BGMEA urges Australia to continue duty benefits for 12yrs after LDC graduation

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Faruque Hassan has urged Australia to continue duty benefits for the South Asian country for 12 years after its LDC graduation.

The BGMEA chief came up with the call while delivering a keynote speech on “Apparel Industry - Competitiveness beyond Covid-19” at an International Webinar Conference titled “Bangladesh at 50: From the test case to a development role model”, according to a press release.

Six Australian universities — University of Queensland, RMIT University, Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, University of Southern Queensland, and Macquarie University — organised the two-day conference on October 7-8.

The keynote presentation session was chaired by Professor Amrik Sohal from Monash University, while Professor Shams Rahman from RMIT University was the discussant.

The presentation was attended by academics and experts from Australia, Bangladesh and globally.

In his presentation, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan shared the impressive journey of Bangladesh’s RMG industry, its pivotal role in uplifting the country's economy, generating various jobs, lifting millions of people out of poverty, and fostering female labour participation.

He also highlighted the tremendous progress made by the apparel industry in the areas of workplace safety, sustainability and ethical manufacturing.

His presentation focused on the challenges, opportunities and future priorities of Bangladesh’s apparel industry, read the release.

“We have set our priorities to enhance capabilities, particularly in the area of diversification of our products and markets, investments in high end textile sectors, especially non-cotton areas, innovation and value addition, and upgrading technologies.”

The BGMEA president called on the Australian government to extend the LDC graduation transition period for Bangladesh for a smoother transition.

“Given the fact that 83 per cent of Bangladesh’s export earning depends on the RMG alone, which employs 10 million people including backward and forward linkage industries, and given the fact that Covid has caused severe financial distress to the industry which will take some time to recover, we request the development partners including Australia to extend the LDC graduation transition time by 12 years.”

Faruque Hassan also talked about the declining price trend in the global apparel market which has posed a major challenge for the industry, especially at a time when the sector is struggling to turn around from impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He urged buyers and retailers to be more empathetic and rational in pricing so that a secured global market could be built where workplace and jobs would be safer and sustainable.