Kazi Zahidul Hasan :Leaders of the country’s export sector trade bodies on Sunday expressed serious concern over the deadly militant attack on a Spanish restaurant in Dhaka fearing its negative impact on garment exports and other merchandises to overseas markets.They said that exporters make their bulk of export to the EU nations and shipment to Japan is also rising steadily in recent years. But the killing of nine Italians, who were running buying houses for global brands here, and assassination of seven Japanese hostages has now become a serious blow to their other export markets.”We have never seen such a deadly incident in Bangladesh. It has severely tarnished our image abroad,” Md Siddiqur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The New Nation on Sunday. He said the shooting incident has intensified security concern among the minds of foreign buyers. It may force them to cancel business trips to Dhaka, causing uncertainty over striking future business deals with local exporters.”If the apprehension becomes true, it could leave a harsh impact on our apparel exports,” said Rahman.The BGMEA leader, however, expressed the hope that the buyers may not quit from Bangladesh after the attack considering terrorism is a global phenomenon.”It may be a short-term pain for us and we hope to come out from the current situation taking supports from all quarters,” he added.Condemning the heinous incident, Rahman urged the government to take concerted efforts engaging all concerned to fight against the growing threat of terrorism and militancy. “Italy and Japan are now Bangladesh’s growing export markets and killings of their citizens in Dhaka may have a huge negative impact on our export there,” Mohammad Hatem, former Vice-President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) told The New Nation yesterday.Terming the Dhaka shooting incident a ‘new threat’ for the apparel industry, he said, foreign buyers are closely monitoring the security situation in Bangladesh after the killing of the members of Italian buying houses.”Foreign buying houses operating in Bangladesh are restricting staff movements and business executives from global clothing giants have reportedly cancelled trips to Dhaka after the killings of foreigners,” said Mohammad Hatem. All these are worrying development and such developments would definitely hurt our exports, he added.Mohammad Hatem also said that when the rising tide of militant attacks tarnished image of the country aboard, the deadly attack on Spanish restaurant further deepen our image crisis.”Such an image crisis may drive away the foreign buyers from Bangladesh to other countries hurting smooth growth of local apparel industry,” he said. The former BKMEA leader urged the foreign buyers not to be panicked over the current situation in Bangladesh and stay with local partners considering their long-standing business relations.
