The electricity crisis in the apparel industry has resolved at a large extent, however, the sector still thwarted by the disruption in the supply of gas, said BGMEA President Faruque Hassan.
He also said a number of factories, along with his units, are reporting comparatively less diesel-fired generators operating times meaning the situation has improved than the last few months.
Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) revealed it while responding the questions of the journalists at the post-Made in Bangladesh Week press conference at the capital on Saturday.
“But we have to sustain the situation and make it better,” he added.
He also appropriated the steps of the government to import LNG from Brunei.
Responding to another question, he said that the number of inventories has increased though not at a satisfactory pace.
“The number of purchase orders is totally depended on the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. If the global situation once normalized, our industry will also get more orders,” he added.
Regarding the outcome of the just-ended Made in Bangladesh Week, he said that a large flock of olde and new brands visited the grand event, they placed orders and extended commitment to source garment from Bangladesh.
“We also discussed with the new buyers about what type of products they demand. In some cases, they also visited the factories and briefed their demand directly with the manufacturers,” he added.
He also thinks that buyer who attended the expo will come back to Bangladesh with work orders.
He also said that the MIBW greatly attracted buyers from new destinations where their business communications aren’t as established as US and Europe.
“Nearly 150 buyers joined the MIBW from the Middle East, surprisingly, 43 of them are from Iraq. It is a very positive for us as we always focus on new markets and new buyers. There were buyers from India and other countries too,” he added.
He also said that PDS whished to increase their sourcing from Bangladesh to $2 billion yearly, currently which is $1 billion.
“Amid the ongoing global turbulent economic situation, we pledge to explore some new markets outside of the US and EU,” he added saying that since 2009, the share in nontraditional market has been increasing significantly and currently, they ship nearly 15% of total export to the new market.
Regarding the false clothes/wastes, he said that currently there are some issues in managing wastes and a portion of them are being exported.
“But we are working on recycling of false clothes and in the near future, Bangladesh will be the hub of the recycling. Then instead of export, we’ll import the wastes from other RMG manufacturing countries,” he added.
He also wanted the policy support of the government in the areas of customs clearances, bond and tax procedures.
Responding a question on GSP facilities in the US, he said that the GSP facilities was lifted in 2013 but export increased significantly to the destination.
BGMEA President also demonstrated the summery of events, summits, expos, awards, and tours which run concurrently during the Made in Bangladesh Week.
In his speech, Shahed Mahmud, country director of PDS Limited said that it was a mega event.
He also suggested to arrange such kind of event regularly.
Abdullah Al Maher, group CEO of Asortex Group also spoke at the press conference.
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