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Change Your Life! |
Govt
should come up with long-term policy to build up backward linkage industries
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News |
April 20, 2000
Dhaka,
Apr 19 (UNB)- BGMEA feels that the government should come up with a
coordinated and long-term policy to build up backward linkage industries
to feed the apparel sector and help it sustain the post-2004 quota-free
regime. “We
are not getting any specific guidelines that we expect from the government
about backward linkage industries,” said Anisur Rahman Sinha, president
of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA),
while exchanging views with journalists at its headquarters today. The
Association estimates that an investment of US$ 8 billion (Tk 40,000
crore) is needed for developing backward linkage industries. He,
however, suggested some alternative short-term measures, like setting up
private bonded warehouses to store raw materials and reduce ‘lead
time,’ and improving port services until such a big investment is
possible. “...port
needs immediate attention, or else, export will be in jeopardy,” Sinha
said.
He
pointed to the dealings between the government and SSA, a US port
developer, for constructing a private container terminal close to
Chittagong port, saying it was “not transparent.” Transparent
terms and conditions could bring more global companies in the dealings, he
viewed, seeking “expert opinion” on the existing port capacity and
future development plan of the government. The
chief patron of the country’s biggest export association that accounts
for 76 per cent of the annual export volume said quota increase in the US
market is welcome, but more important is duty-free market access and
merger of certain categories.
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