Dhaka - Knitted fabric and knitwear manufacturers in Bangladesh are among sections of the country's textile industry calling for incentives on non-cotton apparel exports.

Representatives from the garment sector have requested a 10 per cent incentive on the export of items made from non-cotton fibres to encourage investment in the man-made fibre sector.

Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) noted that in last fiscal year, Bangladesh imported 20.52 lakh tonnes of fibre, of which 93.57 per cent was cotton while currently, 403 out of the 430 spinning mills operating in the country produce cotton yarn.

Investment and production in the MMF-based fibre industry is still low even though it has very high potential, he told the government recently, highlighting how last year the global market of the MMF-based garment industry was worth US$150 billion.

Currently, Vietnam holds a 10 per cent share of the global MMF-based garment market while Bangladesh is still struggling to keep its five per cent share, he said, adding that in the global garment market, around 75 per cent was MMF-based and was growing by 3 to 4 per cent annually.

"Bangladeshi garment exporters have been losing opportunities," Hassan said. "So, the government needs to give at least 10 per cent incentive on the export of MMF-based garments to attract more investment in this segment."

Hassan has also called for loans, which were issued to help manufacturers cope with the Covid-19 pandemic to be rescheduled. This, he said, would help the garment sector remain more competitive in the near future.