The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will hold its three-day apparel and textile exhibition BATEXPO on November 15 with an aim of attaining export target of Readymade Garment (RMG) worth US$ 15-18 billion in next three years.

BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez disclosed this yesterday at a press conference with the members of the Overseas Correspondents Association (OCAB) at his office.

The sector earned US$ 9.2 billion during the last fiscal of 2006-07.

Parvez said BATEXPO-07, the largest textile fair in the Asia Pacific region, would facilitate foreign buyers to see Bangladeshi textiles, clothing and accessories.

Producers from Pakistan, India, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Bangladesh will display their products in the exposition for which 41different companies have already registered, he said.

Referring the previous BATEXPO the BGMEA President said a significant number of buyers particularly from USA, Canada, UK, Middle East, Southeast Asia and many other countries of the world participated in the fair.

Replying to a question Parvez said this year buyers would feel more confident in participating in the exposition because of political stability.

According to him the last year's BATEXPO obtained spot order of US$ 68.61 million, about 12 million higher than the previous year. He expected more spot orders this year.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed will inaugurate the exposition as chief guest at Hotel Sonargaon on November 15 and Army Chief General

Moeen U Ahmed will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

Parvez said a good number of seminars and fashion shows spotlighting the country's vibrant and burgeoning RMG sector will be held on the sidelines of the 3-day exposition.

The BGMEA president hailed US Congressman Jim McDermott for introducing a bill, "New Partnership for Development Act 2007", in the US House of Representatives on October 18 to facilitate more market access of RMG products from the LDCs, including Bangladesh, to the US market.

"BGMEA would send an 11-member delegation to USA to discuss with the US Congressmen, including Congressman McDermott, and officials of USTR and labour organisations so the bill is passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate," Parvez said.

Although China, India and Sri Lanka are major competitors of Bangladeshi garment products, Bangladesh would be the main source of RMG export in the ultimate analyses, mainly in low and medium price garments, the BGMEA President said expressing his hope.

Replying to another question, Chowdhury said export of garment worth US$ 8 million to India is a starter, saying that in the near future India could be the third largest destination of Bangladeshi RMG after USA and Europe.

He dismissed campaigns in UK against Bangladeshi garments for alleged child labour and low wages, saying that the campaigners could not produce any evidence in support of their allegations.

The BGMEA President said Bangladesh's RMG sector is competitive enough in terms of quality, prices and skilled workforce and it is possible to raise the level of exports to US$ 18 billion a year.