The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) board has been disbanded by the country’s interim administration, and Mohammad Anwar Hossain, the vice chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), has been named administrator to supervise the organization’s operations.
According to a recent decision from the trade ministry, Hossain has been given 120 days to hold a “fair and neutral” election and transfer responsibilities to the chosen committee.
Following the overthrow of the Awami League government on August 5 of this year, SM Mannan Kochi, the president of the BGMEA, reportedly went into hiding. In Kochi’s absence, senior vice president Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, who is also managing director of the Designtex Group, had assumed the president’s duties.
Several trade bodies’ boards were dissolved by the interim administration. The ministry of commerce noted that the current board’s lack of coordination raises the possibility that the organization’s operations are not being carried out correctly in accordance with the Trade Organizations Act of 2022.
The trade group’s February election was tainted by irregularities and substantially influenced by the Sheikh Hasina administration at the time, according to a portion of BGMEA. Additionally, it had claimed that Kochi was closely associated with the ousted prime minister and had participated in attacks on students during the July and August student protest movement.
