The government initiatives of upgrading airports and increasing capacity of cargo handling will be instrumental in underpinning economic growth in the country, said BGMEA President Faruque Hassan. “The economy of Bangladesh is growing steadily, so is the volume of export-import. In such context, it’s of utmost important to enhance the capacity of airports, especially in Dhaka to match up with increased trade flow,” he said. READ: Bangladesh’s next development phase to depend hugely on industrialisation: BGMEA The BGMEA chief made the remarks during a meeting with Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman at CAAB office in Dhaka on Monday.  BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Vice President Miran Ali, Director Asif Ashraf and former Director Ashikur Rahman (Tuhin) were also present at the meeting. The CAB chief gave an overview of the ongoing projects taken by the government to upgrade major airports including building new terminal and extension of runways in Dhaka, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet, said the apex body of the apparel industry on Tuesday.  BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said the initiatives would help to meet future demand of air transportation and accelerate economic growth in Bangladesh. He termed the development projects as a blessing for passengers and businesses as both the cargo and passenger capacities will increase. READ: Monthly RMG production capacity to reach $7/8bn soon: BGMEA Faruque Hassan urged the government to speed up implementation of the projects.  Air Cdre Sadikur Rahman Chowdhury, Member (Operations and Planning); Group Captain Abu Saleh Mahmud Mannafi, Member (Security); and Md. Abdul Malek, Chief Engineer; Engr. Md. Habibur Rahman, Superintending Engineer, CAAB were also present at the meeting.

While Bangladesh is graduating from LDC, the first and foremost priority for Bangladesh in the upcoming the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO should be on the extension of the transition period for 12 years, said BGMEA  president Faruque Hassan. “The LDC group has made a submission to the WTO for extending the timeline for 12 years. A consensus on this proposal will not only help us to sustain the growth momentum but also crucial to build internal capacity,” he said. Read:BGMEA for branding 'Made in Bangladesh' He made the remarks while speaking at a webinar on “Upcoming MC 12: Bangladesh’s Expectations and Possible Stance” organized by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) on Thursday. CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan presided over the session while Syed Manzur Elahi, Treasurer of the CPD Board of Trustees, Md. Hafizur Rahman, Director General, WTO Cell, Ministry of Commerce, Dr. Nazneen Ahmed, Country Economist, UNDP, Dr Mostafa Abid Khan, former Member, Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, and Dr. Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, CPD attended as panelists. Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD was the keynote speaker. In his speech Faruque Hassan said trade competitiveness is going to be crucial in the upcoming days, especially for the graduating LDCs like Bangladesh. “We have to make use of support programs like UNCDF, LDCF, UN technology bank for LDCs etc. We need to make most use of these options.” Read: BGMEA, Jetro want to expand Japan-Bangladesh trade Laying emphasis on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) he said, “While we keep engaging through multilateral trade system, given the rise in regional and bilateral FTAs, it will be very difficult for Bangladesh to cope up with competitors if we cannot make our ways through to that direction.” Along with exploring potential and emerging markets, in the upcoming days, Bangladesh will have to focus on intra-regional trade block, he added. The BGMEA President also stressed the need for capacity building for trade negotiation. “We have to work on our internal capacity building as far as trade negotiation and economic diplomacy is concerned.”