Recovery of apparel exports top priority BGMEA President-elect Faruque Hassan says in an interview after his election victory Faruque Hassan Faruque Hassan, the president-elect of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has vowed to beef up international marketing to recover the apparel export losses that stemmed from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Earnings from apparel shipment, which contributes about 85 per cent to national shipment, declined to $27.94 billion in the last fiscal year from $34.13 billion a year ago as the crisis battered global economies and caused demand to collapse. "My first job would be to revive our export earnings so that factories operate well, nobody loses jobs, and the economy runs well," said Hassan, also the managing director of Giant Group, one of the leading garment exporters.