BGMEA calls for 5% cash assistance in next national budget

BGMEA has called for a 5 percent cash aid for all export sectors in the next national budget to tackle 'mutli-pronged challenges' in the readymade garment industry.

Rubana Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA, also urged the government to reduce the Value Added Tax imposed on the labour-intensive clothing industry to make it more competitive in the global market.

Rubana raised the demands ahead of the budget for the next fiscal year on behalf of readymade garment manufacturers' platforms BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMEA at a media briefing in Dhaka's Amari Hotel on Monday.

BKMEA Senior Vice President M Mansoor Ahmed, BTMA President Mahmud Ali Kokhon and Expoters' Association Bangladesh First Vice President Mohammad Hatem also spoke at the briefing.

Rubana said prices of readymade garments in the international market are dropping each day. As a result, 22 garment factories went out of business in the last month alone while the figure for the last year was around 1200.

"The production costs on the other hand are rising. Under the circumstance, thousands of enterpreneurs and workers will fall into disarray if the government doesn't provide special assistance in the budget,"she said.

'Huge growths' have happened in the new markets as a result of the 4 percent cash assistance that is presently in effect, the BGMEA chief said.

"The new markets make up 20 percent of the export businesses. The government will have to spend Tk 117.24 billion at most in order to provide a 5 percent cash aid. But the entire industry will benefit from it," she argued.

Rubana also called for a special budgetary allocation towards the payment of housing, transport, and treatment costs of apparel workers.