Timely salary disbursal, festival allowance for RMG workers first priority: BGMEA president-elect

Timely disbursal of salaries and festival allowances for readymade garment workers is the first priority, president-elect of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) SM Mannan Kochi said.

Speaking to The Business Standard in an immediate reaction after the announcement of the election result at the BGMEA office at Uttara in Dhaka on Sunday, he expressed his gratitude to all the apparel exporters who gave their mandates for the win.

Kochi-led panel Sammilito Parishad achieved a clean sweep by securing all 35 directorship positions at the biennial election of the BGMEA for the 2024-26 tenure.

The Sammilito Parishad leader said he is committed to working together as a team for the betterment of the apparel industry.

Kochi, also the Awami League Dhaka North City secretary general, has been serving as senior vice president of BGMEA in the current board.

SM Mannan, also the Seha Design (BD) Ltd managing director, is set to become the 20th president of the apparel exporter's apex body, who secured 1510 votes out of 2496 votes.

In the election, 2,226 out of the total 2,496 votes were cast in Dhaka and Chattogram, and the voting turnout was 89.18%. In Dhaka, 1,839 out of 2,032 votes were cast, resulting in a voter turnout rate of 90.50%. In Chattogram, 387 out of 464 votes were cast, yielding a voter turnout of 83.41%.

Kochi said a good number of qualified, experienced and brilliant entrepreneurs belong to the other panel, Forum. He also said from now on, they will work together as "Team BGMEA" for the betterment of the industry. 

"We [apparel exporters] are going through a very tough time, and lots of challenges are ahead in the coming days. To address these challenges we will work together, and it is my commitment to all members, despite the fact that we have contested in this election divided in two panels."

"The industry may face an immediate challenge, that is to pay their workers festival allowances and monthly salaries during the next two Eids," he added. 

"We want to celebrate the next Eids with our workers joyfully, despite the challenges as the new wage structure has been implemented since last December. Especially small and medium scale factories may face challenges in paying timely." 

Another priority for his panel is to reduce harassment by National Board of Revenue (NBR) customs officials during the import of raw materials and exporting goods.

He said he will try to resolve the problems in the customs, bonds and the NBR as "many factory owners and tax officials have some misunderstanding and sometimes factory owners become the victims of harassment."

Kochi said, "Such harassment has reduced the flow of their work speed and entrepreneurs feel humiliated, to overcome this situation we will talk with the relevant department top officials and relevant ministers also."

"In the long-term commitment, we will also work with the government to continue the incentives after the LDC graduations as 2026 is knocking on our door, which is the deadline to graduate from a less developed country status."

"We have some examples from neighbouring countries and competitor countries continuing their incentives for export sectors after withdrawal of cash incentives against export," he added.

To continue incentives that might be needed to introduce an alternative system, he said, "We will request the government to form a highly powerful committee along with BGMEA, and BKMEA representatives to find out a solution."

He also expressed his gratitude to the government for re-continuing exporters' cash incentives after a sudden withdrawal.

The newly elected directors are scheduled to nominate Kochi as the BGMEA president and other vice-presidents for the tenure 2024-26 on 23 March. 

The current board of the BGMEA is set to expire on 9 April and will hand over the charge to the new board.