Business leaders have underscored the need for government policy support to strengthen efficiency in business to sustain in global competitive market, and diversify exports. They also urged the government to offer an additional incentive to help offset the higher cost of importing cotton from the United States, as part of broader efforts to reduce the trade gap with the country, and also take necessary steps soon to mitigate trade barriers, attract more investment, and The speakers made the remarks at a Programme organized by Bangladesh Apparel Youth Leaders Alliance (BAYLA) at Lakeshore Hotel in the capital.
Abrar H Sayem, president of BAYLA moderated the function while its head of research Sifat Islam Ishty presented the BAYLA Roadmap 2030 on Resetting the Competitive Edge: Rethinking Bangladesh’s Apparel Strategy Post-Tariffs & Beyond there.
Speaking there, Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) said, “I always appreciate young entrepreneurs. To go forward, they need government policy support. Bangladesh is the best country for investment. We have to strengthen efficiency for competitiveness. Otherwise, we cannot sustain in global market.”
He emphasised on the political negotiation for overcoming the challenges of the current global trade war. “NBR should stop unnecessary harassment, frequent HS code change, and reduce lead-time at ports. The country also needs to improve bureaucratic system to build good business environment in the country,” he also said.
Md. Anwar Hossain, Vice Chairman of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), and also BGMEA Administrator said they are working on policy with NBR. The NBR is now very pro-active. Businesses also need to increase internal efficiency.
He emphassed on research and development (R&D), resolve data scarcity problem. National apparel policy is needed. “However, young generation should be more interactive with industry and workers. We neehave a plan to arrange summit on RMG industry,” he also said.
Mohammad Hatem, BKMEA President, laid emphasis for withdrawing tariff on man-made fiber to combat in the global market.
“We have to import huge cotton from USA. It will be better for us if we can reduce imbalanced trade. Muhammad Yunus is a global brand so we should take the opportunity to diversify our exports. Now we need to resolve the problems in banking, NBR, energy and others,” he also added.
Faruque Hassan, Former President of BGMEA, said roadmap is very important. Consumption will reduce in US market due to the tariff imposed by Donald Trump. Bangladesh will remain better position than others in future in export in the market. So, negotiation and policy support are crucial to take the benefits.
Kutubuddin Ahmed, Chairman of Sheltech Group & Envoy Textiles Ltd, sought additional subsidy from the government which is required for importing US cotton instead of the existing cash incentive. It will encourage entrepreneurs to import cotton from the source.
Sharif Zahir, Chairman of United Commercial Bank PLC, also Managing Director of Ananta Group claimed that now buyers demand a 5% discount as US imposed additional 10% tariff for all. To sustain in business, trade barriers should be removed immediately.
