How Bangladesh rose to become a mobile manufacturing hub

[UKBengali]

I'm going to highlight 3 things:

1. Currently RMGs is the bulk of our exports, its essentially low to semi skilled work, combined with being labour intensive. Bangladesh is the 2nd largest exporter of RMGs with export value roughly $40bn behind China with over $150bn in exports. Labour costs in China are over 5 times what it is in Bangladesh, hence in the next decade you will see china moving out of the RMGs mass production and staying in he high value niche sector.

Two countries are therefore best placed to attract that shift out of China, that being Bangladesh and Vietnam. RMGs sector will continue to grow for several decades in Bangladesh before it moves to Africa (just as it moved from Europe to China, it will move from China to Bangladesh and then from Bangladesh to Africa.) Therefore Bangladesh RMGs industry will continue to grow to over $75bn-$80bn in the coming decades.

2. The main sector that will grow in the next decade is leather. Its a $211bn export market, and like RMGs its a low to semi skilled industry and its labour intensive. So, how big could it be for Bangladesh? Well not not as big as the RMGs market, but $25bn-$30bn by the time it matures.

3. The third big sector that is likely to grow fast in the coming decades is what's known as the white goods market, think kitchen equipment, home appliances, etc. Your already seeing small moves in this sector to move from the local market to the export markets.

So the moral of this article is if you want to see what future holds for Bangladesh, look closely at how the economies of other South East Asia evolved, namely South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and to a lesser extent China.

Good post but I think RMG industry will start to saturate in BD by around 2035-2040 as BD becomes as rich as China was in 2020.

Apart from car industry what we are seeing in BD is almost a mirror match of what happened to S Korea during its development phase.

The only industry that BD should be building up and is lagging is shipbuilding and @Bilal9 has commented on reasons why.

BD is in a fairly good economic position now and should focus on getting as many FTAs as possible now. It has no need of quotas anymore that are now doing more harm than good.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Creates a larger middle class from thin air I guess. Lol

Service industry is manager heavy per “worker”.

How many managers do you need to run a factory per worker?

Those managers are your middle class.

Service industry also has crazy hours - serving customers in a different time zone. Just not conducive to a family life.

Also why the wives don’t work. Explaining your low female participation rates.

 

[Black Tornado]

India’s resources are spread out too thinly. Hence it’s not competitive in any sector other than IT and call centre (even that is due to the English language).

Our exports last year were $675 bn and are growing very fast, this year it’s expected to be $800-850 bn. Without compaetition, an industry doesn’t stay afloat. And ya our exports aren’t single sector dependent.

Sign an FTA with a significant trading bloc and I will believe India is competitive.

We’re talking about economy not “who’s more competitive and who isn’t”, we’re already negotiating FTAs with many countries, the one with UAE and Austrialia is signed already.

Heck! Even one with Bangladesh would be a start.

Indeed

 

[UKBengali]

Our exports last year were $675 bn and are growing very fast, this year it’s expected to be $800-850 bn. Without compaetition, an industry doesn’t stay afloat. And ya our exports aren’t single sector dependent.

We’re talking about economy not “who’s more competitive and who isn’t”, we’re already negotiating FTAs with many countries, the one with UAE and Austrialia is signed already.

Indeed

India is making progress but what is the local value add of your exports like in areas like electronics?

In BD, the value add of its exports goods is very high.

In pharma this has recently got a major boost with the setting up of API parks.

Electronics is more like 80% value add as nearly all components are manufactured from scratch in BD.

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Our exports last year were $675 bn and are growing very fast, this year it’s expected to be $800-850 bn. Without compaetition, an industry doesn’t stay afloat. And ya our exports aren’t single sector dependent.

We’re talking about economy not “who’s more competitive and who isn’t”, we’re already negotiating FTAs with many countries, the one with UAE and Austrialia is signed already.

Indeed

Covid aptly demonstrated whose economy is more resilient.

“Single sector” Bangladesh came out much better.

India’s government is also too big - spending a hefty amount of GDP. Far too many layers of government. Central, state, district, municipality - all adding a layer of tax!

My mind boggles when I get bills at hotels! This tax, that tax!!

Low tax and small government Bangladesh is following the Asian model.

I am against Bangladesh government growing it’s revenue or manpower.

Let the private sector build the expressways, hospitals, universities etc etc

NGOs also can take even bigger role than they are.

 

[Black Tornado]

India is making progress but what is the local value add of your exports like in areas like electronics?

In BD, the value add of its exports goods is very high.

In pharma this has recently got a major boost with the setting up of API parks.

Electronics is more like 80% value add as nearly all components are manufactured from scratch in BD.

Can’t find any data on value addition on sector specific stuff, I only have GVA of India and that’s $2.76 tn.

Covid aptly demonstrated whose economy is more resilient.

“Single sector” Bangladesh came out much better.

Sorry? Our exports cross $675 bn in the covid year, our GDP became $3.1 tn, and all that when we were suffering from the brutal 2nd wave of covid which fortunately wasn’t as deadky in BD as it was here.

India’s government is also too big - spending a hefty amount of GDP. Far too many layers of government. Central, state, district, municipality - all adding a layer of tax!

Yes it’s a headache

Let’s the private sector build the expressways, hospitals, universities etc etc

This makes healthcare unaffordable for the poor in any country, both private and government hospitals and universities should be built. And regarding expressways, if it’s feasible, the private sector will build it, but a private company won’t build rural roads connecting villages.

 

[UKBengali]

Can’t find any data on value addition on sector specific stuff, I only have GVA of India and that’s $2.76 tn.

I do not think it is a good idea to invite multinationals to build in India without having a strong enough home industries as they will prevent India from developing its own companies in these fields.

BD companies like Walton and Symphony are well able to compete with Samsung and Sony in the home electronics market.

Walton will surpass 100 million dollars in exports this fiscal and exports are growing by many 100s of per cent a year now.

The “East Asian” tiger economies developed as they followed the same path as BD.

Let us see how this different approach plays out between BD and India over the next 10-15 years.

 

[Tom-tom]

Primary school until High schools are free for state owned schools. 20 % of our state budget goes to education, it is our law, imposed after we get democracy with the help of Allah.

Even books are free. Coming from previous students

You didn't understand the question, what is the maximum age you can free schooling till?


At what age are you do you leave secondary school?

 

[Indos]

I love Indonesian model in every way:
- Secular but not anti-religion
- Modern
- Diverse
- Strong Millitary
- Pragmatic
- Uanapologetic culturally Islamic
- tolerant
- development oriented
- non-confrontational foreign policy

and of course all those magical tropical islands.
i was lucky enough to have been there 10 years ago. Snorkeling in shallow coral reefs Bunaken island, liveaboard boat trip in Komodo and a weekend in Bali. Just fond memories. Hope to go back there one day, InshaAllah.

Not secular IMO. We have religious minister who is basically Islamic religious Minister. The budget is quite big and most of it to finance state Madrasah which is free of charge. There is Islamic court as well to solve dispute in marriage, to allow men or women to file divorce, and other issue related to Islam

You didn't understand the question, what is the maximum age you can free schooling till?


At what age are you do you leave secondary school?

There is no maximum age for high school as far as I know, 99 % are teenagers. Most High schools students graduate at their 17 or 18 years old. Normal graduation time is 18 years old

I dont use your term secondary school here, we use primary school, junior high school, high school which are free for state owned schools. University students in state owned universities have much more chance to get scolarship from Gov or Businesses.

Rich parents can put their kids on private schools which usually have better faciliities

Compare, state owned schools in Jakarta

Private schools in Jakarta for upper class parents

 

[BananaRepublicUK]

Can’t find any data on value addition on sector specific stuff, I only have GVA of India and that’s $2.76 tn.


Sorry? Our exports cross $675 bn in the covid year, our GDP became $3.1 tn, and all that when we were suffering from the brutal 2nd wave of covid which fortunately wasn’t as deadky in BD as it was here.

Yes it’s a headache

This makes healthcare unaffordable for the poor in any country, both private and government hospitals and universities should be built. And regarding expressways, if it’s feasible, the private sector will build it, but a private company won’t build rural roads connecting villages.

Government should only provide primary clinical care.

Keep out of social care and surgery.

U.K.’s bloated NHS is not the model to follow.

Canada et al have a much better model.

Bloated and corrupt government needs to be small enough to be drowned in a bath tub!

Bangladesh’s NGOs needs to be even more empowered. They have transformed Bangladesh.

I don’t understand the boast by PDF Indians and Pakistanis about how little money BD government raises.

Thank god BDs government isn’t able to raise more money through taxation. Why would tax payers trust these buggers with money.

Keep the money and spend and invest it yourself!

 

[Bilal9]

How many times have I pointed you out on this?
Can the Bangladeshis on the forum stop lying atleast?

Here is your smartphone data, stop scavenging Wikipedia.

Bangladesh behind Nepal, Pakistan in smartphone use

Bangladesh is lagging behind most of its South Asian peers in terms of smartphone use, according to a report of GSMA, which represents mobile operators worldwide.

www.thedailystar.net

Please stop quoting garbage articles from Bangladesh Newspapers.

Everyone knows Bangladesh journalists are a bunch of underinformed ahammuks and are clueless about cellphone Industry statistics - they routinely report dated and inaccurate data. Ditto with semi-educated Indian journalists who mostly pull statements out of their collective behinds.

Newzoo collected and reported INDUSTRY DATA from cellphone service providers in both Bangladesh and India. Smartphone Penetration IS LOWER IN INDIA COMPARED TO THAT IN BANGLADESH, as the report said.

List of countries by smartphone penetration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now if we could suit statistics to satisfy wounded Bhartiya feelings, things would be different I guess....

Newzoo is well-known and very credible as an industry research organ for their reported data in the cellphone service provider industry. If you have more credible reports on the cellphone industry, then find them.

Read Newzoo's Global Mobile Market Report (the numbers were last updated in June 2021).

Which is more recent than that inaccurate and dated GSMA report the Bangladesh journalists provided.

Free Newzoo Report: Global Mobile Market Report 2021

Want data & insights on mobile users, (5G) devices, game revenues, consumer motivations & key trends? Look no further than this free report!

newzoo.com

Even Statista (somewhat dated) says Bangladesh has 38% smartphone penetration compared to 36% in India in 2021, 2022 figures will be higher for Bangladesh because it will be the second year for cheaper made in Bangladesh smartphones. (Considering Bangladesh has 160 million people compared to India's 1.361 Billion).

Smartphone users by country 2022 | Statista

The number of operating mobile devices worldwide is forecast to reach more than 18 billion by 2025, up from almost 16 billion in 2022.

www.statista.com

And of course unlike the whole globe, people in Sanghis muddy the water further by saying that their featurephones are "smart".

Latest is the Counterpoint report which says Bangladesh smartphone penetration is now 46%.

I don't buy the hogwash that India smartphone penetration is 69% as claimed in some articles.

Counterpoint

www.counterpointresearch.com

Now it would make sense that Bangladeshis can afford more smartphones because their per capita GDP is higher than that of India. But we are talking Sanghi logic here.....

 

[Cheepek]

Please stop quoting garbage articles from Bangladesh Newspapers.

Everyone knows Bangladesh journalists are a bunch of underinformed ahammuks and are clueless about cellphone Industry statistics - they routinely report dated and inaccurate data. Ditto with semi-educated Indian journalists who mostly pull statements out of their collective behinds.

Newzoo collected and reported INDUSTRY DATA from cellphone service providers in both Bangladesh and India. Smartphone Penetration IS LOWER IN INDIA COMPARED TO THAT IN BANGLADESH, as the report said.

List of countries by smartphone penetration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now if we could suit statistics to satisfy wounded Bhartiya feelings, things would be different I guess....

Newzoo is well-known and very credible as an industry research organ for their reported data in the cellphone service provider industry. If you have more credible reports on the cellphone industry, then find them.

Read Newzoo's Global Mobile Market Report (the numbers were last updated in June 2021).

Which is more recent than that inaccurate and dated GSMA report the Bangladesh journalists provided.

Free Newzoo Report: Global Mobile Market Report 2021

Want data & insights on mobile users, (5G) devices, game revenues, consumer motivations & key trends? Look no further than this free report!

newzoo.com

Even Statista (somewhat dated) says Bangladesh has 38% smartphone penetration compared to 36% in India in 2021, 2022 figures will be higher for Bangladesh because it will be the second year for cheaper made in Bangladesh smartphones. (Considering Bangladesh has 160 million people compared to India's 1.361 Billion).

Smartphone users by country 2022 | Statista

The number of operating mobile devices worldwide is forecast to reach more than 18 billion by 2025, up from almost 16 billion in 2022.

www.statista.com

And of course unlike the whole globe, people in Sanghis muddy the water further by saying that their featurephones are "smart".

Latest is the Counterpoint report which says Bangladesh smartphone penetration is now 46%.

I don't buy the hogwash that India smartphone penetration is 69% as claimed in some articles.

Counterpoint

www.counterpointresearch.com

Now it would make sense that Bangladeshis can afford more smartphones because their per capita GDP is higher than that of India. But we are talking Sanghi logic here.....

"The report was unveiled at a virtual roundtable organised jointly by GSMA (Groupe Spécial Mobile Association) and the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB)."

Nothing to do with journalists.

Newzoo is credible and GSMA is not? If you don't know what is GSMA then why do you open your mouth?

Meanwhile ZooZoo

Smartphone Penetration Rate, India (Statista)

India: smartphone penetration rate 2040 | Statista

In 2023, the penetration rate of smartphone in India reached 71 percent and was estimated to reach 96 percent in 2040.

www.statista.com

Per capita income (IMF)-

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/BGD/IND

I guess your parents taught you to lie, something you can't give away easily but who trusts Wikipedia?

 

[HydraChess]

Electronics is more like 80% value add as nearly all components are manufactured from scratch in BD.

LOL!

BD Manufactures Processors and chips? Batteries? Panels (and not you don't have fabrication capability to make TFT or IPS or OLED, forget it). Only thing you have is called pcb manufacturing. India has that in massive droves.

 

[Bilal9]

"The report was unveiled at a virtual roundtable organised jointly by GSMA (Groupe Spécial Mobile Association) and the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB)."

Nothing to do with journalists.

Newzoo is credible and GSMA is not? If you don't know what is GSMA then why do you open your mouth?

Meanwhile ZooZoo

View attachment 844436


Smartphone Penetration Rate, India (Statista)

View attachment 844438

India: smartphone penetration rate 2040 | Statista

In 2023, the penetration rate of smartphone in India reached 71 percent and was estimated to reach 96 percent in 2040.

www.statista.com

Per capita income (IMF)-

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/BGD/IND

I guess your parents taught you to lie, something you can't give away easily but who trusts Wikipedia?

Khwab me Hazar Rasgulla sahi hai....... bring in more garbage from Sanghi-created propaganda websites...... anything from WION, ANI etc.? Don't forget those.....

 

[Bilal9]

LOL!

BD Manufactures Processors and chips? Batteries? Panels (and not you don't have fabrication capability to make TFT or IPS or OLED, forget it). Only thing you have is called pcb manufacturing. India has that in massive droves.

If you are clueless and don't know, better to not post. Not our job to educate some Pajeet from Jhupripatti questioning things that don't concern him.....

Apna aukaat me raho - try to sell your cheap "Indianized" India-made garbage to locals, while we sell our cellphones and notepads to advanced economies using world standards....