Interview with Mr Syed Nurul Islam

It was really a great opportunity for us to start as competition was not that much strong. Beginning in late 1975, the government gradually gave greater scope to private sector participation in the economy, a pattern that has continued which helped and motivated the young entrepreneur to come into business and grow. In the mid-1980s, there were encouraging signs of progress in the textile sector. Economic policies aimed at encouraging private enterprise and investment, denationalizing public industries, reinstating budgetary discipline, and liberalizing the import regime were accelerated. From 1991 to 1993, the government successfully followed an enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which we all were able to enjoy bringing the economy in a very upright position.

The world economy, specially two big countries like China and India, are moving with over 8%GDP.This growth will definitely influence the garments/apparels industry. And, therefore, we all need to concentrate in developing the fabrics production in the garment making country like Bangladesh.

According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the total fabric requirement in the captive market is about 3 billion yards, of which roughly 85 to 90 percent is imported from countries such as China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan. Fabric demand is increasing at the rate of 20 percent per year.

Although the industry is one of the largest in Bangladesh and is still expanding, it faces serious problems, principally because the country does not produce enough of the raw materials necessary for the industry to expand. The primary materials used in the spinning sector are raw cotton and man-made fibers such as viscose and polyester staple fibers. Unfortunately, none of these raw materials are produced in Bangladesh.

In 2006 the world’s consumers spent around US$1.8 trillion worldwide buying clothes. Around one third of sales were in Western Europe, one third in North America and one quarter in Asia.

Today, clothing and textiles represent about seven to eight per cent of world exports.Globally, the workforce in clothing and textiles production was around 31.5 million in 2006.

More than a quarter of the world’s production of clothing and textiles is in China, which has a fast growing internal market and the largest share of world trade. Western countries are still important exporters of clothing and textiles, particularly Germany and Italy in clothing and the USA in textiles.

Output from the sector is growing in volume, but prices are dropping, as is employment, as new technology and vertically integrated structures support improved productivity.

Growth in volumes is almost entirely associated with polyester – volumes of natural fibre production and use having remained approximately constant for several years.