Kazi Zahidul Hasan :Foreign buyers are cancelling their visit to Bangladesh following travel alerts issued by their respective governments amid killings of two foreign nationals here, insiders said.They said, buyers do not feel comfort now to come to Bangladesh and place orders after the sad incidents, which is appearing as a threat to the country’s export sector.”Foreign governments have issued travel alerts to their citizens in Bangladesh after such killing incidents forcing the foreign buyers to cancel their scheduled visit to Bangladesh,” M Siddiqur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The New Nation on Sunday.He said: “As the buyers do not feel safe to come here, they may not place orders to us. If such a situation prevails in the months to come, it will leave a huge negative impact on the garment export sector.” “The recent incidents of killing the foreigners have wrecked confidence of the global buyers and it is likely to take a heavy toll on the country’s export sector,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of Exporters Association Bangladesh (EAB) told The New Nation on Sunday.He said, as they feel unsafe to visit Bangladesh, they may not hesitate to shift their orders to other places, even if it costs them higher payment for a piece of product. If it happens, the whole export sector will face a serious setback. Justifying the apprehension, Murshedy said, we faced almost a similar situation during the country’s political turmoil. Buyers shifted many orders to other countries at that time. “The killings of Italian and Japanese citizens in Bangladesh have created panic among the foreign buyers. Many of them have already cancelled their scheduled meetings with us,” said Selim Osman, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) while talking with the New Nation on Sunday.”If the buyers do not change their decision and refuse to place orders, the country’s export sector will suffer a serious setback,” he said.
