A number of foreign buyers of Bangladeshi garments, besides officials of Japanese giant Uniqlo have cancelled their scheduled business meeting in Bangladesh and asked exporters to meet up in a third country to negotiate orders following the terrorist attack at Gulshan on July 1. Exporters say, till now buyers are yet to show any intention to shift or cut export orders from Bangladesh due to the terrorist attack that killed 17 foreigners including apparel buyers but they expressed their anguish over the situation and wanted to know what measures have been taken to ensure security of foreign buyers.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh said some buyers of Europe and the United States who often visit Bangladesh had requested them to arrange visa to visit their countries for business meetings. But, they were not unwilling to place orders in the factories there as they were feeling scared.
He said that a number of global sourcing agents were not willing to fly to Bangladesh and exporters would have to fly to third countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai which would increase cost of doing business. Visa related difficulties would also hamper business, Salam feared. As per reports Japanese clothing major Uniqlo too cancelled visit of its officials to Bangladesh soon after the attack.
