BGMEA President Faruque Hassan along with Vice President Miran Ali met with a visiting delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by IMF Mission Chief for Bangladesh Rahul Anand at a hotel in Dhaka on December 6.

They had discussions on the challenges and potential of Bangladesh’s RMG industry and also its strategies to make use of the opportunities. Their talks also covered possible impacts of and preparation for Bangladesh’s LDC graduation. 

BGMEA President Furuque Hassan gave an overview of how the garment industry has been making significant contributions to the economic development of Bangladesh, especially through export earnings and employment generation for millions of people in the country.

He also briefed the IMF delegation about the unprecedented impacts of the Covid-19 on the apparel industry of Bangladesh and how the sector has faced the challenges and is turning around. 

Faruque Hassan shed lights on future priories of the industry, including increased focus on remodeling business from labor intensive to a value-added one through innovation, diversification, technology upgradation, and up-killing and re-skilling of the workforce to make the industry sustainable and cost competitive.

The BGMEA President urged the IMF to support the growth and development of Bangladesh’s RMG industry.

IMF Resident Representative to Bangladesh Jayendu De, Sr. Vice President of BKMEA Mansoor Ahmed and Vice President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan were also present at the meeting.