Shortage of gas, electricity and land has slowed down the growth of investments in the country's primary textile sector during a couple of years, BTMA leaders claimed Tuesday.
The leaders of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) said they will also take action against its members who are engaged in fraudulence in getting loans from the banks as real businesses face scarcity of funds due to these dishonest traders.
"…to our knowledge, only two to three new textile mills came into being and those having gas and electricity connection went for expansion in last four years," BTMA acting president Md Ali Khokon said while speaking at a press conference held in the city.
Despite a stable political situation, there has not been investment at the desired level in the country's primary textile sector, he said, adding that the main reasons that have hindered the growth of investment are gas and electricity crises and shortage of land.
The industries operating in areas running between Gazipur and Rajendrapur have been facing an acute shortage of gas. The pressure of gas at daytime remains very low, he said, adding that no new gas connection is also being extended to factories for captive power generation.
The conference was organised to feature the 15th edition of a four-day Dhaka International Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition 2018 that starts tomorrow (Thursday) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).
The show, popularly known as DTG-2018, is being organised jointly by the BTMA and the Yorkers Trade and Marketing Service.
"It is unexpected that the businesses, who have been running their business for 20-30 years, are not getting required funds from the banks whereas the businessman, who has been doing business for only four years, is getting Tk 50 billion from a bank, Mr Khokon said.
Ambiguity in laws is causing sufferings to honest businesspeople as banks provide interest waiver to the defaulters and mount pressure on those who are making regular repayments, he alleged.
"We will propose blacklisting the members and cancelling their memberships who are involved with loan embezzlement," the BTMA leader said.
Due to plundering of bank money by a section of dishonest people, businesses have been forced to pay high interest on loans, hampering the business growth seriously, he said.
He, however, suggested that the government should see to that the gas price is not increased following the supply and distribution of LNG.
"We request the government to allocate 8-10 out of the proposed 110 economic zones for the primary textile sector," he said and demanded speedy implementation of proposed special economic zones having all the facilities to encourage local investments.
The DTG is mainly designed to bring together all related machines and technologies from both regional and international brands under one roof, serving as a professional trade platform for all the buyers to sharpen their competitive edge, organisers said.
Some 1,100 textile and garment machinery companies from 36 countries including China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan and Korea are expected to showcase their latest products and technologies at about 1,200 booths, they said.
They will showcase machinery covering all processes in the whole supply chain of textile and garment industry including spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, printing, finishing, testing, washing, embroidery, sewing and other related equipment.
