In addition to other possible trading partners, garment manufacturers have pushed the government to explore free trade and economic partnership agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada.
According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the agreements are necessary to maintain preferential trade benefits once Bangladesh graduates from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing one in November 2026.
During a meeting at the BGMEA office in Dhaka yesterday, the BGMEA leaders responded to questions from a visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The leaders told the IMF team that the government has already been advised to take a number of actions by the present BGMEA board.
These include making sure that enterprises have a steady supply of gas and energy, increasing port efficiency, streamlining bond and customs processes, lowering lending rates to one digit and accelerating important infrastructure projects like the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan met with the IMF mission to talk about various economic matters and Bangladesh’s readiness for LDC graduation.
They also talked about methods for sustainable industrial expansion and diversification into value-added products, the potential repercussions of the changing global economic landscape, the implications of LDC graduation and the potential impact of US reciprocal tariffs on garment exports.
According to a statement from the association, the BGMEA officials discussed the sector’s different facets and emphasised the industry’s importance to the country’s economy.
They described the industry’s strategic vision, pointing out that innovation, value addition and technological improvement are driving the shift from a labour-intensive model to a higher-value model.
The industry is concentrating on increasing its capacity in technical textile-based clothing and man-made fibre as part of this transition as well as raising worker skill levels. According to the BGMEA statement, both parties also talked about ways to make doing business in Bangladesh easier and less expensive.
