Business Plus / EU’s GSP+: The lifeline Bangladesh must win before 2029
In four years, that duty-free facility will cease to exist
5 December 2025, 18:00 PM
RMG exporters eye strong rebound next year
Christmas shipment, however, faces a slowdown
30 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Govt sees early signs of economic recovery
Report to UN claims stabilisation and improving indicators, but economists highlight inflation, unemployment, weak investment and mounting debt concerns
24 November 2025, 19:37 PM
Bangladesh on track for LDC graduation
Bangladesh is projected to lose around $8 billion in exports after graduation
23 November 2025, 18:41 PM
EPA with Japan expected next month
Bangladesh expects to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan by the end of next month, as negotiations between the two countries have already been completed, Commerce Secretary Mahbubur Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday.
22 November 2025, 19:04 PM
Amended labour law: Unions applaud, factory owners push back
The union leaders welcomed the amended labour law, but factory owners rejected some of the clauses as their demands went unaddressed.
18 November 2025, 18:18 PM
Leadership vacuum at FBCCI weakens its policy role
The country’s apex trade body, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), is struggling to assist the government in policy-making and serve the business community due to a leadership crisis caused by the absence of elections, according to business leaders.
18 November 2025, 18:00 PM
Garment exports to US rise 5% in July-October
Garment exports to the USA, the country’s largest single export destination, increased by 5.14 percent to $2.59 billion during July-October, despite facing a 20 percent reciprocal tariff imposed by the US under President Donald Trump’s administration..The USA accounted for 19.92 percent of
16 November 2025, 16:10 PM
Infections creep up in RMG belts
With more and more garment factories reopening every day, the deadly coronavirus appears to be spreading among workers in the industrial belts in Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chattogram.
11 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Exports crash to a 40-year-low
Incredulous, is what one would sigh when chancing upon April’s export receipts, which hit rock-bottom at $520.01 million.
8 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Textile millers missed sales of Tk 20,000cr
Shahid Alam, a yarn manufacturer for the local garment industry, used to sell cotton yarn worth Tk35 crore a month, and more so on the occasions of Pahela Baishakh and Eid-ul-Fitr.
7 May 2020, 18:00 PM
Closed Factories: RMG owners refuse to pay over 60pc salary
Despite repeated calls from the union leaders for paying the workers of closed factories at least 65 percent of their gross salaries for April, the owners at a meeting yesterday refused to offer any more than 60 percent.
4 May 2020, 18:00 PM
British upscale brand Debenhams leaves its Bangladesh apparel suppliers high and dry
Garment exporters who supplied to the struggling British department store Debenhams have run into a brick wall.
4 May 2020, 18:00 PM
RMG units reopening haphazardly
Nearly a thousand garment factories outside the capital, which resumed operation haphazardly since April 26, didn’t follow the reopening schedule agreed upon at a high-profile meeting five days ago, spurring a huge influx of workers to Dhaka and elsewhere amid coronavirus risks.
30 April 2020, 18:00 PM
‘Sustainability of businesses depends on how we protect our workers from COVID-19’
Tuomo Poutiainen, country director at the International Labour Organisation, speaks about May Day, measures aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the importance of protecting workers, by Refayet Ullah Mirdha and Md Fazlur Rahman
30 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Closed Factories: Pay workers 60pc of gross salary for April
In a bid to avert job cuts and temporary closures during Covid-19 outbreak, the government yesterday directed ready-made garment factory owners to pay their workers’ salary by 60 percent for April.
29 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Biman waives demurrage on storage at Shahjalal Airport
The government yesterday decided to waive the demurrage fees on the storage of imported raw materials of garment items piled up at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) warehouse.
28 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Layoffs unlawful during general shutdown
The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) has launched an investigation to find out whether the garment factories that are going for temporary closures following mass order cancellations are doing so by the book.
25 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Guideline on the way for garment factory reopening
The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) has been making a guideline for reopening the garment factories, most of which have been asked to shut down by the sector’s apex trade body on April 11.
22 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Garment factories now have until Apr 26 to open workers’ MFS accounts
The Bangladesh Bank has extended the deadline for opening mobile financial service (MFS) accounts for the employees of export-oriented factories by six days to April 26.
20 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Exporters are a bundle of nerves now
Bangladesh’s export earnings await a massive blow in the coming months as the global coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on orders and shipment while sending factories to a near standstill, exporters and experts said.
19 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Export earnings fall by 18.29% in March: EPB data
Export earnings in March declined by 18.29 percent year on year to $2.73 billion due to a fall in shipment of apparels, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
18 April 2020, 18:44 PM
April 16 Deadline: 370 RMG factories didn’t pay workers
At least 370 garment factories have failed to pay their workers’ salary within the stipulated time of April 16, said the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).
18 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Logistics industry rattled
The logistics and freight forwarding business in Bangladesh has been devastated by the global coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a nosedive in transportation of goods by land, air and sea.
18 April 2020, 18:00 PM
RMG factories not opening on April 26
The garment factories are not reopening on April 26, which was fixed by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) earlier.
17 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Social distancing in garment factories out of the question
Social distancing has proven to be one of the most effective ways to contain the spread of the lethal coronavirus but the safeguard remains largely elusive in Bangladesh’s garment factories that employ about 4.1 million people.
16 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Legal action against factories if they don’t pay salary by April 16
The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) on April 14 issued a statement saying the government will take legal action against factory owners if they fail to pay workers by April 16.
15 April 2020, 14:04 PM
Coronavirus outbreak: Rights bodies express concern over ‘10,000 RMG workers laid off’
Three rights platforms for the garment sector in a joint statement expressed concern over the termination of 10,000 workers from different garment factories following the coronavirus outbreak.
13 April 2020, 19:43 PM