The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has taken a plan to establish a separate container-yard in Chittagong for efficient handling of its export-import cargoes. The organisation has already placed a proposal to the government, said the outgoing BGMEA President SM Fazlul Hoque.

The sector hopes to achieve an export target of $15 billion (150 crore) within next five years. The outgoing President said, the present growth rate of 20 per cent of the RMG sector could easily be enhanced to 50 per cent, if a congenial and sound environment is ensured. To ease various hazards during the shipment of their goods, the country’s largest foreign exchange-earning sector, Mr Hoque said that the BGMEA container-yard would help reduce corruption in export-import process. He lauded the role of the media in expanding the RMG sector.

Referring to some sudden debacles in the sector like labour unrest, Hoque said, healthy trade unionism could help avert such unfortunate situation. He informed the newsmen that an agreement had already been signed with the government to set a garment village on 300 acres of land in Munshiganj where 390 plots would be created for relocating the RMG factories from in and around the crowded Dhaka city. He also said, BGMEA is trying to reinvigorate its effort through lobbyists to get the Trade Bill passed for ensuring duty-free access of products of Bangladesh and other developing nations to the US market.

About some international campaigns against the Bangladesh garment industry on issues such as child labour, he said, it was being done with a motive to give benefit to Bangladesh’s competitors like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Cambodia. He said, China and India are also the competitors of Bangladesh on different counts. In support of his contentions, Hoque said that Bangladesh’s annual apparel export is worth $8.0 billion, while Pakistan’s $3.0 billion, Sri Lanka’s $4.0 billion, Vietnams $5.0 billion and Cambodia’s $2.2 billion. If the campaign saw success anyway, the competitors would stake a claim to Bangladesh’s export volume.