The Covid-19 has exposed vulnerabilities in the global trading system, especially showed how vulnerable the enterprises are in the absence of adequate legal protection from going bankrupt caused by non-payment by the global customers and forced payment to the suppliers, said BGMEA President Faruque Hassan.

“The vulnerability in the trading system needs to be addressed pragmatically and systematically to make trade more predictable, safer and sustainable for mankind. Also, deepening buyers-suppliers relationship requires more attention than ever before,” he said while speaking at webinar on Tuesday.

The Policy Research Institute (PRI) organized the virtual event titled “After the Pandemic Onslaught – Economy on Strong Recovery Path”.

Planning Minister M. A. Mannan, MP attended the event as the chief guest.

Chairman of PRI Dr. Zaidi Sattar made the keynote presentation at the discussion which was moderated by Executive Director of PRI Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur.

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Waseqa Ayesha Khan, MP and Naser Ezaz Bijoy, President of Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) also spoke at the webinar.

In his address BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, “Even though we are following a path of recovery at this moment, the dent caused by Covid is still very fresh and needs special care to be healed.”

Pointing out to the challenges of LDC graduation he said, “We need to prepare ourselves for the LDC graduation and changes in the market access.”

He said the pandemic also unveiled new opportunities for Bangladesh. “Global online sales have gone up astronomically during this period with the emergence of technologies, disrupting the retail industry to a significant extent.”

The BGMEA chief said they also see opportunities in PPEs and technical textiles, especially when they are prioritizing product diversification.

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"We have to be prepared and for that, we need strongest backward linkage than ever. We need to diversify our raw material sourcing and strengthening our backward linkage to reduce dependence on external sources should be a major strategic call, and need to realign our policies and priorities accordingly,” he added.