $50 billion export target the sector needs to increase local yearn and fabric production. “In recent times, we have been struggling with the present political turmoil as we could not run our business smoothly”, president of BCA Muhammad Ayub said. He said this is the first time the Global Cotton Summit is being held in Bangladesh where the members of BTMA and BCA including Global cotton shippers, traders and merchants will take part. He said the delegation of the Indian Cotton Association Ltd, African Cotton Association, Karachi Cotton Association, Association Française Cotonnière (AFCOT) and other leading global organisations will also participate at the summit. He said 500 delegates from home and abroad including India, Poland, USA, Russia, Pakistan, China, UK, Missouri, Swaziland, Singapore, Hong Kong and France are expected to attend the summit

The office of Korean Export Processing Zone remained closed yesterday after local protesters backed by influential quarters besieged all key entry points to the zone.At a rally on Sunday, the demonstrators, comprising some sacked and incumbent workers of the country’s lone private economic zone, aided by outsiders, declared that they would prevent any KEPZ official from entering the office. “We did not go to the office, as the demonstrators have threatened to stop us at any cost,” Mohammad Hasan Nasir, managing director of the EPZ, said yesterday.The authorities declared the office closed for the day, according to Muktadir Islam, security manager of the zone.Saiful Islam, media officer of KEPZ, said: “We had tried several times in the morning to enter the EPZ but failed.”

An aerial view of Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in Chittagong.
However, factories inside the EPZ were operating normally, an official said, asking not to be named.The agitated people under the banner of Anwara-Karnaphuli Janasartho Sangrakkhan Sangram Parishad, a grouping that claims to “safeguard the interests of the local people”, organised the rally at Gate No. 1 of the KEPZ.During the rally, they threatened to block all the three entry points of the KEPZ until their demands, including the removal of KEPZ managing director, are met.Since February 21, the demonstrators had mainly gathered around the first gate. But yesterday, they occupied the second gate as well as the river route leading to the economic zone.The problem began on February 21 after some 200 people stormed into the premises of KEPZ, uprooted some of its boundary pillars and erected new ones to take control of 5.95 acres of land.Sources in the area said, in a bid to grab the KEPZ land, the influential quarters instigated local people by spreading rumours that the KEPZ authorities were grabbing a graveyard and preventing local people to bury the dead — charges the EPZ authorities categorically deny.A group of businessmen, politicians and local public representatives are playing a role behind the unrest in KEPZ, sources said.The demonstrators particularly singled out the MD of KEPZ.Contacted, Tauhidul Haque Chowdhury, chairman of Anwara Upazila Parishad, who led the protests, said they did not have any objection to any official of KEPZ, other than its MD.“He [Nasir] doesn’t allow the local people to bury the dead bodies in the graveyard. He also suspended at least 150 local employees of KEPZ on trifling issues in the last two years.”“Our demonstration will continue until Nasir is removed,” he said.Chowdhury said their demonstration has been peaceful and has not prevented anybody from entering the EPZ. “But we will by no means allow Nasir to get in.”Nasir said the demonstrators are up against him because he did not allow any irregularity in the zone since he took over as its managing director in 2011.He expressed frustration as the local administration and the police are not taking any step to keep the outsiders at bay.We have informed all relevant agencies about the situation. We are updating them about everyday development,” he said.In the last two years, the local police station has not received any case or general diary from the EPZ authorities, said Nasir. “We have had to go to court for the cases.”“It is really tough to work in this situation. We are looking to the administration for help.”The inaction from the administration prompted Jahangir Saadat, president of KEPZ, to write a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office last week, seeking immediate action.Nasir blamed the trouble on two union council chairmen and the upazila vice chairman and their supporters. “They are all trying to grab the land in the name of graveyards.”He said the workers who have been fired since he took office were suspended for breaking discipline. Many of them are day labourers, he said.
Mohiuddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Karnaphuli Police Station, said the demonstrators did not stop any official entering the KEPZ.“They were demonstrating peacefully. I don’t know why the KEPZ authorities declared the office closed for Monday.”Protests halted the development work of the zone. KEPZ was developed by Youngone Corporation, a South Korean company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of sportswear and shoes.More than 70 foreigners, mostly Korean, reside in the KEPZ, which employs about 10,000 workers and staff members.

A growing global demand for local home textile products lures entrepreneurs into making more investments in the sector despite challenges like European Union’s GSP facility to Pakistan and current political turmoil, industry insiders said. A good number of home textile manufacturers such as Unilliance Textile, Mom Tex, Fariha Group, Pakiza Group and Sad Musa have already invested millions of taka in new factories and expansion of their existing capacity, they added. Even though local manufacturers are hopeful of facing the challenge of Pakistan’s duty-free facility in the EU market, some of them have termed the country’s ongoing political stalemate an impediment to the sector’s growth. China, India, Pakistan and Turkey which are traditional producers of home textiles have earned reputation for their product ranges. But Bangladesh’s home textile industry is also growing fast, making it a promising contender among these competing countries. Newer opportunities are emerging ahead as buyers from China are shifting to Bangladesh. Good quality, commitments, low production cost, cheaper wages, duty-free access to some developed countries are the factors that weigh in favour of Bangladesh for the retailers to source from here. Unilliance Textiles Ltd has undertaken a Tk 3.0 billion project to double its production capacity in stitching and weaving segments mainly to grab international demand for quality cost-competitive hometex products, said its International Account Manager Sabbir Chowdhury. “Our production will reach 50,000 sets per day from existing 22,000 sets on completion of the project,” he told the FE. Explaining the details about the company’s expansion plan, Mr Chowdhury said despite the rising global demand, there are a small number of supply companies in the country that encourages his company to make more investments. Pakiza Group that produces sari and salwar kameez and mainly focuses on the local market,  now plans to enter the global arena with its new unit -Mom Tex that is expected to produce home textile products soon. “The project has been launched last year aiming to diversify our product range and market,” said Md Mogahid Hossain Bulbul, Manager (Admin) of Mom Tex, adding that they are expecting to start production at the end of this year. Another company Sad Musa has come up with a huge investment plan worth Tk 25 billion (Tk 2,500 crore) to take hold of the growing demand for hometex products with a strong backward linkage support. Eight factories would be set up on 100 acres of land in Chittagong, said Shaikh Hasan Zaman, director of Sad Musa Fabrics, adding that four units have already been set up with the production capacity of 30 tonnes of yarn and 50,000 metres of fabrics per day. “Fifty per cent of the yarn and fabrics is locally consumed while the rest are sold to the exporters. We will need to stop outsourcing once all our units go into production,” he said. European Union GSP facility for Pakistan, appreciation of the local currency against the US dollar and depreciation of EU currency against US dollar and lingering political turmoil are seen as major factors blocking the growth of the country’s potential home textile exports, industry insiders said. According to a recent study conducted by Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI), Bangladesh is likely to face strong competitive pressure from Pakistan in home textile trade. Pakistan has used the new GSP scheme more effectively than Bangladesh did, the study said. “Due to the EU’s new GSP scheme, Pakistan will become the main competitor of Bangladesh on the EU market. Our country may face pressure in the days to come,” BFTI director Dr Mostafa Abid Khan said. Home textile products will be the main victim of the new system, he lamented. “Pakistan is a cotton-growing country now enjoying the new generalised system of preferences (GSP) on the EU market,” said Nurul Islam, Chairman of Noman Group, one of the country’s largest hometex product exporters. So, Bangladeshi-made home textiles are lagging behind Pakistan in terms of cost-competitiveness, he said, adding that the appreciation of taka and depreciation of EU currency against the dollar also eat up the competitive edge of locally made hometex products. “Political instability cast a negative impact on the overall export growth in this sector. Buyers are not coming to Dhaka to negotiate the future orders while call the local counterparts to a third destinations like Hong Kong and Singapore.”   A stable political situation is a must to keep the business running, Mr Islam said. Echoing Mr Islam, Sad Musa Director Mr Zaman said, “We could face the challenge of Pakistan GSP facility to EU only provided with a stable political situation.” Despite all the odds, Bangladesh has still some advantages against Pakistan, said Belayet Hossain, Managing Director of RTT Textile Industries Ltd. “The yarn Bangladesh produces is better than that of Pakistan.” The sector could not flourish to the expected level due to lack of the government policy support while financial institutions like banks did not come up with funds as did for the garment sector, he pointed out. “But Bangladesh has potentiality of earning $2.0 billion in next couple of years,” said Belayet, also former vice chairman of Bangladesh Terry Towel and Linen Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The industry now needs capacity building to capitalise on the upcoming opportunities to take a sizeable part of the world home textile market, according to businesspeople. They also sought government policy support, including cash incentives and reduction in bank interest rate. Bangladesh exports home textiles such as bed sheets, bedcovers, pillow and cushion covers, curtains, rugs, quilts, kitchen aprons, gloves, napkins and tablecloths to European Union countries, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan and Dubai. The country fetched $792.53 million by exporting home textiles in the fiscal year 2013-14 which was only $402.49 million in FY 2009-10. According to BTMA, some 17 mills produce about 556.39 million metres of home textiles a year. Industry insiders said the number of such mills is much higher, although their export volume is scanty.

Garment makers are dreading a significant drop in work orders from June as retailers refuse to travel to Bangladesh for the political turmoil since January 6.The retailers or their representatives were due in January and February to have a look at the factories and put in work orders for the summer but they did not come, said Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.Although the internal situation like transportation of goods from factories to Chittagong port and from the port to the factories has improved, the retailers are still shying away from the country. Rather, they are calling the garment makers to a third country like Thailand, Hong Kong or India to hold meetings, he said.In the monthly buyers’ forum meeting, held in Dhaka on March 2, the retailers said they are not placing the full order volumes fearing further volatility of the political situation.In some cases, they are slashing the orders by more than 30 percent and diverting them to Vietnam, Cambodia and India.The retailers who attended the meeting account for $22 billion of the sector’s $25 billion annual exports, according to Azim.“So, we will face an order shortage after June,” the BGMEA vice-president added.David Hasanat, managing director of Viyellatex, a leading garment group, said the retailers that have full-fledged offices in Dhaka are placing orders in high volumes though. But the majority of the retailers do not have such arrangements and they are the ones that are slashing the orders, he added.Bakhtiar Uddin Ahmed, general manager of Fakir Apparels Ltd, a Narayanganj-based garment manufacturer, said he had a meeting in Hong Kong last week that was supposed to be held in Dhaka, as the retailer refused to travel to Bangladesh.Ahmed also agreed that the internal situation has improved a lot as they can carry goods easily from one place to another. For instance, he can now ship three lakh pieces of garment products from Narayanganj to Chittagong port a day without any problem.But, the foreign retailers are still cancelling their trips to Bangladesh for apprehension of arson attacks and violence — and using that as an excuse to cut down their orders, he said.The blockade and shutdowns imposed by the BNP-led alliance have already crossed the two-month mark.

Life has never been easy for the sponsor-the Seoul-based Youngone Corporation- of the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ), since the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 1995 to establish the first private EPZ in Bangladesh. The government allotted land and promised all the facilities and incentives to the EPZ, now situated on the bank of the river Karaphuli in Anwara of Chittagong. Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister of the then Awami League government in 1999 attended the ground-breaking inauguration of the KPEZ and pledged all support for the private EPZ. But the government agencies concerned did the opposite later. The company, allegedly, faced hurdles at every step, from getting the clearance from the department of environment (DoE) to power and water supply. It may sound bizarre that the KPEZ authorities got operational licence during the rule of the military-backed caretaker government – eight years after that inaugural function. The DoE in March 2012 had cancelled environmental clearance alleging that the KEPZ was cutting the hills and causing damage to environment. However, the clearance was restored later when the allegation was found to be false. It did not also get the supply of the promised volume of gas and power.  Rather once in 2012, the authorities concerned had cut off power supply to the EPZ. The supply was restored after more than a year following an order passed by the Supreme Court. It is widely believed that the land allotted to the KPEZ has been the main source of troubles for the Korean company. Some influential quarters, having political links, have been trying hard to make things difficult for the private EPZ with a view to grabbing a part of its land. The KPEZ was originally allotted nearly 2,500 acres of land. But it could not develop the land in time for not getting the ownership title to the same. All sorts of delay were being caused under different pretexts. Due to the non-completion of the land transfer deal, the KEPZ could not lease out industrial plots to foreign investors willing to set up factories there. Being instructed by the Prime Minister’s Office, the KPEZ in 2012 submitted details plans covering an area of 500 acres of the allotted land. But the zone authorities have developed more than 1,000 acres of land. It is widely believed that after the development, the land in question has become very lucrative which has lured the local crooks to grab a part of the same. Only very recently, some influential people, allegedly, have grabbed a portion of the KEPZ land, storming into its premises and uprooting the boundary pillars. They have, in fact, taken possession of six acres of land. The grabbers have done the mischief in the name of saving the land of a graveyard. The KPEZ authorities have drawn the attention of the PMO and lodged complaints with the local police. The police, it is alleged, have been non-reactive to the issue. The Anwara Police has reportedly not even recorded the incident as a regular case. All the developments have raised strong suspicion among the KPEZ honchos that some very powerful quarters are active behind-the-scene to grab a part of their land. If one follows the incidents involving the KPEZ, which now employs more than 10,000 workers and staff and has the potential to create employment opportunities for nearly 200,000 people, right from the beginning, one would smell something wrong with the government’s intention. The government’s enthusiasm about getting a private EPZ was found somewhat diluted, apparently, out of the realization that it had not been proper to allot such a large area of precious land for the establishment of one private EPZ. The reason for delay in signing the land transfer deal could be due to such realization or opposition from influential people coming from the same locality. The mistake, if there was any, was committed by the government, none else. But the negative developments centring the KPEZ are unlikely to go well with prospective sponsors from some other countries wanting to set up private export processing zones in Bangladesh. The message they are getting through the troubles being encountered by the KPEZ remains a demoralising one. Against this backdrop the government has recently invited investors from a couple of countries to set up their own export processing zones. But the investors concerned are expected to think twice before coming to a country where official incentives are aplenty and the cost of labour one of the cheapest but business environment on the ground remains somewhat hostile. The authorities concerned should try to change the situation, make moves that are necessary and bring an end to sufferings, if there is any, of the KPEZ and send positive signals to prospective foreign investors.