Garment exporters are expecting a strong recovery in exports and business as normalcy is being gradually restored with the changing political scenario.
The business environment was facing an impasse because of the latest spells of violence and frequent shutdown of factories, for which they were unable to manufacture goods for export.
Exporters also said, though July, August and September comprise the peak season for shipping goods meant for Christmas and for booking work orders for the coming summer and spring seasons, they were facing challenges in sending goods to retailers through Chattogram port amid violence.
They were also unable to communicate with their business partners both at home and abroad because of the recent internet blackout across the country and for the violence.
The apparel manufacturers are now planning to reopen their production units and to restart with a new vigour as they have been facing shutdowns, difficulties in transportation and shipment of goods over more than one month because of the political crisis.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) called a meeting yesterday at 7:30pm to discuss the next course of action as the prime minister resigned, said a director.
They decided that the garment factories and textile mills will stay shut for now considering the current situation. The owners may take a decision on factory reopening today.
They had earlier shut down their units two weeks ago for four days amidst violence and curfew. During the first round of shutdown, they could not even communicate with their international clothing retailers and brands because of an internet blackout across the country.
Because of the latest spell of student movement and political impasse, the BGMEA has already said they have lost Tk 6,400 crore while the textile millers said the amount of their loss is more than $58.8 million.
The garment and textile millers have shut down their production units across the country fearing labour unrest and vandalism, which will cause a massive loss for the sector.
During the first round of violence and curfew, the international clothing retailers and brands expressed concern over the situation as they were facing difficulties in placing work orders with factories and receiving shipments of goods from Chattogram port.
“We mainly discussed the issue of reopening the factories. However, we may take more time to reopen the factories considering the change in the political situation,” said BGMEA Vice-President Arshad Jamal Dipu over the phone.
“We want to restart production in the factories very soon. But we need help from the administration for the smooth running of the units as their instructions are important for us,” Dipu added.
Also, it recently became difficult to do business and international trade because this is the time to renew bond licences but many, especially the Chattogram-based exporters, are complaining that the customs department is not renewing the bond licences.
Many have been forced to adopt expensive air shipments because of delays in production and transportation of goods to the factories.
Also, many have been forced to provide discounts and accept cancellation of work orders from international retailers and brands because of the latest spells of violence and curfew.
Banks are charging a higher interest rate on loans, he said, adding that all these things are affecting business and all those issues need to be broadly discussed with the trade bodies and administration soon for resolving the issues.
“We have to work seriously now,” Dipu also said.
“I hope everything will change now and business will soon be restored,” said a garment exporter asking not to be named.
The work orders from international retailers and brands will also be restored soon as normalcy has also started to return, the exporter added.
“We are getting ready to reopen our factories as soon as possible,” said a director of the BGMEA asking not to be named.
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