Bangladeshi RMG suppliers attract Japanese buyers

06 Nov '09

2 min read

Bangladesh has the capability to reach about US $1 billion in exports of apparels, was the firm opinion of a Japanese industrialist who is visiting the country to survey the investment potential to set up laboratories for testing quality and other parameters.

Hiroshi Okada, President of Japan Textile Products Quality and Technology Centre (QTEC), said that there is a strong presence of apparel buyers from Japan and that QTEC would begin operations by February next year.

He said that Japanese buyers were very particular with regards to quality and they wanted each piece to be tested rather than testing samples which is the internationally recognised practice elsewhere.

The Industries Minister, Mr Dilip Barua also met the 23 member visiting delegation from Japan and invited them to invest in sectors such as textiles, leather goods, food processing and real estate and promised to provide all facilities to the Japanese companies.

He said that, “We will try our best to ensure security for the foreign investors and their capital in Bangladesh as his country might be the best location for future production due to low-cost and available labor force of the country.

He added by saying that the government would announce a new industrial policy to attract local and foreign investors in investing their capital and creating a more industry-friendly atmosphere in the country.

The Government of Japan had advised their companies to reduce dependence on the Chinese suppliers and diversify their markets as a result of which there were nearly 60 major buyers at the just concluded 5th Knitexpo in Dhaka.

BKMEA President Fazlul Hoque informed that the largest Japanese retail chain Uniqlo invested $70 million in Bangladesh and are purchasing apparel items in large huge volumes along with which leading Japanese socks maker Okamoto is also setting up a modern factory.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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