Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
A renewed political turmoil associated by shutdown and street violence would prompt foreign buyers to rethink their sourcing options from Bangladesh to other competitors, eventually posing a potential threat to the existence of local garment industry, insiders said.
They said the sector suffered a loss of nearly $2.1 billion from the prolonged political unrest during the second half of 2013 when at least 55 days of shutdowns, blockades and strikes were enforced by BNP and its allies. “The sector suffered a heavy loss due to political impasse in 2013 as it saw a sharp fall in orders from the buyers during the period. Many buyers were lured away by other competitors resulted from political turmoil that lowered the export growth,” M Shahidullah Azim, Vice-President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The New Nation on Monday.
He said the year 2014 remained greatly free of political turmoil and the sector was showing signs of turning around. “But a similar situation is back again as BNP-led opposition alliance enforced hartal programme triggering street violence which would inevitably drag the apparel export down further,” he cautioned. Bangladesh garment industry is beset with manifold problems such as GSP cancellation by the US government, frequent labor unrest, rising production cost, a number of recent disasters in factories and workplace safety issues. Moreover, the European Union, which buys nearly 60 per cent of Bangladesh garments, is also considering waiving GSP privilege for Bangladesh on the ground of compliance issues.
When the sector was facing challenges to overcome such odds, a renewed political turmoil at home could drive away the foreign buyers from Bangladesh to other competitors. If it happens, it could lead to closure of many garments factories affecting growth momentum of the promising sector, Azim apprehends. Frustrated by the fresh political unrest, the BGMEA leader further said, “We have invested huge money in our manufacturing units taking loans from the bank. But we are facing difficulties to repay the bank loans as frequent political unrest is making our business unsustainable. Many of our fellow exporters have already become bankrupt suffering losses from adverse political climate.
“Running a factory in Bangladesh seems to a curse for us because politicians can hardly realize how much pain and sweat we have to engage to establish a factory here,” he said, adding, “The business community never support hartal politics and they should realize it.” He also urged the BNP-led 20-party alliance not to enforce further shutdown programme considering interest of the sector as well as the economy.
“Please refrain from poisonous politics and let the economy grow,” he added. The RMG sector has made the country into the world’s second largest supplier of textiles and clothing after China, representing over 80 per cent or $21.5 billion of the country’s total annual exports of $27 billion.
