STAR BUSINESS REPORT

The government’s decision to further cut incentives on export receipts will badly hurt the domestic textile sector which bears an investment of $22 billion, a top leader of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) said yesterday.

Moreover, the primary textile sector, which has been working as the garment industry’s main backward linkage, will lose its competitiveness in international markets, said BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon.

The government needs to formulate a long-term roadmap for the textile and garment sector to survive and grow well into the country’s graduation into a developing nation, he said.

Other comparator countries have already devised such plans and those are working well, he told a press conference at the BTMA office in Dhaka.

For instance, India graduated from least developed country (LDC) status in 2004 and still provides a lot of incentives as alternatives to direct cash subsidies for the growth of the textile and garment sectors, said Khokon.

As a result, the difference in the cost of production of a kilogramme of 30 count yarn in Bangladesh and India is currently 22 cents, he said.