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Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury assured Tuesday the leaders of RMG industry of considering their problems, including support to resume production in the sick units and develop a 'garment village' on the outskirts of the capital, reports UNB.
"The government has taken initiatives to resolve most of the problems you have raised," he told a meeting with the new BGMEA executive committee at his secretariat office.
The minister appreciated the role of the new committee and described the BGMEA as a place of practising democracy, as three persons share the leadership of the apparel sector apex body.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Tipu Munshi led the delegation, first by the new committee after it assumed the shared tenure of office, to apprise the minister of their 10-point demand.
In the meeting, the commerce minister advised the BGMEA leaders to find out a piece of over 100 acres of government 'khas' land for developing a 'garment village'.
"Find out a land near the capital… the government will do everything possible to develop a village for the RMG industry soon," he told the meeting.
The BGMEA leaders requested the minister to review the situation of 100 sick industrial units for resuming production under a pilot project.
Commerce Ministry Adviser Barkat Ullah Bulu, BGMEA Panel President SM Fazlul Haque, First Vice President SM Abu Tayeb, Vice President Shahadat Hossain Arun, directors Mahbub Chowdhury and Golam Sarwar Milon were present at the meeting.
BGMEA's other demands included endorsing the EU-prescribed regional cumulation to utilise free-market access of woven apparels, allowing the tax holiday now applicable only to the high-value items for all RMG items, training support for the BGMEA Institute of Fashion and Technology (BIFT) and bringing freight forwarders under licensing system and introducing code of conduct for them.
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