problem and prospect of the fashion & related industries in Bangladesh.

4. OVERVIEW OF BANGLADESH GARMENTS INDUSTRIES
BANGLADESH HAS ACCELERATED AND CHANGED HER EXPORTS SUBSTANTIALLY
FROM TIME TO TIME. AFTER BANGLADESH CAME INTO BEING, JUTE AND TEA
WERE THE MOST EXPORT-ORIENTED INDUSTRIES. BUT WITH THE CONTINUAL
PERILS OF FLOOD, FAILING JUTE FIBER PRICES AND A CONSIDERABLE DECLINE IN
WORLD DEMAND. AFTER THAT, FOCUS HAS BEEN SHIFTED TO THE FUNCTION OF
THE PRODUCTION SECTOR, ESPECIALLY IN THE GARMENT INDUSTRY.

5. OVERVIEW OF BANGLADESH GARMENTS INDUSTRIES
THE GARMENT INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH HAS BEEN THE KEY EXPORT DIVISION AND A
MAIN SOURCE OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS.
CURRENTLY, THE COUNTRY GENERATED MORE THAN $ 5000000000 VALUE OF PRODUCTS
ANNUALLY THROUGH THE EXPORT OF GARMENTS.
THE SECTOR EMPLOYS ABOUT 3 MILLION WORKERS, OF WHICH 90% ARE WOMEN.
MULTI FIBRE AGREEMENT (MFA) CONSISTS OF TWO COUNTRIES AMERICAN MARKET AND
THE EUROPEAN MARKETS.

6. BANGLADESH GARMENTS SECTOR & GLOBAL CHAIN
APPAREL LABOR CHARGE PER HOUR (WAGES AND FRINGE BENEFITS, US$) IN USA IS 10.12
BUT IT IS ONLY 0.30 IN BANGLADESH.
IN 1991 THE NUMBER OF WORKERS IN THE RMG INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH WAS 582,000
AND IT GREW UP TO 1,404,000 IN 1998. IN USA, HOWEVER, 1991-FIGURE SHOWED
1,106.0 THOUSAND WORKERS IN THE APPAREL SECTOR AND IN 1998 IT TURNED DOWN
TO 765. 8 THOUSAND.
THE GARMENT UNITS OF BANGLADESH ARE MAINLY RELYING ON THE ‘TIGER’ NATIONS
FOR RAW MATERIALS. ASIAN TIGER NATIONS WORKS WITH TEXTILE UNITS AND THE
BANGLADESHI UNITS WHERE THE CLOTH IS CUT, SEWN, IRONED AND PACKED INTO
CARTONS FOR EXPORT.

7. BANGLADESH GARMENTS SECTOR & GLOBAL CHAIN
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF GROUPS IN BANGLADESH AND IN MANY WESTERN COUNTRIES
WHO ARE GETTING FATTER OVER THE VALUE CREATED BY WORKERS OF GARMENTS
INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH.
NORTH AMERICAN RETAILERS PREFER BANGLADESHI PRODUCTS OVER US ONES, BECAUSE
IT GIVES THEM MUCH HIGHER PROFIT AND CONSUMERS A CHEAPER PRODUCT. WHEN A T-
SHIRT COSTS US$4.70 IN BANGLADESH, IT COSTS US$13.22 IN THE US.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE LABOUR COST, THE DISTINCTION IS REVEALED. WHILE THE
COST OF LABOUR FOR A T-SHIRT IS US$0.22 IN BANGLADESH, IT IS US$7.47 IN THE
USA, MORE THAN 33 TIMES THAN IN BANGLADESH.

8. DEVELOPMENT OF GARMENTS INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH
BANGLADESH, THE EIGHTH MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY OVERALL, IS THE SECOND-
LARGEST GARMENT EXPORTER IN THE WORLD.
 BANGLADESH IS HUGELY IN DEMAND AS A GARMENT PRODUCTION BASE, SECURING
ITS STATUS AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MAJOR SUPPLIERS OF LOW-COST, READY-
MADE GARMENTS (RMG) OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES.
BANGLADESH’S GARMENT SECTOR HAS BECOME ONE OF ITS MOST IMPORTANT
ECONOMIC PILLARS, WITH CLOTHING PRODUCTS ACCOUNTING FOR ALMOST 80% OF
ITS EXPORTS AND MORE THAN 10% OF ITS GDP. THIS THRIVING SECTOR CREATING
JOBS AND GENERATING FOREIGN INCOME, ATTRACTING FDI, TRIGGERING
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

9. DEVELOPMENT OF GARMENTS INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH
EMPLOYING ABOUT FOUR MILLION WORKERS IN MORE THAN 5,000 FACTORIES, MANY OF
THESE FACTORIES ARE IN RECEIPT OF SIZEABLE ORDERS FROM A HOST OF
INTERNATIONAL BRANDS, INCLUDING INDITEX, H&M, MARKS & SPENCER,
GAP AND BENETTON.
WHILE THE US IS THE LARGEST SINGLE BUYER OF BANGLADESHI RMG PRODUCTS, THE EU
IS ITS LARGEST OVERALL EXPORT DESTINATION, TOGETHER, THE US AND EU ACCOUNT
FOR A HEFTY 84% OF BANGLADESH’S RMG EXPORTS.
BANGLADESHI RMG EXPORTS HAVE GROWN BY MORE THAN 2,000% TO ABOUT US$20
BILLION, EXPANDING AT AN AVERAGE ANNUAL GROWTH OF SOME 16%. THE RATIO OF
RMG PRODUCTS TO TOTAL EXPORTS ROSE FROM 50% IN 1990 TO AROUND 80% IN 2012.

10. DEVELOPMENT OF GARMENTS INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH
Source: Various articles and Annual Report of BGMEA.

11. CONTRIBUTION OF GARMENTS INDUSTRY TO THE ECONOMY
GARMENTS INDUSTRY OCCUPIES A UNIQUE POSITION IN THE BANGLADESH ECONOMY. IT
IS THE LARGEST EXPORTING INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH.
BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF AN INSULATED MARKET UNDER THE PROVISION OF MULTI
FIBRE AGREEMENT (MFA) OF GATT, AND CONTRIBUTION TO GDP WITHIN A SHORT SPAN
OF TIME.
THE INDUSTRY PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN EMPLOYMENT, NEARLY TWO MILLION WORKERS ONE
DIRECTLY AND MORE THAN TEN MILLION INHABITANTS ARE INDIRECTLY ASSOCIATED
WITH THE INDUSTRY .
THE SECTOR HAS ALSO PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY.

13. CONTRIBUTION OF GARMENTS INDUSTRY TO THE ECONOMY

14. GARMENTS EXPORTS FROM BANGLADESH
EXPORT-ORIENTED GARMENT EXPORTS FROM BANGLADESH WERE INITIATED IN THE
BEGINNING OF THE 1980S.
IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1980S THE NUMBER OF GARMENT EXPORTS FROM
BANGLADESH WAS ALMOST NIL . BUT THEN GARMENT EXPORTS GREW RAPIDLY.
 THE GROWTH HAS CONTINUED ALMOST WITHOUT INTERRUPTION AND THE VALUE OF
GARMENT EXPORTS REACHED THREE-QUARTERS OF THE VALUE OF TOTAL EXPORTS AT THE
END OF THE 1990S.
 THOUGH A NEGATIVE IMPACT FROM APRIL 24 IS APPARENT IN 2013, GARMENT EXPORTS
QUICKLY PICKED UP AFTER THAT. THUS, THE RAPID GROWTH OF GARMENT EXPORTS HAS
CONTINUED.

15. GARMENTS EXPORTS FROM BANGLADESH

16. POST MFA SCENARIO IN BANGLADESH
GARMENT SECTORS HAS BEEN INFLUENCED BY MULTI-FIBER AGREEMENT (MFA) APPLIED
BY THE MAJOR DEVELOPED COUNTRY IMPORTERS (THE US, THE EU, CANADA AND
NORWAY) ON EXPORTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
MFA QUOTAS WERE APPLIED ON A DISCRIMINATORY BASIS TO SOME EXPORTING
COUNTRIES BUT NOT TO OTHERS. MULTI-FIBER ARRANGEMENT GOVERNED THE TRADE IN
GARMENTS FROM 1974 TO 1994.
FROM 1 JANUARY 2005 MFA WERE PHASED OUT.
IN SUCH A CONTEXT, LOW INCOME COUNTRIES, SUCH AS BANGLADESH, CAMBODIA AND
THE LIKE, WHICH RELIED HEAVILY ON THE GARMENT INDUSTRY, WOULD SUFFER FROM
THE KEEN COMPETITION OF TRADE IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING .
FROM THE MANY CORNERS IT WAS PREDICTED THAT CHINA WOULD EXPAND ITS EXPORTS
AND INDIA WOULD FOLLOW.

17. POST MFA SCENARIO IN BANGLADESH
Table-5: Exports of Knit and Woven Garments to the EU
Rank Origin
Amount (Million US$) Rate of Change (%)
2003 2004 2005 2003-04 2004-05
1
2
3
4
5
19
All Countries
China
Turkey
Bangladesh
Romania
India
Cambodia
56,918
10,913
8,112
3,471
4,124
2,599
475
65,552
13,714
9,348
4,578
4,572
3,020
643
69,642
20,334
9,790
4,346
4,285
3,988
587
15.17
25.66
15.24
31.90
10.87
16.23
35.27
6.24
48.27
4.72
-5.08
-6.28
32.02
-8.77

18. POST MFA SCENARIO IN BANGLADESH
 MOST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE LOST COMPETITIVENESS HAVE IMPOSED
QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON THE TRADE IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING SINCE THE
1950S
 MULTI-FIBER ARRANGEMENT GOVERNED THE TRADE IN TEXTILES AND CLOTHING FROM
1974 TO 1994.
PROMOTING LABOR ABSORPTION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY UPGRADATION.
SUPPORT FOR ENHANCEMENT OF LABOR PRODUCTIVITY .
BETTER LABOR MANAGEMENT IN VIEW OF CHANGING LABOR COMPOSITION IN RMG
UNIT.
ENSURE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW WAGE STRUCTURE.
NEED TO IMPROVE WORKERS LIVELIHOOD.
NEED TO DEVELOP COMPLANCE BRAND FOR THE RMG SECTOR.

19. BANGLADESH OVERTAKES INDIA IN RMG EXPORT
BANGLADESH HAS OVERTAKEN INDIA IN READYMADE GARMENT EXPORTS DESPITE THE
RECENT SETBACKS.
BANGLADESH’S GARMENT EXPORTS INCREASED FROM $6.8 BILLION IN 2005 TO $19.9
BILLION IN 2012, RECORDING A COMPOUNDED ANNUAL GROWTH RATE (CAGR) OF 16.6 PER
CENT.
DURING THE SAME PERIOD, INDIA’S OUTWARD SHIPMENTS ROSE FROM $8.7 BILLION TO
$13.8 BILLION, A CAGR OF JUST 6.8 PER CENT.
WHY ?
BECAUSE, “BANGLADESH HAVE TO TAKE IT VERY SERIOUSLY AS THE GARMENT EXPORTS
CONTRIBUTE 80 PER CENT OF BANGLADESH’S TOTAL EXPORT EARNINGS.”

20. STRUCTURE OF TEXTILE INDUSTRIES IN BANGLADESH
Sub Sector
No. of
Units Installed Machine Capacity
Production Capacity(In
Mill.)
Yarn Manufacturing Mill (Spinning)
(a) Private - BTMA
(b) Public - BTMC
Silk Manufacturing Mill: 01
Synthetic Yarn Manufacturing Mill: 12
Acrylic Yarn Manufacturing Mill: 09
Wool Manufacturing Mill: 02
301
23
6.32 Mill. Spindle
0.45 Mill. Spindle
0.218 Mill. Spindle
1,300 Kgs.
40 Kgs
Total 324 1340 Kg.
Weaving (Large Mill) Private Sector 420 25000 Shuttleless/ Shuttle Loom 1,400 M. Mtr.
Spl. Textiles & Powerloom: Private Sector 1,065 23000 Shuttleless/ Shuttle Loom 300 M. Mtr.
Total 1485 48000 Shuttleless/ Shuttle Loom 1700 M. Mtr.

21. STRUCTURE OF TEXTILE INDUSTRIES IN BANGLADESH
Handloom (GF/F) 148342 498000 Handloom 837.00 M. Mtr.
Knitting, Knit Dyeing (GF)
(a) Export Oriented
(b) Local Market
800
2000
12000 Knit/Knit Dyeing / Machine
5000 Knit/Knit Dyeing /Machine
3600 M. Mtr.
500 M. Mtr.
Total 2800 17000 Knit/Knit Dyeing / Machine 4100 M. Mtr.
Wet Processing Industry
Knitting, Knit Dyeing (GF)
(a) Export Oriented
(b) Local Market
1000
2000
14000 Knit/Dyeing Machine
5000 Knitting Machine
3600 M. Mtr.
500 M. Mtr.
Total 3000
19000 Knit/Dyeing Machine
4100 M. Mtr.

22. EXTENDED FOREIGN MARKET
 AS PER EPB, RMG EXPORT IN US, THE LARGEST MARKET OF BANGLADESH’S RMG
PRODUCT, DECLINED BY 6.80% AND IN UK, THE 2ND LARGEST MARKET DECLINED BY
5.91% IN THE JULY –APRIL PERIOD.
TO ENTER IN NEW MARKET LIKE JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND ETC.
 BGMEA INFORMS THE BANGLADESH CURRENCY IS IN STRONG POSITION THEN
THAT OF THE RIVAL COUNTRIES.

23. TRAINING IS NEEDED FOR WORKERS
SKILL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING
MARKET ORIENTED TRAINING
TRAINING ON SEWING MACHINE
WORKERS EMPOWERMENT
PROVIDE CERTIFIED TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS

24. TRAINING IS NEEDED FOR WORKERS
IS A PRIME INSTITUTE OF BANGLADESH ,ESTABLISHED IN 2002 BY
BGMEA AIMED TO GENERATE HUMAN RESOURCE WITH TECHNICAL
KNOWLEDGE FOR RMG SECTOR .IT STARTED FUNCTIONING IN
AFFILIATION WITH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY ,BANGLADESH IN 2013
OFFERING 4 YEARS B.SC (HONS) IN APPAREL MANUFACTURING AND
TECHNOLOGY ,FASHION DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY. THESE
PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO DEVELOP
COMPETENT TECHNICAL PROFESSIONAL FOR MEETING THE DEMANDS
OF THE RMG SECTOR.
THE MISSION OF CBIFT IS TO ESTABLISH ITSELF AS A CENTER OF
EXCELLENCE TO PRODUCE TECHNOLOGY COMPETENT HUMAN
RESOURCES FOR THE RMG ,APPAREL AND ALLIED SECTOR AT HOME
AND ABROAD .
CHITTAGONG BGMEA INSTITUTE OF FASHION & TECHNOLOGY (CBIFT)

25. FUTURE PLAN OF RMG INDUSTRY
Enhance
chittagong
port
Direct
shipping
facility
Workers
safety
Image building
promotion
Improved
inland
truckling ,rail
Search for
new markets
Expansion of
exports to
European union
Duty free
access to
indian market
Establishment to
join BGMEA/EFB
IT
Government
should
support
Improvd
banking
system
Simplified and
computerize
customs
procedures
Complaince
with labour
standard
codes
Reduction
utility cost
Establishment
of garments
villages
Unanimous
resolution
political crisis
Emergency
service of
BGMEA/BEPZA
Production of
high value
items
Mobilization of
NGO
Established of
task force by
minister of
commerce

26. IT IS REALLY A MATTER OF GREAT INTEREST TO MANY – HOW THE ECONOMY OF BANGLADESH CONTINUES TO
GROW AT A STEADY PACE, SOMETIMES EVEN WHEN ROWING AGAINST THE TIDE.
NOW WE ENVISION BANGLADESH ACHIEVING THE MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRY STATUS BY 2021.
WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT OUR DREAM WILL COME TRUE WITHIN THE STIPULATED TIME AND THE RMG INDUSTRY
WILL CERTAINLY PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN MATERIALISING THE DREAM.

27. IMPROVED BANKING SYSTEM:
BANGLADESH BANK SHOULD MEET PERIODICALLY WITH LOCAL BANKS TO MONITOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RMG
SECTOR.
LOCAL BANK SHOULD ENCOURAGE TO REDUCE THEIR CHARGES OF LCS

28. WE ARE DEPENDENT MAINLY ON TWO MARKETS NAMELY THE EU AND NORTH
AMERICA (THE US AND CANADA). THOUGH WE REDUCED OUR DEPENDENCY ON
THESE TWO MARKETS FROM 93% TO 85% IN LAST FIVE YEARS (FROM FISCAL
2011-12 TO 2015-16)