Textiles lobby at work to secure govt handouts based on 2nd wave

The powerful textile industry associations have already started urging the government to provide incentives to them again, for payment of wages and bonuses to their workers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) jointly sent a letter to the Minister of Finance in this regard on Saturday.

Freshly-elected BGMEA President Faruk Hasan, BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon and BKMEA President AKM Selim Osman MP signed the letter.

According to the letter, the industry requested the government to provide loans on easy terms like 2020 to assist them in paying pay salaries, allowances, and bonuses to their workers for April, May, and June 2021.

They mentioned in the letter that they are struggling with their finances which has made it difficult for them to pay their workers properly following the second wave of the Covid-19 across the world.

They also added that the garment sector's future is now at stake in the midst of a financial crisis due to the cancellation and suspension of orders and delayed payments. Although there have been no reports of cancellations of orders by buyers in the West - where vaccination has led to their economies now gradually opening up, almost the exact opposite of the situation 12 months ago - the letter also requested the government to provide the industry with incentives again in April, May and June like the previous year.

Although up to $3 billion-worth of orders faced cancellations at the 2020 height (Apr-Jun) of the pandemic, around 90% of these orders were reinstated by October, according to the last BGMEA president Rubana Huq.