The country’s major export earning sector readymade garment (RMG) is expected to turn around by mid-August that has been badly hit by the outbreak of Covid-19.
The government does not want termination of any RMG workers. To ensure the wages of RMG workers, the government has announced a special incentive package.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at a webinar meeting titled ‘Beyond the Pandemic’ has expressed such hope on Tuesday night.
He said, “Considering the workers' lives and livelihood, at the very beginning of the pandemic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced a stimulus package of Tk 5,000 crore for export-oriented sectors. We do not want any unexpected layoff of workers.”
Expecting more export orders in the coming days, he further said, “As the buyer countries are gradually resuming their activities, I hope we will get more orders from them soon. If the situation keeps improving within next two months, we will have a positive situation that will help recover the crisis moment.”
Citing, buyer countries cannot change sourcing countries overnight, the minister said, “As we produce small and medium quality products, the demand of these qualities will always remain high. But high-quality product producer may face order crisis".
“As a good number of foreign countries are shifting their investments and orders from China, we are already having a positive trend and also getting prepared to get some of these opportunities. This will help us get a good number of export orders in the coming days", he hoped.
It is to be noted, due to the global economic downturn, Europe's negative attitude towards China due to the spread of coronavirus and the hint of withdrawal of investment of developed countries, including Japan, indicate positive prospects.
To facilitate the RMG sector, the government in the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2020-21, said, the RMG sector will enjoy one percent additional export incentive besides the other existing facilities.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while placing the budget on June 11 said the government has kept on providing all kinds of benefits, including cash incentives, to the readymade garments industry as it is the principal export sector of the country.
However, in an immediate post-budget reaction Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on the same day urged the government to keep the source tax unchanged at 0.25 percent for another five years besides other demands.
Meanwhile, economic analysts said, the garment sector needs to survive anyway. Otherwise, the social and economic structure may collapse. Lots of linkage industries involved with the garment sector. If these industries close down, employment and the economy will face a serious threat.
It is to be noted, the garment sector, which is important for the country's economy, has almost collapsed under the influence of coronavirus. Export orders of more than US$ 3 billion have so far been canceled. As a result, uncertainty has been created with the livelihood of about 4 million RMG workers and an export income of about 35 billion.
