US plans to increase garment imports from Bangladesh

Marcia Bernicat, US ambassador to Bangladesh, confirmed at a press conference following a meeting at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) in Dhaka last week that the US is planning to increase its imports of ready-made garments from Bangladesh.

“The US is the second largest market for Bangladesh's clothing products after the European Union and will source more apparel from the country,” stated Bernicat. Referring to last month's terrorist attack on a café in Dhaka that was aimed at foreigners and cost 22 lives, she said: “We have not asked our citizens to stop travelling to Bangladesh, but have called for maintaining cautiousness during travel.”

At the meeting, various issues were discussed including Bangladesh's export potential for the US, worker safety and security and remediation finance, which will be provided by agencies like US Aid, the International Financial Corporation (IFC), the World Bank and JICA to accelerate the RMG sector as well as the country's investment.

“The US is committed to remaining and having a robust business relationship with businesses of Bangladesh . . . Bangladesh has good strong vibrant economy. ... The US buys more Bangladeshi garment products than any other country in the world, which increased 7.55 percent to about 6.2 billion US dollars in 2015,” said Bernicat.

In terms of goals, she pointed out: “We want to ensure that every factory owner is committed to improving safety standards of their units. All workers ... should come under trade unionism.”

BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman stressed Bangladesh's efforts and the US' satisfaction over the safety and security issues in the RMG sectors as well as the overall business. “We have already completed 63 percent of Accord factory inspections and 57 percent of Alliance factory inspections. A worker database will be ready within October of this year,” he said, referring to the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, respectively.

Photo: BGMEA