Bangladesh’s two leading textile and apparel trade associations have joined forces to support the country’s ambitious target of reaching $100 billion in apparel exports.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding at a ceremony held at the Gulshan Club in Dhaka on 4 August.
BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu and BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
BGMEA and BTMA to Jointly Organise BITMA
Under the agreement, BGMEA and BTMA will jointly organise the Bangladesh International Textile and Apparel Machinery Exhibition (BITMA), scheduled to take place in December.
The initiative is expected to create a stronger, more innovative and technologically advanced platform for Bangladesh’s textile and ready-made garment industry.
According to the organisers, the exhibition will contribute to positioning Bangladesh as a globally recognised hub for sustainable textile and apparel manufacturing.
BITMA will bring together advanced textile and garment machinery, artificial intelligence technologies, fashion trend presentations and industry networking opportunities. It will also promote technology transfer, skills development, sustainable production, international investment and global cooperation throughout the textile and RMG value chain.
Strengthening Cooperation Across the Textile Value Chain
Speaking at the signing ceremony, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu acknowledged that differences of opinion occasionally arise between textile manufacturers and garment producers. However, he emphasised that both industries ultimately share the same objective.
Khan suggested establishing a joint arbitration team to resolve disputes involving Proforma Invoices and Letters of Credit, helping ensure that agreements are respected by both parties.
Closer cooperation between the upstream textile sector and downstream garment manufacturers could improve supply-chain efficiency, strengthen local sourcing and support the long-term competitiveness of Bangladesh’s apparel industry.
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Former DTG Exhibition to Enter a New Chapter
BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell said the association’s biennial textile machinery exhibition, previously organised under the name DTG, would become larger and more internationally significant through its cooperation with BGMEA.
The transition to BITMA is expected to expand the exhibition’s scope beyond textile machinery and create a comprehensive platform covering apparel technology, automation, artificial intelligence and sustainable manufacturing solutions.
The collaboration between BGMEA and BTMA represents an important step toward aligning Bangladesh’s textile and garment industries behind a shared export strategy. By encouraging investment, modernisation and closer coordination across the value chain, the initiative could help Bangladesh advance toward its $100 billion apparel export target.
