Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has urged global buyers to ensure fair prices for Bangladeshi RMG items and also to motivate the concerned stakeholders to make the sector sustainable.
The minister made the call during a meeting with a delegation of UK-based global apparel brand Primark at the Ministry of Commerce at the secretariat in Dhaka on Wednesday. Primark’s CEO Paul Marchant led the delegation of the brand, BSS reported.
Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman was present on the occasion.
"Primark is one of the largest buyers of our RMG products while it is our belief that this globally acclaimed apparel brand would buy more RMG items from us. Besides, there is also a need to ensure just price of our RMG items to motivate the concerned working force and thus make this sector sustainable," the commerce minister said.
Mentioning that Bangladesh has gained enough skills in the RMG sector while the country is also the 2nd largest RMG exporter of the world, Tipu said that more than 4 million workforces are being engaged in this sector of which 65 per cent are female.
He said Bangladesh exported goods worth $42 billion in the last fiscal year (FY22) while the export target of RMG products by 2030 is $100 billion.
Tipu noted that Bangladesh has attained such capacity of supplying any quantity of products as per the requirements of the buyers while the country is also working to attain a big export target.
He said that the RMG workers are being trained every now and then to enhance their skills while the quality of products and also their designs are being modernized. He added that the trained and skilled local working force is performing their responsibilities in the RMG sector.
The Commerce Minister said that following the directives from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, work for setting up some 100 special economic zones is going on in full swing while most of those are at the completion stage.
Considering the LDC graduation of Bangladesh by 2026, he said that efforts are on to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with different countries.
Prime Minister's Adviser Salman F Rahman said that Bangladesh is now capable enough to supply world-class RMG products at a relatively less price compared to the past.
Noting that many local RMG manufacturers and exporters have fallen into trouble following the cancellation of orders by global buyers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Salman said that it is very much necessary to ensure the just price of the local RMG products.
CEO of Primark Paul Marchant said that Bangladesh is a very important partner in terms of trade while the country has improved a lot in the RMG sector.
He said they like Bangladeshi RMG products very much since there are many green factories with higher usage of technology in the industries.
Later, a delegation from Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), led by its President, Kazushige Nobutani, met the Commerce Minster at his office.
