At the extraordinary meeting held in Dhaka, international fabric buyers and retailers asked Bangladesh to cut the price of ready-made garments and make them more competitive in the global market, a leading business leader said.

Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of Bangladesh garment manufacturers and Exporters Association, said: "they asked us to make every effort to keep prices at the same price as those offered by India, Pakistan, China and Vietnam, which are our main competitors."

The more than 50 main purchasers, including Sears holding international the Source firm, Martha general store, Hennes&Mauritz international, Wal-Mart Store Inc, JC Penney, Tesco international and Nike, participated in the meeting with textile exporters from Bangladesh.

"Clothing imports from the United States and Europe account for almost 90% of the total exports of Bangladesh clothing and apparel. In January, imports of garments and garments from Bangladesh decreased by 10% compared with the same period last year," Murshedy said at a press conference after the meeting.

The Central Bank of Bangladesh has imposed a 13% interest rate limit to offset the global economic recession and to help the export sector.

Murshedy believes that the lending rate cut by the Central Bank of Bangladesh is limited to the help of the struggling textile sector, calling for interest rates to be reduced to a single digit in the pition period.

Garments and garments are the largest foreign exchange revenue departments in Bangladesh, with an average annual export revenue of US $11 billion. More than 5000 factories in the textile sector employ more than 250 workers, most of whom are women.

Editor in chief: Xu Qiyun