Bangladesh's Yunus reassures on garment exports

DHAKA

Bangladesh's interim government "won't tolerate" disruptions to its vital garment export industry, leader Muhammad Yunus said on Aug.18 during his first major policy address since taking office 10 days ago.

"We won't tolerate any attempt to disrupt the global clothing supply chain, in which we are a key player," he said.

Yunus was speaking at an assembly of diplomats and U.N. agency representatives in the capital Dhaka to set out the priorities of his caretaker administration.

Yunus, 84, returned from Europe this month after a student-led revolution to take up the monumental task of steering democratic reforms in a country riven by institutional decay.

His predecessor Sheikh Hasina, 76, had suddenly fled the country days earlier by helicopter after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.

The weeks of unrest and mass protests that toppled Hasina also saw widespread disruption to the country's linchpin textile industry, with suppliers shifting orders out of the country.

Bangladesh's 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports.

Supplying many of the world's top brands, including Levi's, Zara and H&M, Bangladesh is the world's second biggest exporter of clothing by value after China.

Thousands of garment factory workers clashed with police late last year during a campaign for a minimum monthly wage worth $195, up from the $70 set by the government in 2018.