The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) delegation met with American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and discussed bilateral trade issues with them on September 23, 2019 in New York. This meeting especially focused to enhancing bilateral trade with the US.

The President of BGMEA, Rubana Huq was accompanied by BGMEA Vice President, Arshad Jamal and BGMEA Director, Badiul Alam.

The AAFA delegation was comprised of the Senior Director, Sustainability of Abercrombie & Fitch Kim Harr, Communications Manager of AAFA Alex Gibson, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain of AAFA Nate Herman, Vice President, Women’s Production of American Eagle Outfitters Nici Dipillo, Director of Women’s Production of American Eagle Outfitters Ashley Ketchiff, Senior Director, Responsible Sourcing of American Eagle Outfitters Michelle Tarry, Senior Director, Global Sourcing & Compliance of Centric Brands Anthony Curtis, Director of Sourcing, Denim and Wovens of The Children’s Place Michael Eber, Vice President, Responsible Sourcing of The Children’s Place Adrian Sherman, Sourcing Manager, Denim and Wovens of The Children’s Place Alison Wnukoski, Senior Vice President, Customer of Elevate Mark Jones, Senior Manager, Global Social Compliance of Haggar Paulina Loyo, Vice President, Compliance of One Jeanswear Group Inc. Christian Schrader, Compliance Manager of One Jeanswear Group Inc. Nita Solanki, Compliance Manager of Outerstuff Ltd. Jessica Clavijo, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility & Product Integrity of Outerstuff Ltd. Nathan Fleisig, EVP of Global Sourcing of Perry Ellis International Brad Arkin, Senior Manager of External Engagement and Govt. Affairs of VF Corporation Julie Sutton and the President and CEO of WRAP Avedis Seferian.

It is to be mentioned that the bilateral trade between US and Bangladesh is over $7billion. Not only has that, in the last 15 years, trade gone up three times from $2billion to $6.1billion. Considering the ongoing US-China trade war, there is a huge potential for this volume to grow.