Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA, has demanded 10 per cent incentive on the export of garment items made from non-cotton fibers to encourage investment in the MMF sector. Hassan said, Bangladesh imported 20.52 lakh tonne of fiber in the last fiscal year, of which 93.57 per cent was cotton. Currently, 403 out of the 430 spinning mills operating in the country produce cotton fiber. Hence, investment and production in the MMF-based fiber industry is still low even though it has very high potential, he added.

Currently, Vietnam holds 10 per cent share of the global MMF-based garment market while Bangladesh is still struggling to attain a 5 per cent share in this segment, Hassan added. This market is growing 3 to 4 per cent annually with 75 per cent of garments being produced globally from MMF-based fibers. On the other hand, the global market share of the cotton-based garment industry is growing at just 1 or 2 per cent annually.

Hassan also demanded loan rescheduling facilities for up to December as garment manufacturers and exporters have been struggling amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He also urged the government not to classify the loans of the garment sector for up to December this year so that they can be more competitive in the business.