Textile Industry

About Garment Industry of Bangladesh

textile

The readymade garments industry acts as a catalyst for the development of Bangladesh. The "Made in Bangladesh" tag has also brought glory for the country, making it a prestigious brand across the globe. Bangladesh, which was once termed by cynics a "bottomless basket" has now become a "basket full of wonders." The country with its limited resources has been maintaining 6% annual average GDP growth rate and has brought about remarkable social and human development.

After the independence in 1971, Bangladesh was one of poorest countries in the world. No major industries were developed in Bangladesh, when it was known as East Pakistan, due to discriminatory attitude and policies of the government of the then West Pakistan. So, rebuilding the war-ravaged country with limited resources appeared to be the biggest challenge.

The industry that has been making crucial contribution to rebuilding the country and its economy is none other than the readymade garment (RMG) industry which is now the single biggest export earner for Bangladesh. The sector accounts for 81% of total export earnings of the country.

When our only major export earner "the jute industry" started losing its golden days, it is the RMG sector that replaced it, and then, to overtake it.

The apparel industry of Bangladesh started its journey in the 1980s and has come to the position it is in today. The late NuroolQuader Khan was the pioneer of the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh. He had a vision of how to transform the country. In 1978, he sent 130 trainees to South Korea where they learned how to produce readymade garments.

With those trainees, he set up the first factory "Desh Garments"  to produce garments for export. At the same time, the late Akhter Mohammad Musa of Bond Garments, the late Mohammad Reazuddin of Reaz Garments, MdHumayun of Paris Garments, Engineer Mohammad Fazlul Azim of Azim Group, Major (Retd) Abdul Mannan of Sunman Group, M Shamsur Rahman of Stylecraft Limited, the first President of BGMEA, AM Subid Ali of Aristocrat Limited also came forward and established some of the first garment factories in Bangladesh.

Following their footsteps, other prudent and hardworking entrepreneurs started RMG factories in the country. Since then, Bangladeshi garment industry did not need to look behind. Despite many difficulties faced by the sector over the past years, it has carved a niche in world market and kept continuing to show robust performance.

Since the early days, different sources of impetus have contributed to the development and maturity of the industry at various stages. We learned about child-labour in 1994, and successfully made the industry free from child labour in 1995.

The MFA-quota was a blessing to our industry to take root, gradually develop and mature. While the quota was approaching to an end in 2004, it was predicted by many that the phase-out would incur a massive upset in our export.

However, the post-MFA era is another story of success. Proving all the predictions wrong, we conquered the post-MFA challenges. Now the apparel industry is Bangladesh?s biggest export earner with value of over $25.49bn of exports in 2014-15 financial year.

On its way to success the RMG industry faced a number of challenges. The biggest challenge for our apparel industry has emerged after the tragic building collapse in 2013. Many thought the building collapse would mark the end of the journey of our RMG industry. But what we have seen is the new beginning of our garment industry.For the first time in the history of global garment industry, all stakeholders have realized that ensuring safety and wellbeing workers is a shared responsibility and this feeling has inspired governments, brands, buyers, suppliers, entrepreneurs, and workers to work hand in hand to ensure a safe and sustainable garment industry. Probably this only instance in the world business that brands and buyers who compete each other come together to make an industry safe and sustainable.

The industry that has changed lives of millions of people has undergone significant transformation in terms of workplace safety and worker's rights. National and international reform platforms -National Action Plan (NAP), Accord and Alliance-  have made visible progress to ensure workplace safety. Both Accord and Alliance have completed inspection in 100% factories and the NAP will complete 100% factory inspection by this August. We note with satisfaction that less than 2% of the inspected factories have been found vulnerable and closed down immediately. Moreover, to make our progress more transparent and credible, the inspection reports of the factories are made accessible at the Fair Factory Clearinghouse (FFC) database and the websites of the relevant government department, Accord and Alliance. When all factories complete their corrective action plans (CAPs), the RMG industry of Bangladesh can obviously be regarded as the safest industry in the world.

Progress has also been made in workers' rights. Minimum wages of RMG workers have been increased by 219% during the past 5 years. The Labor Law has been amended ensuring noticeable improvements in workers' rights and welfare. BGMEA along with ILO and ITC are implementing training programs on worker-management relations, Occupational Safety and Health, and labor laws for both factory management and workers.

 The industry is making strides in terms of environmental compliance to have a sustainable footing in the global apparel market. Many RMG factories at their own are adopting green technologies and practices. They are using cleaner technologies and producing garments in a caring and responsible way that preserves the environment for future generations. Already a number of RMG factories achieved LEED certification from US Green Building Council (USGBC) for their green practices.

Industry Strengths

30 years of experience & reputation in garment manufacturing

Competitive Price

International standard quality

Vibrant population, 70% below 40 years age, quick learning & dedicated

Irresistible & resilient entrepreneurial spirit

Duty free market access in most of the developed countries & PTA in India, China, Korea, Malaysia

Rapid adoption of environment friendly, energy efficient  and green concepts

Rapidly developing backward linkage/Washing/Dying/Finishing/Embroidery, etc

Versatility of factories to produce different type of products

Increasing trend of direct sourcing through local liaison offices at Dhaka

Major Apparel Items

 

 

Major Apparel Items Exported From Bangladesh, in Million USD

YEAR

SHIRTS

TROUSERS

JACKETS

T-SHIRT

SWEATER

 

2000-2001

1073.59

656.33

573.74

597.42

476.87

 

2002-2003

1019.87

643.66

464.51

642.62

578.37

 

2004-2005

1053.34

1667.72

430.28

1349.71

893.12

 

2006-2007

943.44

2201.32

1005.06

2208.9

1248.09

 

2008-2009

1000.16

3007.29

1299.74

3065.86

1858.62

 

2010-2011

1566.42

4164.16

1887.50

4696.57

2488.19

 

2011-2012

1733.54

4686.39

2231.16

4713.11

2340.34

 

2012-2013

1972.89

5185.48

2634.28

5143.22

2620.73

 

2013-2014

2173.73

5690.78

2973.16

5863.81

2932.94

 

2014-2015

2271.43

5697.83

3183.17

6064.13

2829.16

 

 

 

Top 10 knitwear Exports from Bangladesh, FY2014-2015

HS Code

Product Description

Million USD

61091000

T-shirts, singlets & other vests, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

5,766.50

61109000

Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waist-coats & similar articles, knitted or crocheted, of textile materials, n.e.s.

1,311.62

61102000

Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waist-coats & similar articles, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

1,140.17

61051000

Men's or boys' shirts, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

742.38

61046200

Women's or girls' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

410.95

61103000

Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waist-coats & similar articles, knitted or crocheted, of man-made fibres.

315.43

61099000

T-shirts, singlets & other vests, knitted or crocheted, of textile material other than cotton.

297.62

61034200

Men's or boys' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

256.72

61082100

Women's or girls' briefs & panties, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

244.49

61071100

Men's or boys' underpants & briefs, knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

214.23

 

 

Top 10 Woven Garment Exports from Bangladesh, FY2014-2015

HS Code

Product Description

Million USD

62034200

Men's or boys' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, not knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

4866.81

62046200

Women's or girls' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, not knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

2065.87

62052000

Men's or boys' shirts, not knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

1648.87

62059000

Men's or boys' shirts, not knitted or crocheted, of textile materials, other than wool, fine animal hair, cotton & man-made fibres.

568.30

62046900

Women's or girls' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, not knitted or crocheted, of textile materials, other than wool, fine animal hair, cotton & synthetic fibres.

398.60

62063000

Women's or girls' blouses, shirts & shirt-blouses, not knitted or crocheted, of cotton.

303.90

62034900

Men's or boys' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, not knitted or crocheted, of textile materials, othet than wool, fine animal hair, cotton & synthetic fibres.

293.45

62121000

Brassieres of textile materials, whether or not knitted or crocheted.

235.83

62046300

Women's or girls' trousers, bib & brace overalls, breeches & shorts, not knitted or crocheted, of synthetic fibres.

199.91

62019300

Men's or boys' anoraks (including ski-jackets), wind-cheaters, wind-jackets & similar articles, not knitted or crocheted, of man-made fibres.

194.94

 


Booming ready-made garments industry made Bangladesh one of the leading exporters of apparel goods in the world. In the last five consecutive fiscal years, knitwear constituted 7.2% of the national GDP on average, demonstrating that RMG serves as a strategic and commercially beneficial sector to the country. This sector also contributes around 13 percent to the GDP, which was only around 3 percent in 1991. Of the estimated 4million people employed in this sector, about 50 percent of them are women from rural areas. In 2000, the industry consisting of some 3000 factories employed directly more than 1.5 million workers of whom almost 80% were female. USA is the largest importer of Bangladeshi RMG products, followed by Germany, UK, France and other E.U countries.

For more infromation on garment industry in Bnagladesh visit http://www.bgmea.com.bd/

For list of Bangladesh enterprises involved in garment industry please visit:

 

http://www.bdembassyusa.org/uploads/Apparel%20(woven)%20Exporters%20of%20Bangladesh.pdf

http://www.bdembassyusa.org/uploads/Trouser%20and%20Jeans%20exporters%20of%20Bangladesh.pdf

http://www.bdembassyusa.org/uploads/Knitwear%20Exporters%20of%20Bangladesh.pdf