"There are still considerable demand-production gaps of yarn and fabric to meet the country's domestic consumption. I hope foreign and local investors will take the advantage of the attractive investment facilities offered by the government," Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury said.

She was addressing an inaugural function of a two-day international convention on cotton and textile titled 'Bangladesh Cotton and Textile Convention 2006' in Dhaka yesterday.

The adviser said it was apprehended that in the post-MFA (multi-fibre arrangement) era, export of textile products particularly RMG of Bangladesh would lose its market to other fabric producing countries. "But, the fact is that the export earnings from RMG and other textile products experienced a spectacular growth in 2005-06," she said.

Such a high growth was possible due to the government's policy to support the primary textile and RMG sector, she explained.

The adviser hoped the convention will create an opportunity for the overseas suppliers of basic raw materials of textile industry, importers and exporters of textile machinery and textile products.

Cotton Bangladesh, a Dhaka-based international magazine, and International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), Washington DC, USA in cooperation with Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA), and Globecot of USA are organising the convention under the theme of 'Opportunities for Increased Trade in Cotton Textiles'.

Organisers said the conference is focusing on the potential of growth in the world cotton and textile trade and investment opportunities. It is also addressing regional trade flows in cotton and textile products and strategies to cope with increasing competition in a globalised economic environment, they said.

The organisers said around 250 participants including some 55 delegates from 19 countries are attending the convention.

Among others, Francoise Collet of the Delegation of the European Commission to Bangladesh, Terry Townsend of ICAC, Nasiruddin Najimov, first deputy minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade of Uzbekistan, BTMA Chairman Abdul Hai Sarker, BGMEA First Vice-president Mohammed A Salam, BKMEA Vice-president Bahauddin Mohammed Yusuf, BCA President Nazrul Islam Shuja, and Cotton Bangladesh Editor-in Chief Ahsan spoke at the inaugural function.