Rubana Huq, Managing Director of Mohammadi Group, and wife of the late Dhaka North City Corporation, Mayor Annisul Huq, has been elected the first female President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
“All the time people continue saying that Bangladesh is a country of cheap labour. Cheap is not good, but competition is good. We need to change this narrative of Bangladesh,” said Huq in her reaction after the election.
She further observed: “Over the years readymade garment (RMG) industry has witnessed a steady growth, and within three decades it has become the largest export earning sector of Bangladesh, generating 80 per cent of the export earnings and contributing more than 10 per cent to the national GDP. The RMG sector has created employment for about 4.4 million people, of whom 80 per cent are women. Apart from playing a vital role in Bangladesh’s economic growth, the RMG sector has bolstered the country’s image worldwide. The ‘made-in-Bangladesh’ tag has taken the country to a new height at the international level.”
Rubana Huq emphasized: “If the factory owners think that they have needed the help from the BGMEA in case of price bargaining with the buyers, we will set up a separate cell in the BGMEA to assist them.”
Born on February 9, 1964, Rubana Huq is a renowned Bangladeshi businesswoman and poet. She is the current Managing Director of the Mohammadi Group, a Bangladeshi conglomerate.
She was featured in BBC 100 Women in 2013 and 2014. She was educated at Viqarunnisa Noon School and Holy Cross College. After completion of her Master’s in English literature from East West University in 2008, she obtained PhD from Jadavpur University in 2018. She served as the CEO of TV Southasia from 2006 to 2010. Huq won the SAARC Literary Award for her poems in 2006. She has written a book of poems titled “Time of My Life.” Huq is a member of the Board of Trustees in the Asian University for Women.
By Md. Ariful Haque