Bangladesh BGMEA wants IFC to provide soft loans to garment industry

According to a report by Bangladesh’s “Daily Sun” on March 7, Martin Holtmann, the newly appointed Country Manager for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal of the International Finance Corporation on Sunday, During a courtesy visit to the office of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Chairman Farooq Hassan in Dhaka, the BGMEA called on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to provide soft loans to support the Bangladesh ready-made garment industry. BGMEA directors Tanvir Ahmed and Inamul Haq Khan (Bablu), IFC’s senior country officer Nuzhat Anwar, chief investment officer Ehsanul Azim and investment officer Farjad Siddqui also attended the meeting. The two parties met to discuss different issues facing the development of Bangladesh’s garment industry, including workplace safety, environmental protection sustainability and worker welfare. They also discussed priorities for the future development of Bangladesh’s garment industry, especially paying more attention to product diversification, market and innovation in product development and process optimization. Farooq Hasan urged IFC to provide soft loans for investment, technological upgrading and innovation in the downstream sectors of Bangladesh’s garment industry. He also emphasized the importance of funding for Bangladeshi SMEs, which mostly require low-cost funding as they are often unable to avail conventional financing schemes due to stringent due diligence.