Editorial
Lockdown hurts international trade
RMG sector faces the brunt
THE 60-hour nationwide hartal enforced by the opposition 18-party alliance has come to an end. It has cost the economy dearly. With public transportation, be it road, rail, water or air, coming to a standstill, neither import nor export of goods could take place during the period. The sector that earns the most foreign exchange for the country, readymade garments (RMG) suffered the full brunt of the political agitation.
The sad reality is that just when the RMG sector was in the process of recovering from a number of deadly fires and building collapse, the heating up in the political arena is yet another stumbling block for the sector. With tight lead times, many manufacturers are under pressure from international buyers to maintain delivery schedules, especially since Christmas is round the corner. What is often overlooked is the fact that export orders taken by factories in Bangladesh are on the basis of shipping finished products using sea freight.
With the onset of strikes that now stretch for days on end, RMG exporters are under pressure to resort to expensive air shipment which does not make much economic sense. Yet, that is precisely what is going to happen should the existing political gridlock continue. It is imperative that all efforts be made to find a way out of the present confrontational politics that is destroying the very fabric of our trade and economy. The alternative is simply too bleak to contemplate.
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