Tau plans $200mn fund for Bangladeshi garment firms

07 May '14

2 min read

A new venture ‘Tau Bangladesh’ has been launched by a New York-based growth-equity venture investment firm Tau Investment Management, LLC. Under its new venture, the company plans to invest US$ 200 million to buy minority ownership of large garment manufacturing enterprises in Bangladesh.

Speaking at the launch of Tau Bangladesh in Dhaka, Oliver Niedermaier, CEO of Tau Investment, said they are investing in Bangladesh to help a few companies become stronger strategic suppliers by helping the factories decrease inefficiency and increase productivity, thereby helping workers, the environment and investors.

At the event, Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed urged the US Government to reduce import duty on Bangladeshi garments. He said that Bangladeshi products currently attract 15.16 percent duty in the US, while goods from Vietnam, Indonesia and India attract tariff of 8.38 percent, 6.30 percent, and 2.29 percent, respectively. Hence, a cut in duty would increase Bangladeshi clothing exports to the US, he added.

The Tau Bangladesh venture would be part of US$ 1billion Tau Transformation Fund that seeks to change the global apparel supply chain by making garment companies in countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc comply international standards in terms of becoming socially responsible.

Tau Investment invests directly in unsustainable suppliers, bringing the capital and expertise required to turn them into the leading sustainable competitors operating at scale in their industries. The firm then slots these transformed suppliers into the supply chains of major global brands, creating improved transparency and performance across the supply chain.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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