The government is being urged to reduce import duties on solar power equipment and other renewable energy supplies by specialists in the garment sector and representatives from ready-made garment (RMG) companies.
They also stress how important it is for governments to support the creation of domestic companies that produce equipment for renewable energy sources.
This request was made during a focus group discussion on “Energy Transition in Bangladesh Apparel Sector: The Case of Market Access to the EU,” which was hosted in the city in the conference room of the Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD). Government regulatory agencies, financial institutions, commercial RMG businesses, supporting organizations, and research organizations all contributed to the study.
In her presentation, BUILD’s senior research associate Farjana Yasmin noted that import taxes on raw materials required to build renewable energy installations are high, frequently reaching 85 percent. The range of these taxes is 25–28%.
The goal of the European Green Deal is to switch to emission-free commodities across the whole continent by 2050. Bangladeshi suppliers to the European apparel and RMG industries are under pressure to switch to renewable energy sources in order to achieve this goal.
As part of the Textile Competitiveness Platform, BUILD assessed Bangladesh’s textile industry’s transition to renewable energy sources in order to look into this. The study came to the conclusion that RMGs require help looking into alternative energy sources if they are to be sustainable in the long run.
Farjana also mentioned how difficult and time-consuming the documentation requirements are in order to obtain funding from the Green Transformation Fund.
Manager of H&M’s Environment, Sustainability, and Governance Program Ashraful Islam emphasized the need to lower the carbon footprint of our products and use more renewable energy in order to allay worries about bringing RMG goods to the EU market.
The chairperson of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority, Munira Sultana, who was the event’s primary guest, emphasized the significance of these conversations for the future of the RMG industry.
