STAR BUSINESS REPORT

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is needed in the garment sector, especially for non-cotton and high value added items, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, a research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said yesterday.

“FDI is required for the sustainability of the readymade garment industry,” he said while presenting a paper titled “Bangladesh’s RMG industry in global apparel value chain: Competitiveness, profit margin, labour productivity and minimum wages” at The Daily Star Centre.

The Daily Star organised the session.

Moazzem said Bangladesh is very good at making cotton clothes but lacks strength in non-cotton products, adding that it could be bolstered by foreign investment.

Foreign investment is also necessary for the sustainability of the RMG sector, he said, adding that injection of foreign capital in the sector is mandatory in order to take the sector forward.

Moazzem said corporatisation is also necessary in the sector as many second-generation owners are not willing to manage workers’ issues.

“The first generation He