The government has directed the BGMEA to pay Tk 2.62 crore to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in arrears as the association purchased a patch of land way back in 1998 from the EPB.
Commerce Minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed gave the directive at a meeting with the representatives of the BGMEA and EPB at the ministry yesterday.
Sources said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) purchased a two-bigha plot of the EPB at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka for over Tk 5 crore in September 1998.
But Tk 3.62 croe remained unpaid to date. After the tripartite meeting at the commerce ministry, the BGMEA paid one crore taka to the EPB yesterday, reducing the arrears to Tk 2.62 crore.
The apparel-sector association, meanwhile, has constructed a multistoried BGMEA Complex on the land to house the association's office.
BGMEA leaders who attended the meeting assured the minister of paying off the arrears by August next.
BGMEA Vice-president (finance) Shahadat Hossain Chowdhury Arun and EPB Vice-chairman Mir Shahabuddin Mohammad, among others, were present at the meeting.
