Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine April Issue 2019 | Page 40

BANGLADESH CANVAS APPAREL RESOURCES NEWSLETTERS FACEBOOK FRIENDS To subscribe, send us an email at [email protected] Join more than 10,000 people who are already fans of Apparel Resources on facebook. Search for Apparel Resources at https://www.facebook.com/apparelresources/ Tipu Munshi reiterates demand for fair pricing of apparel items Already under stress due to falling profit margins and rising overheads, the recent hike in workers’ wages has come as a major challenge for the garment makers, who have long been demanding fair pricing to ensure business sustainability. Verweij in Dhaka, reportedly underlined that RMG factories have been modernised along with the wage hike of labourers which required huge investment, but price of RMG did not increase in line with it. to the United Kingdom too stressed on the issue of fair pricing to drive home the message that better price is a must to attain higher compliance standards, which is increasingly becoming the order of the day. This demand of Bangladesh garment exporters was reiterated once again by the country’s Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi recently. “So, fixing up the logical price of RMG is necessary,” reportedly stated Tipu while underlining that Netherlands is an important market for Bangladeshi RMG. “Bangladesh’s RMG sector needs fair pricing so that the apparel industries can fully comply with higher standard… For ensuring higher standard, which is a major challenge, the RMG sector needs to be paid more. 85 per cent of the garment factories in As per media reports, Tipu during a meeting with Netherlands Ambassador to Bangladesh Harry It may be mentioned here that sometime back, Bangladesh’s envoy Bangladesh have already met the international standard, as assessed by Accord and Alliance – the two international organisations of major global retailers,” said Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Saida said this while delivering a speech at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff as part of the discussion on a study titled ‘Bangladesh – A Golden Journey to Development’. Bangladesh, Russia to sign MoU to boost bilateral trade The world’s largest nation geographically (spanning 11 time zones), Russia has a big apparel market (estimated at US $ 43.2 billion in 2016), which is showing signs of picking up following apparent rebounding of the Russian economy. However, Bangladesh as the world’s second biggest apparel exporter, according to experts, is yet to make substantial mark in Russia. Nevertheless, things might turn for the better soon after Bangladesh and Russia reportedly decide to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to remove all trade barriers between the two countries. “Bangladesh has been maintaining a good relation with Russia in terms of trade and commerce. But the bilateral trade and commerce did not increase as per expectations due to some complexities,” reportedly Bangladesh has been maintaining a good relation with Russia in terms of trade and commerce. But the bilateral trade and commerce did not increase as per expectations due to some complexities” – Tipu Munshi stated Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi after his meeting with Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Ignatov recently while underlining that Dhaka and Moscow are expected to sign an MoU soon in an effort to remove trade barriers and increase bilateral trade. It may be mentioned here that currently, 40 Apparel Online Bangladesh | APRIL 2019 | www.apparelresources.com there are no banking transactions between Bangladesh and Russia, and trade is done through Telegraphic Transfer (TT), which as per many garment makers, is a major hindrance towards facilitating garment business with Russia. Munshi further underlined that there is a huge demand for Bangladeshi apparel items alongside sea foods, potato and medicine in the Russian market while adding that signing of the MoU will allow banking transactions between the two countries to reduce difficulties related to trade and commerce thereby giving a fillip to trade with Russia.