International Chamber of Commerce (ICC): ‘International factoring vital for Bangla foreign trade'

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)-Bangladesh has stressed on international factoring as vital for foreign trade at its recently organised training at Dhaka. The training was jointly organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and ICC-Bangladesh, according to BGMEA website.

Hedayetullah Al-Mamoon, senior secretary, ministry of commerce, inaugurated the training as a chief guest. He acknowledged ICC-Bangladesh president Mahbubur Rahman for their role to act as a catalyst between the banking and business sector.

Addressing the training programme, Mamoon said factoring is very vital for international transaction and in Bangladesh export earning is growing rapidly. Letter of credits (L/C), a popularly used international trade payment method in Bangladesh, is becoming less interested to importers because of more formalities and costing. Importers are rather more interested to import under open account terms which involves risk. However, international factoring removes the danger of open account trade.

ICC-Bangladesh banking commission chairman Muhammad A Rumee Ali in his welcome speech said BGMEA has set a target for the textile sector to reach $50 billion export by 2021 and the international factoring will help minimise the export cost, making the payment system smooth and modern. 

BGMEA vice president Mohammed Nasir said in the next five years, in the world market readymade garments demand will be $650 billion, so there are enormous opportunities for Bangladesh to avail the opportunity. The training would enrich the knowledge and expertise of the participants in international factoring which is a modern payment method in the global trade, he added.

Prashanta Kumar Banerjee, professor and director of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), Lee Kheng Leong, Asia director, Factor Chain International (FCI) and ICC-Bangladesh secretary general Ataur Rahman also spoke at the inaugural session. A total of 118 participants from various export houses attended the training.