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Eyes on $100 billion apparel export by 2030

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TUESDAY, JULY 05, 2022


Eyes on $100 billion apparel export by 2030

THOUGHTS

Abdullah Hil Rakib
05 July, 2022, 10:25 am
Last modified: 05 July, 2022, 10:30 am

BGMEA has set the target of reaching $100 billion apparel export by 2030. To achieve that target with 100 percent gender equality, inclusive and dignified employment for all, and ensuring proper well being of workers while maintaining sustainable practices requires synergy between all stakeholders

abdullah-hil-rakib_1.jpg

Bangladesh's exports crossed $50 billion for the first time ever in July-June 2021-2022, confirmed the export data of the country's Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of the outgoing fiscal released Monday.

With this $50 billion export milestone, Bangladesh becomes one of the world's top 20 exporting countries (keeping the countries which export oil out of this consideration).

The industry which contributed the largest chunk to this milestone is none other than the readymade garment (RMG) industry. Among the $52 billion export Bangladesh fetched in the last fiscal, RMG accounts for $42 billion.

Indeed this is a time for celebration for all the apparel entrepreneurs of Bangladesh.

The RMG industry which emerged as a small non-traditional sector of export in the late 80s gradually became crucial to our economy as the main source of export earnings and employment generation. Now, over 84% of the country's total export comes from this single sector.

Braving all limitations and obstacles, the RMG sector has become the second largest exporter of garment products in the world within three decades. The contribution of industry to the GDP of the country is around 14 percent.

The sector has created employment for around 4 million people and lifted them from the abyss of poverty. The sector has played an outstanding role in poverty alleviation by creating employment opportunities for the poor.

Another significant contribution of the RMG industry to socio-economic change in the country has been towards women's empowerment. About 65 percent of workers in our industry are female.

Most of these women have mainly come from rural areas and have little to no education. Their employment chances in any formal sector would have been impossible, had it not been for the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh.

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With this $50 billion export milestone Bangladesh becomes one of the world’s top 20 exporting countries. Photo: Mumit M
Our women RMG workers, who were once treated like burdens on their families, have become assets through their financial contribution. This financial capacity has made them self-reliant and has given them a dignified life.

We believe that the RMG sector will continue to contribute in transforming Bangladesh into a developed country. To this end, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has set the target of reaching $100 billion apparel export by 2030.

This means it will have an all pervasive impact on the overall socio-economic development of the country. The sector will create employment for 5 million people in its pursuit to produce apparel worth $100 billion in the year 2030.
This also means that the sector's stake in the country's GDP will also be higher.

Most importantly, BGMEA envisions achieving the $100 billion export target in a sustainable manner. The apex trade body of the country's apparel manufacturers has planned to significantly contribute to each of the 17 SDGs while achieving the century mark in export.

The BGMEA has set the target to ensure reduction of energy consumption of the industry by 30 percent, reduction of GHG emissions by 30 percent and reduction of blue water footprint by 50 percent within 2030.
The trade body also aims to ensure that 20 percent of energy in the industry comes from renewable sources.

By 2030, BGMEA hopes to achieve 100 percent gender equality, inclusive and dignified employment for all, and also ensure proper well being of workers. The trade group also wants 80 percent of all clothing factories in the nation that produce for export to be green.

The targets seem over ambitious, but not impossible to achieve. Riding on 40 years of experience and the confidence gained from our $50 billion export milestone, the industry is ready to embark on the $100 billion journey.

To achieve this milestone it is crucial to harness the spirit of working together. If there is a synergy of work between all the stakeholders of Bangladesh apparel industry, the journey will be indubitably successful.


Abdullah Hil Rakib is the Managing Director of Team Group. He is also a Director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

 
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This is truly a remarkable achievement. The RMG industry of BD ought to be given a Nobel Peace Prize (it is not meant as a joke by any means) for what it has done to uplift millions out of poverty. I wish our leadership had been foresighted enough to have done this. States like UP, Bihar and WB could have replicated this story.

@Joe Shearer Dada, Why didnt or couldnt India replicate this story?

Regards
 
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This is truly a remarkable achievement. The RMG industry of BD ought to be given a Nobel Peace Prize (it is not meant as a joke by any means) for what it has done to uplift millions out of poverty. I wish our leadership had been foresighted enough to have done this. States like UP, Bihar and WB could have replicated this story.

@Joe Shearer Dada, Why didnt or couldnt India replicate this story?

Regards
.. one disadvantage for India is lack of tariff free market access. The industry operates on skin margins and therefore privileged market access is crucial.
 
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.. one disadvantage for India is lack of tariff free market access. The industry operates on skin margins and therefore privileged market access is crucial.

Tariff on Bangladesh apparel is the highest in the US, lot more than Vietnam for example, and no GSP.

Yet exports are booming. At some point price and margin become secondary....

India fell behind because of red tape and govt. inaction in the low labor cost states. Bangladesh started in the mid seventies in this sector. Nowadays the scale and economies of scale are beyond any sweatshop scenario....this below is just one company and there are many hundreds like this all over Bangladesh.
Youngone_corporation_pic.jpg
 
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Tariff on Bangladesh apparel is the highest in the US, lot more than Vietnam for example, and no GSP.

Yet exports are booming. At some point price and margin become secondary....

India fell behind because of red tape and govt. inaction in the low labor cost states. Bangladesh started in the mid seventies in this sector. Nowadays the scale and economies of scale are beyond any sweatshop scenario....this below is just one company and there are many hundreds like this all over Bangladesh.
Youngone_corporation_pic.jpg
Tariff in EU?
 
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@Bilal9

Bilal bhai,

India fell behind because of red tape and govt. inaction in the low labor cost states.

That makes sense. The "low labor cost states" (BIMARU basically) are some of the worst governed states in India where no one would invest; and the status of the women is one of the poorest. Seems quite reasonable why the womanpower fuelled RMG story couldn't have happened there.

Regards
 
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This is truly a remarkable achievement. The RMG industry of BD ought to be given a Nobel Peace Prize (it is not meant as a joke by any means) for what it has done to uplift millions out of poverty. I wish our leadership had been foresighted enough to have done this. States like UP, Bihar and WB could have replicated this story.

@Joe Shearer Dada, Why didnt or couldnt India replicate this story?

Regards
Sorry, just saw this.

I am so disconnected with industry nowadays that I hardly know how to answer. What I do know is that some thirty or forty years back, when I was asked to watch export figures for my own organisation, it was clear that Indian garment manufacturers were trying very hard, and were reaching the numbers they were awarded for concessional rates of import into various countries. Things have presumably changed, and the quotas favour other countries. It could be because of this, it could be because somehow, IT Services caught everybody's attention and all the energy and effort went into that. I honestly don't know, and catching up might take a little time.

You might like to ask the Professor of Economics who is our mutual acquaintance.

India fell behind because of red tape and govt. inaction in the low labor cost states.
Yes.
Those would be the BIMARU states, (Bihar-Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan-UP), but in those states, except for Rajasthan, the government is more focussed on harassing Muslims and on hate speech against Muslims than on any constructive work.
 
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The targets seem over ambitious, but not impossible to achieve. Riding on 40 years of experience and the confidence gained from our $50 billion export milestone, the industry is ready to embark on the $100 billion journey.
I truly believe it is possible to achieve the 2030 target of exporting $100 billion worth of goods. Ours has 168 million people to support that goal.
 
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@Joe Shearer

Dada,

IT Services caught everybody's attention and all the energy and effort went into that.

The other reasons quoted in your post seem plausible, not this one. The entrepreneurs who run the textile industry (and they have done a decent job in basic spinning and weaving) and the ones who run new economy businesses are by and large a different lot; and so are the workers.

In BIMARU states, , the government is more focussed on harassing Muslims

I see that you couldn't resist the temptation of taking potshots against my Fuhrer and my favourite political party. Presumably you think that had Bihar been ruled by the Secular Laloo-Rabri clan and UP by the Etawah Yadavs uninterrupted since 1990 they could have usurped BD's RMG crown?

Regards
 
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Tariff in EU?

No - Bangladesh does have GSP in EU, but that will go away soon, due to Bangladesh gaining middle income country status.

@Joe Shearer

Dada,

IT Services caught everybody's attention and all the energy and effort went into that.

The other reasons quoted in your post seem plausible, not this one. The entrepreneurs who run the textile industry (and they have done a decent job in basic spinning and weaving) and the ones who run new economy businesses are by and large a different lot; and so are the workers.

In BIMARU states, , the government is more focussed on harassing Muslims

I see that you couldn't resist the temptation of taking potshots against my Fuhrer and my favourite political party. Presumably you think that had Bihar been ruled by the Secular Laloo-Rabri clan and UP by the Etawah Yadavs uninterrupted since 1990 they could have usurped BD's RMG crown?

Regards

Your fuhrer ??

Such an appropo comment... :lol:

He does live up to it, doesn't he? Meiner Fuhrer Modi. :lol:

Lest we forget, India is not Germany.

And I mean that in a totally positive, practical sense.

Stop taking offense in a thin-skin manner. We are all desis here.

We drink the same Doodh-patti Chai, brush with the same Dabur toothpaste, take the same Hajmola and Chaywanprash.

Coming to textiles, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs made huge investments in modernizing the carding, spinning and weaving infra compared to India.

The reason India could not compete with Bangladesh was the fact that Bangladeshi factory owners invested in larger modernized facilities and technical investments (even for apparel assembly and sewing) while Indian factory owners stuck with low cost sweatshop models. That was the trend - there were exceptions however.

Politics had nothing to do with it.

Bangladesh's new textile infra is light years ahead of what it was in the 1980's. I am somewhat familiar with Indian vs. Bangladesh textile situations.

I'd deign India more or less still may be in the same boat technically and equipment wise.

For example - most of the new weaving machines in Bangladesh in larger factories are air jet or waterjet machines (e.g. Toyoda looms), which is probably not the case in India.

If you don't make these new investments - then your product (fabric) will not stand up to international quality scrutiny and your exports will suffer.

Indian producers gave up and focused on their domestic market (middle and lower end products). Which is still plenty big.

Bangladeshi shirts for example - are sold at premium Indian outlets and command a higher price because of their quality (gained from modernized investments), not because they are cheap. Indian market gets the same quality as sold in the EU or US.
 
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No - Bangladesh does have GSP in EU, but that will go away soon, due to Bangladesh gaining middle income country status.

"This will also allow Bangladesh to move from the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme to GSP+ (Plus) scheme," Gunner Wiegand said, according to a statement of Bangladesh embassy in Belgium.

Bangladesh now enjoys duty-free facility under EBA scheme of the European Union market, but that will be phased out in 2026 when Bangladesh graduates the LDC status. Bangladesh can then be entitled to GSP Plus, which, however, requires certain conditions to be met.

In his remarks, Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium and Head of Mission to EU, Mahbub Hassan Saleh said the nearly five decades-long partnership between Bangladesh and EU has truly been a phenomenally transformational journey.

He added that EU's Everything but Arms (EBA) trade privilege played an extremely important role to continually accelerate Bangladesh's socio-economic development journey.

Bangladesh is just about to graduate from LDC and become a developing country. Middle income status is not on the cusp any time soon.
 
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Actually if BD does not get to 150 billion US dollars by 2030 then it would have somehow messed up.

By 2030 China would be totally uncompetitive in garments and both their export and domestic market adds up to nearly 500 billion US dollars.

BD should aim to grab at least 10% of this and so that is 50 billion US dollars.
 
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