Global economic crisis has garment exporters worried

15 Oct '08

2 min read

The economic turmoil across the globe, brought in by the sub-prime loans in the US, is putting a clog in the wheels and threatening to disrupt the growth rates of the biggest earner of foreign exchange for the country; apparel industry.

This sentiment was echoed by economists and industry leaders alike. The apparel sector alone brought in US $10.7 billion worth of foreign exchange in the last fiscal (July-June) and accounted for an astounding two-thirds of all annual export earnings.

In the last few years the sector other than providing employment to more than 2.5 million people has created alternative sources of employment for a lot of women, more in particular rural women.

Speaking at a seminar Nobel laureate and father of the micro credit institution in Bangladesh Mohammed Yunus said” Bangladesh would definitely be hit by the global financial crisis. He termed the meltdown in the United States a "tsunami in the Wall Street casinos" that will have trickle-down effects across the world, including small countries like Bangladesh.”

He asserted by saying that “we cannot escape impact of the turmoil”. Mr Haque, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) echoed the sentiments of Mr Yunus by saying “orders from EU and US have dropped by 7 percent in September and buyers are likely to stay away in coming months.”

Mr Parvez, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) also said "Any setback in the single biggest export market of Bangladesh will push the sector downhill.

He added by saying “more than 700 chain stores of major US apparel brands that outsource to Bangladesh have either wound up or are planning to do so with the financial crisis spreading fast across continents."

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

More Apparel/Garments News - Bangladesh...