Textile deal

By Zeenat Z. Syed UPS Deployment
17 March 2005, 18:00 PM
After years of knowing this would happen, are we as a country prepared to deal with a drastic change in one of our most profitable industries? The end of the deal will in turn allow other countries to gain textile deals that Bangladesh due to its size and lack of preparation will be hard pressed to meet. With continuinghartalsand instability in our country it appears the government has failed to keep an eye out and take steps to maintain an industry that provides us with 85% of our exports. This industry provides jobs to many workers. The fall of this deal would result in reduction of our exports, which will in return have an adverse affect on the employment of these individuals. Our country has already a high poverty line and the spread between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider day by day. In spite of all the warnings reports from the Agence France-Presse (BBC News) reflect that the exports have already fallen by 21.34 percent.With a fall in sales, people will lose their jobs and we will have an even higher unemployment rate. With the fall in unemployment rate and increase in poverty with the inflation of all consumer products our socio-economic condition will go from bad to worse. The instability that exists now will be far worse as corruption and crime will escalate due to the need to find other means of income for the thousands who are currently employed in the textile industry. Not to mention those members of the middle class society who actually managed to climb up, thanks to the opening of positions in multiple textile mills across the country. We do not have the Multi Fibre Agreement to protect this industry. It is time the government and the leaders of this industry took notice and started working towards protecting the livelihood of so many people.

We already have a budget deficit. We cannot continue or afford to move further down the negative scale.