Bangladesh:BGMEA new leader spells out priorities

Lobbying the government for supporting the recession-hit garment exporters, promoting Bangladeshi brands abroad efficiently, and developing capacity of his association to serve its members are the top priorities of Abdus Salam Murshedy, the president-elect of BGMEA.
Murshedy’s Sammilita Parishad panel won a landslide victory in the elections held on Tuesday to the executive committee of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, the apparel sector’s apex trade body.
The BGMEA Election Board at the early hours of Wednesday announced the polls results, with the Murshedy-led panel bagging all the 27 posts of the executive committee.
‘With the global economic recession-ravaged markets in Europe and USA, it is a critical period for the Bangladeshi [apparel] exporters,’ said Murshedy at the BGMEA election room, with his supporters and opponents both congratulating him.
Murshedy said he would lobby the government for immediately forming the much talked-about high-profile task force to prepare and implement the action programmes for fighting the impacts of recession.
‘The volumes of orders are falling and, more severely, the importers are pressing us to cut prices further and further,’ said the BGMEA president-elect.
Murshedy will lead the BGMEA for the next two years. The incumbent leadership is scheduled to hand over charges to the new office bearers at the BGMEA annual general meeting on March 12. The BGMEA board will select three vice-presidents as office bearers before that.
Murshedy, who had served on the BGMEA board several times, including once as a vice-president, acknowledged that the present BGMEA secretariat cannot provide the members with ‘real time’ market research and intelligence.
‘Capacity development of the secretariat will be a serious mission,’ said Murshedy, managing director of the Envoy Group which operates a spinning unit, denim plant and several plants for stiching garments.
Murshedy’s rival and leader of the defeated panel, M Shahadat Hossian Kiron also greeted him Wednesday.
‘With the elections over, we are again friends and colleagues. We are ready to give all-out support to Murshedy and his team,’ said Shahadat.
With 2,678 registered members, BGMEA is the country’s largest organisation grouping apparel exporters.
On Tuesday’s elections 1,934 voters out of a possible 2,122 of Dhaka and 539 voters out of 556 of Chittagong cast ballots to chose new leaders, BGMEA Election Board chairman Anisuzzaman said.

——————————– Source: Newage,Dhaka