SM Mannan Kochi set to become new BGMEA president

Awami League Dhaka North City Secretary General SM Mannan Kochi will be elected new president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

He has been serving as senior vice president of BGMEA in the current board. 

SM Mannan, also the Seha Design (BD) Ltd managing director, is set to become the 20th president of the apparel exporters apex body.

The organisation Sammilito Parishad, led by SM Mannan, won the BGMEA election 2024-2026, bagging votes for 35 out of 35 directors last night (9 March).

Around 90% members of the BGMEA – 2,226 out of 2, 496 – cast their votes in the polls.

In the election, the Faisal Samad-led Forum panel failed to secure any director posts. 

The election began at 10:00am and closed at 5:00pm on Saturday.

Vote counting started at around 6:00pm, said Jahangir Alamin, chairman of the BGMEA election board for the 2024-26 term.

The election was conducted peacefully, and no untoward incident took place, he added. 

According to the election board at the Dhaka centre, 1,839 out of 2,032 votes were cast. 

Whereas, at the Chattogram polling centre, 387 out of 462 votes were cast.

A total of 70 candidates contested for 35 director positions under two panels –Sammilito Parishad and Forum. 

Of the 35 directors, 26 were picked from Dhaka, while nine were elected from Chattogram region. 

DCCI former presidents in BGMEA polls

Three former Dhaka Chamber presidents contested in the election. Of them, only Shams  Mahamud won a director post while Asif Ibrahim and Osama Taseer lost.

SM Mannan Kochi contested for the president post from the Sammilito Parishad, a panel backed by Faruque Hassan, the outgoing president, while Faisal Samad was the candidate for  Forum, backed by former president Rubana Huq.
 
On 4 December last year, the BGMEA board of directors formed a three-member election board headed by Jahangir Alamin, former president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). 

It also formed a three-member election appellate board headed by Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Kamran T Rahman.

The last polls were held on 4 April 2021, with 1,996 out of 2,314 voters casting their ballots to elect the directors, while office bearers were elected on 12 April. 

The current board's tenure was supposed to end on 12 April last year, but the government extended it by one year in two phases. 

On 13 April, the Ministry of Commerce first extended the tenure by six months to 12 October in response to the plea of the present committee. Then, the extension was made for another six months up to 12 April this year.