BGMEA urges members to take benefits from govt schemes

Staff Reporter :
The apex body of the apparel sector has urged its member factories to take the utmost benefits from the existing financial schemes provided by the government amid the turbulent time.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Faruque Hassan, in a letter sent to members via mail, made the call with a view to coping with the new economic reality caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
In the letter, he said, “We all know that the industry is going through a turbulent time caused by the unprecedented global economic turmoil and the challenges faced in the local context coping up with the rising cost of production, idle capacity and lack of business forecast.”

“Yet we are trying to stay on course. We reached $43 billion turnover and despite all the difficulties. The current fiscal year is likely to end with mentionable growth,” the BGMEA chief said.
“Besides, we are working to achieve the tough target of $100 billion apparel export by 2030. We need to focus on enhancing our industry capability like more vertically integrated, innovative, diversified, technologically upgraded as well as we need to adapt ourselves to the ESG requirements,” he added.

Following this, the government created two special funds — Pre-Shipment Credit Refinancing Scheme and Export Facilitation Fund-aiming at helping the local exporters last year.
From the “pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme” of Tk 5000 crore, the exporters can take loans at 3 per cent interest rate, while at 4 per cent interest rate from the “Export Facilitation Fund” of Tk 10,000 crore.
“I hope that you will be able to take the utmost benefits from these financial schemes of the government. In this difficult time let’s be more innovative and explore ways to optimize our costs,” the BGMEA president said.
Regarding the letter, BKMEA Executive President Moahmmad Hatem told The New Nation, “We are failing to take loans from the two funds due to unwillingness of the banks. So, strong direction from the central bank is needed to disburse loans from the funds.”