Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Saturday made several demands to the government to achieve a $100 billion export earnings target by 2030.

The demands included reducing the source tax, continuing the cash incentive until 2029, and implementing measures to prevent customs-related harassment.

The BGMEA also called for business-friendly, harassment-free, speedy, and simplified export-import procedures to support locally made readymade garment exports.

BGMEA President SM Mannan Kochi made these demands during a view exchange meeting with reporters at a city hotel.

The newly elected board of the trade body claimed that harassment by customs officials at ports and bond facilities was disrupting business operations.

BGMEA President SM Mannan Kochi urged the government to take legal action against the customs and bond officials responsible for impeding the export business through such harassment.

Discussing the present condition of the readymade garment sector, the BGMEA president highlighted a 7 percent decline in global apparel imports by the United States and a 13 percent decrease by the European Union.

Additionally, he noted that Bangladesh’s RMG exports during the July-April period of FY24 fell short of the target by 5.77 percent.

BGMEA president said that prices of key apparel products manufactured in Bangladesh have decreased by 8-16 percent over the past eight months.

Mannan highlighted Bangladesh’s impending graduation from the least developed country status in 2026 and pointed out that, according to WTO rules, the government can continue providing incentives to the sector until 2029.

He cautioned that prematurely discontinuing these incentives before 2029 would jeopardize the competitiveness of the RMG sector and leave export targets unmet.

During the view exchange meeting, the BGMEA President advocated for reducing the tax at source on exports from the current 1 percent to 0.5 percent for the next five years.

He also urged the government to slash the tax on cash incentives from 10 percent to 5 percent in the upcoming national budget for the financial year 2024-25.

Mannan called for extending cash incentives to exports of non-cotton garments and lowering the income tax on export retention quota from 20 percent to 10 percent in the next budget.

BGMEA president expressed the commitment of his board to enhancing relations with workers in the RMG sector, mentioning their request to the prime minister for a special fund allocation in the upcoming budget to provide essential commodities at subsidized rates for workers.

Mannan urged the government to reconsider its decision to withhold utility connections from factories constructed outside of industrial zones.

He said that implementing this decision would cause significant losses for entrepreneurs, as many factories have already invested hundreds of crores outside the industrial zones.

Dhaka North City Corporation mayor and former BGMEA president Atiqul Islam, former presidents of the trade body Abdus Salam Murshedy and Md Siddiqur Rahman, current senior vice-president Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, vice-presidents Arshad Jamal Dipu, Md Nasir Uddin, Abdullah Hil Rakib and Rakibul Alam Chowdhury, and directors Mohammad Sohel Sadat, Md Ashikur Rahman Tuhin, Shams Mahmud, Rajiv Chowdhury, Nusrat Bari Asha, Md Mohiuddin Rubel and Md Nurul Islam, among others, were present in the meeting.