Staff Reporter :
The country’s apparel exporters have been worried over nearshoring tendency among the buyers, although the sector has started to bounce back from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
They want to repay their outstanding amount in 36 installments instead of 18 as they are still fighting with the fallout of the pandemic.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exports Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan passed the remarks while speaking at a press conference in a city hotel on Saturday after a month-long business trip to the USA.
The BGMEA leaders visited the USA and held several meeting with the stakeholders aiming at increasing image and banding of their produced goods.
Faruque said, “Container fares have increased by 200 to 300 percent as the global freight management has
been collapsed. This is creating nearshoring tendency among buyers to reduce freight cost and lead time. It is a matter of concern.”
“Besides, the banks are insisting to repay the loans in 18 installments. It is difficult for us to comply with. The loans were granted to apparel exporters last year to help fight with the devastating impacts of the pandemic. So, we want to repay the loans in 36 installments,” he said.
The leader of the apex body of the apparel sector further urged the government to soften the process of getting bond licenses and make the permission easy to use all the land borders across the country.
He said, they will urge the EU to extend the duty facilities to Bangladesh even if the country does LDC graduation, possibly by 2026.
“European countries are our main markets. Almost 60 percent of our apparel is exported to the countries. After LDC graduation, changes will come in duty-free facilities,” said BGMEA president.
The government and the BGMEA are working together to ensure the existing ‘Everything but Arms (EBA)’ facility for at least 12 years, the BGMEA leader said.
He further said, “We have requested the representatives of the EU for exempting 7.4 percent import threshold requirement, one of the conditions of GSP Plus, or to introduce an alternative formula.”
“Following the request, the EU has scraped its proposed 2024-2034 GSP regulation. As a result, whenever, we lose the EBA facility, no major barriers will remain to get GSP Plus benefits,” he added.
Besides, price reduction and discounting are new challenges for the sector, it should be overcome, the BGMEA president said.
The BGMEA president also demanded withdrawal of bond license requirement for opening back-to-back LC for purchasing domestic raw materials and continuation of bank transaction with sister concern firm a group of company in case of default by other.
The volume of trade was not rising due to a spike in raw material prices, although the unit price of clothing is increasing gradually, he informed.
The BGMEA leader also said the garment exporters are trying to diversify their market as well as products to sustain their business amid stiff global competition.
