Capacity development key factors to maintain competitiveness in post-LDC era: BGMEA

Staff Reporter :
Product diversity, professional development, improved technology , and apparel diplomacy along with environmental sustainability are the key areas the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh was working on to scale up its capabilities and retain competitiveness in the coming years, especially in the post-LDC era, said Faruque Hassan, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

“While Bangladesh’s graduation from the LDC category is an incredible achievement and a matter of pride for us, it will present a new reality to the country having both challenges and opportunities,” he added.

“Bangladesh will need to prepare well to overcome the challenges and harvest fruits of potential benefits from the graduation,” Faruque Hassan, remarked while addressing the participants of the National Defence Course – 2023 on a topic titled “RMG sector in Bangladesh economy – prospects and challenges after becoming middle-income country” at the National Defence College in Dhaka on May 9.
In his speech as a guest speaker, Faruque Hassan said the immediate impact of LDC graduation on Bangladesh’s industry, particularly the export-oriented industries is the possible changes in the market entrance.

“Bangladesh being an LDC avails duty-free market access to major markets including the EU, Canada, Japan, Australia, and to a few Asian countries like China, India, South Korea, etc.”
With graduation, Bangladesh would no longer be eligible for LDC-specific special and differential treatment, he added.
“Bangladesh will need to improve its diplomatic efficiency to face economic challenges in the post-graduation period. From now we need to think about bilateral and multilateral trading arrangement including FTA, PTA, and RCEP etc. with our potential trade partner countries as
be the loss preferential market access” he observed.
The BGMEA President further said that the developing the capacity of manufacturing diversified high-value products, especially non-cotton items, alongside enhancing capabilities in product-process-technology innovation, and up-skilling of people are the key priorities where the industry was putting a lot of emphasis to overcome the challenges and maintain the growth momentum.j