Dhaka: The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) today announced the completion of voting to elect a new executive committee for the upcoming two years.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, BGMEA officials reported that the voting process commenced in both Dhaka and Chattogram at 8 AM and continued uninterrupted until 5 PM. The voter turnout was notably high, with 88.21 percent in the capital and 83.83 percent in the southeastern port city. The association organized the voting at Dhaka’s Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel and Chattogram’s Radisson Blu Bay View Hotel, where 1,561 and 303 BGMEA members cast their votes, respectively.
A BGMEA official, familiar with the election process, stated, “The vote counting is underway. It will take some time to announce the result.” Two panels, the Forum Panel and the Sammilito Parishad Panel, led by Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu M Abul Kalam, contested in the elections for the 2025-2027 tenure. The BGMEA polls elect 35 directors who subsequently nominate the president, vice-presidents, and other office bearers.
The previous BGMEA election was conducted on March 9 last year, resulting in the Sammilito Parishad panel securing all 35 director posts, with SM Mannan Kochi serving as its president. However, Kochi resigned following the fall of the Hasina-led government in August last year during a student-led mass uprising. Subsequently, the then BGMEA senior vice-president, Khandoker Rafiqul Islam of Designtex Knitwear Ltd, was appointed as president.
The interim government later appointed M Anwar Hossain, vice-chairman of the Export Processing Bureau (EPB), as the BGMEA administrator.