Highlighting the future plans of the BGMEA Board to advance the sector, SM Mannan also urged the government to exempt various products and services related to the RMG industry from VAT, provide tax exemption on import of fire safety equipment, provide special allocation in the form of food ration for workers, increase support for export and investment of non-cotton items.
“We hope these recommendations will be reflected in the upcoming budget,” he said.
Mannan said the country's apparel export target has been set at $100 billion by 2030, and unless government policy support is available, it will not be possible to achieve this export target.
The BGMEA president said the number of direct export-oriented RMG factories in the country has now come down to 2,200 from 5,000. He said if the direct export-oriented RMG factories were operational, the export volume could have been much higher and thus more new jobs could have been created.
Mannan said Bangladesh's RMG industry has a huge potential to further increase its global share as currently its share in the international market is only 7.87 per cent.