Editorial
Garment leaders' call for calm
The two parties must heed
The call by the leaders of the garment industry on the political leaders to shun confrontational politics reflects the general feeling of the people too. The country, unhappily, is being led towards a state of political unrest with the inevitable harmful impact on the economy, and the garment industries as well as the country stand to lose enormously as a consequence. The fact that Bangladesh is poised to make significant gains in the RMG sector and may lose out because of political conflict is worth serious consideration by our political leaders.
Our RMG industry is the most prospective foreign exchange source for the country, and going by the McKinsey report published in December last year, it is likely to fetch around $36 - $42 billion in the next ten years. But that will depend on how well the most severe issues can be managed.
After a tumultuous time which had witnessed severe unrest in the sector during the period of the 4-party regime, the period of calm in the last three years was very helpful in achieving the export figure of $13 billion in 2010-11. That accounted for around 80 percent of national exports and 13 percent of the GNP.
One of the serious issues implied in the report relates to the political situation obtaining in the country. And we feel that unless the two major parties come together to end the standoff, the ensuing unrest will be suicidal for our economy. And in this regard we are alarmed by the positions taken by the AL and the BNP. The mutual blame game will do very little to resolve the contentious issues.
We feel that as the major party leading the coalition it behooves the AL to temper their statements and actions with sobriety and avoid any programme that might compound the situation. By the same token, the BNP should act with equal responsibility as the opposition. It cannot be lost on the BNP that their responsibility towards the people is as immense out of power as it is while in power. It is our hope that sanity will prevail on both.
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