Staff Reporter:
President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday called for ensuring realistic and integrated policy support to resolve various problems of the textile industry.
“To take the country’s textile sector forward, it is necessary to ensure realistic and integrated policy support for Bangladesh’s industrial enterprises, like those in competing countries,” he said.
Mirza Fakhrul said this when a 22-member delegation of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), led by its President Shawkat Aziz Russell, met the President at Bangabhaban yesterday, President’s Press Secretary Sarwar Alam told .
Appreciating the contribution of the textile industries to the national economy and earning foreign currency, the President said, “The textile sector plays a very important role in the country’s eco-nomic development and employment generation.”
He assured the leaders of giving necessary support and advised them to raise the issue with the government’s policymakers with due importance.
“Even after 55 years of independence, we have not been able to take our economy to the desired level due to various reasons, including political instability. As a democratic government has now assumed responsibility, a new opportunity has been created to rebuild those sectors,” he said urg-ing the country’s business leaders to work together to utilize this opportunity.
He also noted that developing economies like Bangladesh are being affected more by the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“The energy crisis has emerged as the biggest problem at present. In the past, no significant initia-tive was taken for the exploration and extraction of the country’s own gas and energy resources and for ensuring long-term energy security,” he noted.
The President mentioned that the current government’s sincere efforts to resolve the energy prob-lem are continuing.
During the meeting, BTMA President Shawkat Aziz Russell highlighted the contribution of the tex-tile industry to the country’s economic sector.
He briefed the President on the initiatives taken for the development and advancement of the country’s textile sector during the tenure of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, as well as the current problems and challenges facing the textile sec-tor.
At the meeting, the leaders emphasized maintaining the National Board of Revenue’s decision to withdraw bond facilities for the import of 10-30 count cotton yarn and allow yarn imports through bank guarantees to protect domestic textile mills.
The President’s secretaries and senior officials were present during the meeting.
