Incentives demanded for manufacturing synthetic fibers in apparel industry
Artificial fibers or man-made fibers are taking over the world market. In this case, to survive in the world of the future, engineers must be more efficient. Challenges have to be tackled using modern and up-to-date technology. For this reason, experts related to the sector think that the incentives of these export products along with government policies are necessary.
This demand was made at a seminar titled ‘Opportunities of Man-Made Fiber (MMF) Production in Bangladesh – Technology Challenges and Linking Academia’ organized by Textile Strategy Department of Engineers Institution, Bangladesh (IEB) at Ramna in the capital on Saturday (September 16).
IEB President Engineer Md. Abdus Sabur said that the government is very aware of the textile industry. Engineers will come forward to do more research to develop this industry. About 83 percent of the country's total export earnings are earned from garment exports. In order to stay in the competitive market with the passage of time, one has to constantly adapt to the technology.
While delivering the welcome speech, the IEB General Secretary Engineer S. M. Manjurul Haque Manju said, to catch this new market in the textile sector, export of non-cotton products should be emphasized now. For this reason, incentives for these export products are needed with government policies and benefits. Then you can enter this market very easily. It will create new jobs and increase investment.
Chairman of Textile Engineering Division of IEB Engineer Mohammad Asad Hossain presided over the event while the keynote article was presented by BUTEX Assistant Professor Dr. Mohammad Abbas Uddin. In the presentation he said, ‘Majority of our country's exports are made from natural fibers i.e., cotton fibers. At present, non-cotton based i.e., synthetic fibers or man-made fibers are more in demand than natural cotton-based garments in the global market. Editor Engineer Mohammad Waliul Islam moderated the program.
Currently, man-made fibers account for more than 70 percent of the global apparel market. But its rate is 30% among Bangladesh's exported garments. Moreover, man-made fiber uses less water and chemicals. As a result, production costs and environmental pollution are reduced. But due to high duty on import of this fiber, local textile sector entrepreneurs are less interested in investing. However, cotton fiber does not have to pay any duty on import into the country. But one-fourth of the clothes made in the market are occupied by non-cotton. But in this regard, Bangladesh is lagging behind as the second highest garment exporting country.
In order to capture this new market in the textile sector, emphasis should be placed on the export of non-cotton products in addition to cotton. For this reason, incentives for these export products are needed with government policies and benefits. Then you can enter this market very easily. It will create new jobs and increase investment. Also, man-made fiber can be exported at a better price than cotton.
ITET President Engineer Md. Shafiqur Rahman (CIP), Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh Textile University (BUTEX) Professor Dr. Shah Alimuzzaman Belal, IEB Vice President Eng. Nuruzzaman, Engineer Khandkar Manjur Morshed, Engineer Md. Shahadat Hossain (Shiblu), former Chairman of IEB Textile Engineering Division, Engineer Md. Masudur Rahman participated in the discussion.
IEB Assistant General Secretary Engineer Abul Kalam Hazari, Engineer Amit Kumar Chakraborty, Eng. Md. Ronak Ahsan, editor of Dhaka Center Md. Nazrul Islam, Vice Chairman Engineer Sheikh Masum Kamal, IEB Agricultural Strategy Department Chairman Engineer Meshbahuzaman Chandan and other leaders of IEB were also present.
