Samad named Forum Panel’s president candidate

The Forum Board of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has announced its new party president and panel leader for the next election.

Party leaders made this announcement at a ceremony, styled "Hemanta Adda in the Month of Victory", at the army headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday, according to a statement.

At the end of the programme, Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, the current president of the Forum Board, introduced Mohammad Abdus Salam, the founder of Asian Group, as the new party president.

Anisur Rahman Sinha, a former president of the board, and all its senior leaders, including Rubana Huq, former president of the BGMEA, then came on stage and announced Faisal Samad as the new panel leader. As such, he is now a presidential candidate in the next BGMEA election.

The event was organised by the Forum Board in light of Bangladesh's 50th anniversary of Independence, according to a statement from the panel.

Invitees discussed the different contexts of Bangladesh that have changed with progressive development in the garment industry.

The newly-appointed party president Salam is managing director of Asian Group. He served eight terms as director and four terms as first vice-president of the BGMEA.

He also played a significant role in various business organisations and social activities in Dhaka and Chattogram.

Samad, the panel leader of the Forum Board, is managing director of Savartex Group, and Surma Garments Ltd.

His business group extends to a variety of sections, including knit composite, hosiery, and insurance.

Samad has been associated with the BGMEA for 25 years, serving as the youngest vice-president of finance in the association's history during the time of the late Annisul Huq, former BGMEA president and mayor of Dhaka.

When Parvez was president of the BGMEA, Samad served as senior vice-president, the statement said.