Bangladesh urged to cut freight, import tariffs, streamline logistics
Bangladesh's apparel industry representatives recently urged the government to reduce freight costs and bank interest rates, streamline logistics and cut import tariffs to maintain sectoral competitiveness, particularly in the United States.
At a recent discussion in Dhaka, they also stressed on the need to boost productivity through advanced technology and called for political stability, safety and regulatory certainty to navigate geo-economic turbulence.
They suggested targeted incentives to offset the higher cost of importing US cotton.
"Interest rates remain high, gas prices have tripled, and though we're being asked to operate in economic zones, those zones are far from fully developed," Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), was quoted as saying by a domestic media outlet.
Parvez also dismissed the notion that Bangladesh enjoys a cost advantage through cheap labour. "If we compare ourselves to Vietnam, their transportation, financing, and logistics costs are much lower. Factoring these in, our production costs are nearly the same," he noted.
Former BGMEA president Kutubuddin Ahmed drew attention to the high cost of air freight and questioned the government's investor engagement priorities.
US cotton is roughly four cents more per pound than cotton from other sources, Ahmed pointed out.
"If the government offers that amount as an additional incentive for sourcing from the US instead of the current general cash support, it would encourage importers and support bilateral trade," he said.
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