Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association leaders on Sunday expressed their concern over shifting of orders to India and Vietnam.
India is the giant competitor of Bangladesh and the country (India) is getting benefit of 27.91 per cent currency devaluation which is one of the big challenges for Bangladeshi exporters, BGMEA president Md Atiqul Islam said in the pre-Batexpo press conference at the association head office in Dhaka.
The three-day Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition-2013 would be inaugurated by prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Sonargaon Hotel on October 10 while leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia would be chief guest at the closing ceremony on October 12.
The BGMEA president urged the government to offer a special dollar rate for the time being for the exporters to retain competitive edge.
Atiqul said, ‘Compliance issue is also a challenge for the sustainable growth and we are working in a coordinated way with the brands and government to overcome the problem.’
He hoped that buyers would stay with Bangladesh if it was possible to regain the image tarnished by the Tazreen Fashions fire and Rana Plaza collapse.
Atiqul, however, said that though some orders were being shifted to India and Vietnam, it was a good sign that a total of 55 buyers including 23 new buyers had so far confirmed to join Batexpo.
‘In case of any storm over the sector, the entire economy will get shattered. It’s time to work together because once the business gets out of here, it’ll be very difficult to get it back,’ the BGMEA president said.
The buyers understand only business and profit, and they will go there where they will be able to avail themselves of better opportunities, he said.
Atiqul Islam said the export growth that they had seen in July has significantly come down in August (5.5 per cent). ‘We won’t be able to see the expected growth. It’ll get slower further.’
Atiqul said they had decided to arrange the event, a month earlier than usual time, to avert election time tension. ‘The foreign buyers remain alert during the election year.’
He said they were inviting the buyers with a message that ‘things are okay here.’ ‘The entire world knows that something (changes) is happening in Bangladesh. This is a very important message.’
Despite global economic meltdown the exposition will achieve its goal and the spot order may exceed the amount of last year, the BGMEA president said.
Exporters got spot orders worth $61.67 million from international buyers at the last year’s exposition.
Domestic and international buyers and manufacturers will display their products at 80 stalls.
Three seminars on ‘Reinventing the RMG sector: building and social accountability and security’, ‘Taking the RMG sector forward — the role of media in sustainable development’ and ‘Eco friendly and compliant factory’ will be held on the sidelines of the exposition.
BGMEA second vice-president SM Mannan (Kochi), former BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy, former vice-president M Siddiqur Rahman and chief coordinator of the event Abu Mahmud Khan were also present.
-With New Age input
