BGMEA for strengthening regional value chain for mutual benefits

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan has underscored the importance of building a collaborative supply chain among the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean as a strengthened regional value chain would help to derive mutual benefits.

“It would allow us to complement our capabilities and strengths and grow together,” he said.

“In this era of globalisation, strengthened regional value chain couldn’t be more important. In the West, the developed countries are forming allies and getting mutually benefited from each other. Time has come for us to share our strength as well,” he further said.

Faruque came up with the observations while addressing a session organised on the occasion of the 6th Indian Ocean Conference in Dhaka on Friday, read a press release.

The session titled “Roadmap for an economically sustainable future in the Indo-Pacific” was also attended by Aly Houssam El-Din El-Hefny, secretary general, Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Lujaina Mohsin Haider, chairperson for Infrastructure, Technology, Industrial and Consumer Solutions (ITICS), Oman, and Prasad Kariyawasam, former foreign secretary, Sri Lanka as speakers. Doval, member, Governing Council, India Foundation, chaired the discussion.

In his speech, Faruque laid emphasis on knowledge and technology transfer to build up capability, saying it would eventually help each other to enhance competitiveness in the respective sectors.

“The exchange of knowledge, expertise and technologies within the region is inevitable for sustainable and inclusive growth and development,” he said.

“The countries of our region also have their specific skill sets and we can help each other from that point of view. For example, if I talk about India, which is one of the largest trading partners of Bangladesh, we have ample collaboration areas to explore.

“India specialises in the upstream segment, supplying intermediate inputs such as silk, cotton, yarn, and fabrics to Bangladesh. On the other hand, Bangladesh specialises in the downstream final apparel segment. So collaboration may yield mutual trade benefits,” the BGMEA president added.

The 6th Indian Ocean Conference, jointly organised by the Bangladeshi foreign ministry and the India Foundation, is being held in Dhaka on May 12-13 to discuss how the countries of the Indian Ocean region can promote economic development.