The export-oriented industries in the country will remain open during the lockdown, Faruque Hossain, the president-elect of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said Sunday.

He said a special meeting was held on April 9 with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi. Along with Faruque, former BGMEA presidents Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and Salam Murshedi, BKMEA President Selim Osman, and BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon participated in the meeting.

The goal was to avoid the impending crisis of RMG and export-oriented factory closure during lockdown.

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In a statement sent to the media, Faruque said the team “effectively negotiated” and pleaded the cases in favour of keeping factories open to all key policy and decision-makers of the government including the Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary as well as the prime minister.

He said the team’s efforts led to a positive decision by the COVID-19 Inter-Ministry task force presided over by the Cabinet Secretary.

“The decision is to keep all the export-oriented Industry open during the lockdown,” he said. “This is a great success and the industry survived a major crisis.”

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Faruque urged all BGMEA members to follow strictly follow health and safety protocols.

Bangladesh is set to enforce a seven-day lockdown from April 14 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A press conference was held on Sunday in presence of all media and most of the trade bodies at Pan Pacific Sonargaon where the apparel exporters argued that it was imperative to allow factories to operate during the lockdown.

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According to a written statement, Bangladesh lost export orders worth $6 billion in 2019-2020 fiscal during the coronavirus pandemic. And the country lost 9.5 percent export in the first nine months in the current fiscal compared to 2018-19.

The garments sector has witnessed continuous price drops of 4.5 percent to 5 percent since September 2020. The woven fabric sector has been largely incurring the heat of the pandemic. The retail business of RMG reduced by 28 percent in Europe and 16 percent in USA market in December, the note said.