Minister of Commerce Tipu Munshi said that the Prime Minister has directed to solve the problems of the garments industry on a priority basis considering the importance of employment and exports. He said this in a meeting held with the heads of BGMEA, an organisation of export-oriented garment industry owners, at Hotel Radisson in Chattogram on Friday (19 August). At that time, the first Vice President of the organisation Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice President Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, and former Vice President Mohammad Nasir were present.
The Minister of Commerce said that the livelihood of crores of people is directly related to the garments industry. He urged all concerned in this industry to play a positive role in the larger interest of the national economy. He assured the entrepreneurs that the Prime Minister would be informed to resolve the existing problems of the industry quickly.
In the meeting, Syed Nazrul Islam said that under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister and her government, Bangladesh crossed the milestone of USD 50 billion in export income in the last fiscal year. But due to the fuel crisis in the outside world, the production cost of garments has increased in the country. On the other hand, foreign buyers are not increasing the price of clothing.
He said that in such a situation, it is necessary to reduce the source tax from 1% to 0.50% against exports in order to increase our export capacity and reduce domestic costs.
