Bangladesh faces stiff competition in apparel exports
According to an economist, severe competition will be faced by Bangladesh in garment shipment to the European Union once the status will change from a least a developed country to developing country.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh will face severe competition in
garment shipment to the European Union once the status will change from a least
a developed country to developing.
According to Mustafizur Rahman,
Distinguished Fellow, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh is going
to lose a 12% duty benefit while on other hand Vietnam will enjoy zero duty
benefit because of signing a FTA. He further said that this way Bangladesh is
going to face a disadvantage of 22%-23% in duty to the EU.
Rahman also said that Vietnam is also going
to enjoy duty benefits to markets like the US, Canada, and Australia because it
is a member of the TPP agreement and has also signed the RCEP agreement. So, in
short, if the government of Bangladesh doesn’t take needful actions to expand
the business horizon, then Bangladesh’s garment sector will face a tough
time in the coming 7 to 8 years. He further mentioned that the state is
responsible for getting CEPA, FTAs, bringing massive reforms, and protecting
labour rights for enjoying duty benefits.
As per Rehman Sobhan, chairman, CPD, the
sudden reopening announcement after the latest lockdown was a miscommunication
due to which a large number of workers rushed to their workplaces. They were
sceptical of losing their jobs so they rushed to work despite the risks posed
to their lives.
Source – The Daily Star
Image Source: Wikipedia
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