Dhaka, June 17 -- A red-hot Middle-East turmoil fuelled by the Iran-Israel war may affect Bangladesh's garment business as global oil prices could spike and increase operational costs locally.

And such production-cost escalation would bite trade returns on the country's cardinal export product-readymade garments or RMG, the bigger one of two pillars of foreign-exchange reserves, after remittance.

"The Iran-Israel war could be a new challenge for the local garment industry that could result in rise in global oil prices. And sustaining the competitiveness amid such situation could be very challenging," says Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, the newly elected president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

He made t...