We’ll focus on apparel diplomacy, says BGMEA president-elect

Sammilito Parishad, led by Giant Group managing director Faruque Hassan, won the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association biennial elections for 2021-23 held on Sunday, bagging 24 directorship posts out of 35.

In an interview with The Business Post’s Ibrahim Hossain Ovi, Giant Group MD emphasized on short, mid and long-term measures to address the challenges that the readymade garment sector has been facing due to the novel coronavirus pandemic since last year.

What tops the priority list that needs to be addressed immediately by the new BGMEA president?

The country’s apparel exporters are going through a crucial time due the pandemic, which hit hard country's export earnings hard as the supply chain was disrupted and demands were chocked.

As a leader of the RMG sector, which is the life line of Bangladesh's economy, I will take some long, mid and short term steps to address the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. This has to be done with policy support from the government and Bangladesh Bank.

Shaping the image of the country and the exporters in order to make Bangladesh the number one destination for purchasing apparel goods will be another priority for me as the new president.

In addition, I will focus on reforms of some existing rules and regulations that are crucial for the sector's immediate release from the present crisis.

SMEs and medium entrepreneurs are the worst victim of the pandemic. What steps do you have in mind for them?

Small entrepreneurs with time turn into giants and they are the heart of the industry. We have to pave ways for these small entrepreneurs as well as care for the medium to take them to large categories and help them flourish their businesses.

Being intensively integrated with and blessed by the government and Bangladesh Bank, we will strive to make the SMEs and medium enterprises sustainable.

What do you see as your strength in reshaping the sector?

We designed our panel with a great combination of experienced, young and talented entrepreneurs who have been working in the sector for a long time.

The talented young and second-generation entrepreneurs will work with the more experienced ones and gather knowledge from first generation leaders of the sector.

I am confident that we have put together the best team and we can think of a better tomorrow with their contribution to the sector.

Bangladesh’s RMG exports are focused on a few products and a handful of markets. How do you plan to diversify the country's products and market?

To grow further and retain our dominance in the global export market, there is no alternative to diversification. Hence, we will focus on product development through research and innovation where our new young leadership will come handy.

Demands for manmade fibre products known as non-cotton are on the rise. To encourage investment in the segment, we plan to introduce cash incentives and policy support for entrepreneurs.

In addition, for moving towards value added product making, there will be a dedicated team who will closely work with our members to help them in developing products so that they can earn us more foreign currency.

For market diversification and exploring new customers, we are going to focus on apparel diplomacy aimed at building new relationships through our commercial wings abroad.

Personally, I have a good relation with foreign diplomats which is a great opportunity for me as well as for the sector to reach new customers and knock the policy of the respective countries for necessary influence.

io/nm