Commerce Minister Lt Col (Retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, MP on Thursday underscored the need for increasing export of readymade garments by imparting training to the garment workers. He was inaugurating a training session for garment workers and officials at Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Bhaban in the city. A total of 40,000 garment workers would be imparted training under the programme, which will be conducted by the BGMEA. A total of 120 garment workers will be given the skill development training in each batch under the programme. BGMEA President Abdus Salam Murshedy chaired the session while Director General of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Amir Hossain and President of Bangladesh Institute of Fashion and Training (BIFT) Muzaffar Uddin Siddique were present, among others. Faruk Khan said Bangladesh suffered a lot from the global financial recession, which hurt the RMG owners and workers equally. He urged the RMG owners to consider salary increase for workers in view of the price hike of essential commodities. About the ongoing cotton crisis in the country, Faruk Khan said the government has taken a step to import cotton from Africa to bring down the price of cotton to facilitate the country's weavers and knitwear exporters.