Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Bangladesh’s apparel industry is struggling to graduate to a producer of high-end items despite being in the business for four decades and one of the top suppliers globally, missing out on the opportunity to receive premium prices from international retailers and brands.

Merchandise exports bounced back in November, rising 0.76 per cent year-on-year to $3.07 billion helped by garment, home textile and jute goods shipment, official data showed yesterday.

Workers in Bangladesh witnessed the sharpest fall in their real wages among their peers in Asia and the Pacific in the last decade despite higher productivity gains, according to a new report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

US engagement with Bangladesh on trade, economic and defence fronts has increased in recent months. In September, the countries signed an open sky deal and held comprehensive economic partnership dialogues.

Nearly 400 workers of an Italian-owned factory shuttered by the pandemic yesterday attempted to lay siege to the labour and employment ministry at the Secretariat demanding dues.

The US is optimistic about deepening ties with Bangladesh as the country’s exports to American markets have maintained a robust growth while investors are looking to widen their footprint in the South Asian nation, US Ambassador Earl R Miller said.

Traffic movement through the capital’s Agargaon area will be a lot smoother than usual from next January as the government has decided to relocate the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to Purbachal.

The government may ease the rules on the use of fabric imported duty-free to help local manufacturers shift to high-end apparels and boost export earnings as firms generate more waste while producing fancy items for international markets.

The amount of compensation legally payable to victims of industrial incidents in Bangladesh is far below than the provisions of the ILO Convention 121, said Tuomo Poutiainen, country director of the International Labour Organisation.

Bangladesh should continue to take forward the progress achieved in ensuring workplace safety following the two deadliest back-to-back industrial incidents to prevent a recurrence and save the lives of workers.

Despite facing numerous work order cancellations and subsequent suspension of most exports due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Denim Expert Ltd did not lay off any of its workers.

Just as Bangladesh’s main foreign currency-earning apparel sector had begun recouping from shocks to its exports, a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has started inflicting damages again.

That the novel coronavirus has brought down many businesses is nothing new. Tourism firms and hotels are some of the first victims to come to mind, considering all the non-stop ruckus with isolation.

Local apparel manufacturers have urged the bond authorities to increase the amount of waste permitted while producing garments from items imported duty free under bonded warehouse benefit.

Apex Footwear has launched its first international outlet, finding its niche in Kathmandu, the capital of the Himalayan Kingdom ofNepal.

Japan is directly communicating with Myanmar, emphasising the importance of Rohingya repatriation and accountability as it considers a long-term solution to the crisis and regional stability essential conditions for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh ITO Naoki believes Bangladesh should begin intense negotiations with his country so that the duo could sign a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

A decision by the energy ministry to stop providing new gas connections to the industries outside economic zones and industrial parks from April next year has drawn the ire of industrialists.

Bangladesh has demanded before the United Nations export duty waivers on its products for 10 to 12 years past its graduation from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing one in 2024, said a top commerce ministry official yesterday.

Bangladesh has not shown any interest in joining the world’s largest trade deal, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) primarily to safeguard its revenue generation from duties on imports.