Bangladesh will Become no. 1 Apparel Exporter in a Decade

Bangladesh may become no 1 exporter of garments in a decade. Due to declining profit margins and capacity constraints in China, investors are looking at other lower-cost countries for making investment in ready-made garment (RMG) industry, and producing and sourcing garment products.

Mr. Farooq Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, said the Chinese are now planning to relocate a number of their industries, particularly garments and textiles, to Bangladesh by setting up factories in a special economic zone that the government is planning to award to Beijing.

Bangladeshi garment industry

“China itself could play a major role in making Bangladesh the number 1 readymade garment exporter in the world.”

The English daily organized the roundtable -- Bangladesh-China Relations: Connecting the Two Economies -- ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Bangladesh.

The global consumption of apparel products stood at $445 billion in 2015, according to data from the World Trade Organization.

China, the number one exporter, accounted for 39.26 percent global market share while Bangladesh's share was 5.9 percent.

Bangladesh's apparel export last fiscal year was $28 billion. The country has set a target to raise it to $50 billion by 2021.

Meanwhile, China is losing its market share mainly due to higher costs of production and shortage of a skilled workforce.

Munshi Faiz Ahmad, a former ambassador of Bangladesh to China, said Bangladesh should not worry too much about the trade deficit with China.

“Whatever we purchase from China, whether capital goods or consumer goods, we buy them because we need them.”

Tapan Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said the garments industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world because of the Accord and the Alliance.

The Chinese garment makers are going for value added products, creating an opportunity for Bangladesh, he said. “To tap the opportunity, we need electricity.”

M Nurul Islam, a former professor of chemical engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said attention should be given to technology transfer.

Source: The Daily Star

9:15 AM