Interviews
Global retailers line up at country's doorstep
26 Nov '08
2 min read
Despite the global economic crisis, there is always a silver lining the saying goes. This silver lining is a blessing in disguise for the beleaguered apparel industry in Bangladesh reeling under the impact of the meltdown and subsequent recessionary trends.
Since the beginning of the year, Chinese textile and garment manufacturers and exporters are being vexed on all fronts, due to which they are losing the competitive advantage they had held on to for so long.
They have been held ransom to rising labour wages and a currency appreciation against the dollar, due to which the cost of their products has gone up. But this has pushed and diverted the attention of global renowned retailers like Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Marks & Spencer, Gap and a host of other brands at the doors of garment exporters of Bangladesh.
Global retail companies trying to reduce their outgo on their imports are finding Bangladesh as an attractive destination compared to China. According to experts 200 new buying houses have opened shop till May in the current year compared to the existing 150 in the previous year.
Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr. Maruf Ur Rahman, Managing Partner of Quality International, which is a garment production company and buying house exporting to Western and Middle East countries, to understand the changing trend of new global retailers exploring the garment industry of Bangladesh.
He confirmed the report and started off by saying, “Yes in recent days we are getting news orders for ready-made garments, mostly in knitted & woven items. Every 3 days there is news of a new knitting factory coming up. Bangladesh is getting orders from new and well known brands, which is likely to translate in to an annual growth of 30 percent annually.”
According to Mr. Maruf, Bangladesh is self sufficient in production of knitted items as they have the entire wherewithal to manufacture garments. They only need to import raw cotton from countries like India, Pakistan, & CIS countries which accounts for the competitive pricing of its products.
IKEA, the international retailer of home textiles has recently opened a representative office in Dhaka and at the function to open the new office had declared its intent to increase sourcing from the country to €300 million from €100 million in the next few years.
Since the beginning of the year, Chinese textile and garment manufacturers and exporters are being vexed on all fronts, due to which they are losing the competitive advantage they had held on to for so long.
They have been held ransom to rising labour wages and a currency appreciation against the dollar, due to which the cost of their products has gone up. But this has pushed and diverted the attention of global renowned retailers like Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Marks & Spencer, Gap and a host of other brands at the doors of garment exporters of Bangladesh.
Global retail companies trying to reduce their outgo on their imports are finding Bangladesh as an attractive destination compared to China. According to experts 200 new buying houses have opened shop till May in the current year compared to the existing 150 in the previous year.
Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr. Maruf Ur Rahman, Managing Partner of Quality International, which is a garment production company and buying house exporting to Western and Middle East countries, to understand the changing trend of new global retailers exploring the garment industry of Bangladesh.
He confirmed the report and started off by saying, “Yes in recent days we are getting news orders for ready-made garments, mostly in knitted & woven items. Every 3 days there is news of a new knitting factory coming up. Bangladesh is getting orders from new and well known brands, which is likely to translate in to an annual growth of 30 percent annually.”
According to Mr. Maruf, Bangladesh is self sufficient in production of knitted items as they have the entire wherewithal to manufacture garments. They only need to import raw cotton from countries like India, Pakistan, & CIS countries which accounts for the competitive pricing of its products.
IKEA, the international retailer of home textiles has recently opened a representative office in Dhaka and at the function to open the new office had declared its intent to increase sourcing from the country to €300 million from €100 million in the next few years.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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