“Enough is enough…kindly relieve us from this situation. Buyers aren’t coming to Bangladesh…they’re being asked not to come here due to political unrest,” he told reporters after a meeting with Labour and Employment Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju at the Secretariat.
He said they requested the buyers to be there at the airports from where they will be safely picked up. “But they’re not agreeing fearing untoward incidents.”
The BGMEA President urged the political leaders to sit for a dialogue without any delay to save the national industry and keep the economy vibrant.
Atiqul Islam said the exporters will be able to bring export volume to US$ 50 billion mark if government ensures favorable environment.
Minister Raju said the government is ready to hold dialogue to resolve the political crisis. “The government has already taken initiatives to that end.”
He said the opposition should join parliament and discussion instead of street violence.
The BGMEA leaders said the exporters had to count additional losses of around Tk 250 crore because of air shipments due to hartals in January and February alone.
Export orders worth US$ 2.2 million of 15 factories have so far been cancelled due to frequent hartals and timely shipments of export goods worth US$ 7.8 million through seaway have become uncertain also because of shutdowns, they said.
The exporters also said the buyers demanded about US$ 0.7 million discount as the exporters failed to make the shipments timely (due to hartal) while the exporters had to count air freights worth US$ 1.71 million.
BGMEA leaders, including its former President M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, were also present.
