The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has deemed the statements of Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb and Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder as “regrettable and objectionable”.
In a press release sent to the media on Wednesday, the organization said that the statements of both officials regarding the meeting with BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan have been presented in a misleading manner, which indirectly underestimated the country’s main export-oriented sector, the readymade garment (RMG) industry.
The organization strongly protested against such statements.
The release also said that the BGMEA president, in response to questions from journalists at the press conference, said that for the past four months, a private meeting has been requested with Chief Adviser Prof Dr. Muhammad Yunus to discuss the policy formulation, competitiveness and ongoing crisis of the garment industry. But that meeting has not happened yet.
The BGMEA further stated that the meeting referred to by the CA’s Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary was a general review meeting on LDC transition—where representatives of various ministries and organizations were present. It was in no way a formal meeting specifically scheduled for the garment industry or BGMEA.
Attending a general meeting and getting a private meeting with the Chief Adviser are completely different matters, the statement added.
The release further said that the BGMEA president expressed deep disappointment at the press conference and said: “I have not requested a meeting with the Chief Advisor for four months. Yet when the Vice President of Starlink’s company SpaceX comes, he is met—a company that wants to invest $100 million, while representatives of the $40 billion export sector are not given time.”
The organization further stated that the BGMEA president’s statement was part of expressing concern for the interests of the country’s larger industry and export sector.
However, the Special Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary presented the issue without context, which is misleading and harmful to the image of the industry.
The statement expressed hope that in the future, the Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser and Deputy Press Secretary will be more professional and responsible when commenting on the country’s largest export-oriented sector. It also called for an early formal meeting with the CA to discuss the current challenges, prospects and policy issues of the export sector.
