Aimed at discussing collaborations and plans for the betterment of Bangladesh’s RMG sector, the International Apparel Federation (IAF) held a view exchange meeting with the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at capital Dhaka’s BGMEA Bhaban recently.
Following the meeting with IAF which as per the BGMEA President Md Siddikur Rahman was a wonderful discussion on mutual collaboration for taking the industry forward, Rahman stated, “Over the past 4 years our production costs have jumped up to 30 per cent while minimum wage rose up to 381 per cent since 2010, all of which are adding to the production expenditure,” adding, “Building a viable industry requires viable pricing. We want to draw attention of our western buyers to this fact with the help of IAF,” while speaking to the media.
Officials of both the sides including IAF President Han Bekke reportedly addressed the media following the view exchange meeting.
Speaking on the occasion Bekke reportedly praised the country’s progress in the apparel manufacturing sector while underlining that the collaboration with BGMEA is necessary as the industry is facing new challenges worldwide.
“We believe international trade is important for us. But dispute between US and China could lead to disruption of international trade of textiles and apparels. The Brexit situation is causing a lot of problems in the EU market too.” – Han Bekke, President, IAF
Bekke added that everyone related to the industry have huge responsibility to make it more sustainable in terms of both social and environmental conditions.