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Textile manufacturers fear SAARC rule on EU |
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August 2, 2000
Dhaka (UNB) - Textile manufacturers have expressed grave concern over government's consent to the rule of SAARC regional cumulation for claiming GSP from EU that they fear will destroy local textile sector. The new provision will allow generalized system of preference (GSP) for goods manufactured with raw materials from any country of the region. Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) in a meeting Monday feared the new provision will surely destroy the country's emerging textiles and backward linkage industries as it will open floodgate of textile products from neighbouring countries and drastically shrink local production of fabric and yarn. Chaired by its vice president Abul Quasem Haider, the BTMA meeting noted with concern that the SAARC regional cumulation will give Indian textile supplies an absolute control of garment sector and fabric supply. "The textile sector will now come under strong pressure in the form of dumping at under-invoiced prices by Indian suppliers, resulting in eventual collapse of country's textile sector," the Association said. The association urged the government to immediately take up the matter with European Union and send a delegation to Brussels for cancellation of the provision. Local yarn manufacturing mills are now fully capable of meeting the requirement of export quality knit yarn and there is no need to depend on supply of yarn from outside, the BTMA claimed. A good number of spinning and weaving mills have also been set up to meet local and export requirements of yarn and fabric for RMG and many more are in the pipeline. Yarn and fabric manufacturing process of textile sector represents an investment of Tk 8000 crores and provides direct employment to about 2.75 million people, the BTMA added. Textile is at present the most potential sector, capable of generating new employment and creating scope for earning additional foreign exchange, it said. New rule of regional cumulation will frustrate the government's call to set up backward linkage industries by 2005 to have textile inputs produced locally, the BTMA said. |