Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today urged the global buyers including Primark to ensure just price of the Bangladeshi RMG items and also to motivate the concerned stakeholders to make the sector sustainable.

"Primark is one of the largest buyers of our RMG products while it is our belief that this globally acclaimed apparel brand would buy more RMG items from us. Besides, there is also a need to ensure just price of our RMG items to motivate the concerned working force and thus make this sector sustainable," he said.

The Commerce Minister said this when a delegation of UK-based global apparel brand Primark, led by its CEO Paul Marchant, met him at the Ministry of Commerce at Bangladesh Secretariat today.

Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman was present on the occasion, said a Commerce Ministry press release.

Mentioning that Bangladesh has gained enough skills in the RMG sector while the country is also the 2nd largest RMG exporter of the world, Tipu said that more than 40 lakh workforce is being engaged with this sector of which 65 percent are female.

He said Bangladesh exported goods worth $42 billion in the last fiscal year (FY22) while the export target of RMG products by 2030 is $100 billion.

Tipu noted that Bangladesh has attained such capacity of supplying any quantity of products as per the requirements of the buyers while the country is also working to attain a big export target.

He said that the RMG workers are being trained every now and then to enhance their skills while the quality of products and also their designs are being modernized. He added that the trained and skilled local working force is performing their responsibilities in the RMG sector.

The Commerce Minister said that following the directives from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, work for setting up some 100 special economic zones is going on in full swing while most of those are at the completion stage.

Considering the LDC graduation of Bangladesh by 2026, he said that efforts are on to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with different countries.

Prime Minister's Adviser Salman F Rahman said that Bangladesh is now capable enough to supply world class RMG products at a relatively less price compared to the past.

Noting that many local RMG manufacturers and exporters have fallen into trouble following the cancellation of orders by the global buyers in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Salman said that it is very much necessary to ensure the just price of the local RMG products.

CEO of Primark Paul Marchant said that Bangladesh is a very important partner in terms of trade while the country has improved a lot in the RMG sector.

He said they like the Bangladeshi RMG products very much since there are many green factories with the higher usage of technology in the industries.

Later, a delegation of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), led by its President, Kazushige Nobutani, met the Commerce Minster at his office.