AKM Salim Osman has been elected president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) for the seventh consecutive time.
He and his 34 board members, including Executive President Mohammad Hatem, and Senior Vice President Monsoor Ahmed were elected without facing any contest as no other candidate submitted the nomination papers.
The selected six vice presidents were Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Alam Poddar, Gowhor Shiraj Jamil, Morshed Sarwar Jamil (finance), Akhtar Hossain Apurbo and Mohammad Rashed.
The BKMEA election board was led by Former FBCCI Senior Vice President Mohammad Ali and Narayanganj Chamber and Commerce and Industries President Khaled Haider Khan Kajol and former FBCCI Director Probir Kumar Saha.
Only Salim-led Shammilito Knit Forum submitted 35 nomination papers against the same number of director posts of BKMEA and a candidate withdrew his nomination at the last moment. July 25 was the last date for submitting the nomination papers.
The election board announced names of 34 directors as BKMEA board members for the 2023-25 season as per the trade association rules. The new board will later co-opt the vacant board member.
Salim Osman, a member of the parliament, has been selected as president of the knitwear apex body since 2010 although he previously announced his lack of interest to lead the BKMEA and said he wants to hand over the charge to new hands.
From the last tenure, the number of board members was extended to 35 from 27 creating new posts including the post of executive president.
BKMEA Vice President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said, “It is true that Salim Osman and Hatem are not interested in holding the responsibility as it’s severely impacting their business. But now we don’t have any alternatives except them. So, we want to keep faith in them and forcefully hand over the charges to them.”
