Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Bangladesh’s apparel sector earned $10.45 billion from exports in the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal, a 7.96 per cent rise over the same period last year, according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
The data shows that earnings from woven garments in July-November period of the fiscal 2015-16 grew by 11.35 per cent to $4.06 billion while knitwear by 4.78 per cent to $4.17 billion.
Apparel sector earned $9.69 billion from exports in the same period of the last fiscal year (2014-15).
“The sector has started the year with negative export growth. But now it is recovering steadily, thanks to revived demands from the US and European Union (EU),” M Siddiqur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told The New Nation on Tuesday.
At the moment, the US and EU are the main markets for Bangladesh’s apparel products.
“We saw a surge in export orders from the US and EU buyers following improved safety and working conditions in local factories,” said the BGMEA President, adding, “The flow of orders is on reflecting the rise in garments export.”
He also mentioned that stable orders were also seen from non-traditional markets like Canada, Japan, China and Korea.
When asked, he said, “We are optimistic about achieving this year’s apparel export target as many exporters have enough orders to keep them busy until the end of the current fiscal year”.
“We are happy that apparel export earnings entered into positive growth trajectory, driven by increasing global demand,” Abdus Salam Murshedy, President, Exporters’ Association of Bangladesh (EAB) told The New Nation on Tuesday.
He noted that our recent efforts to boost the sustainable development of the sector helped regain confidence of the buyers resulting rise in demands for Bangladesh’s garment items in global markets.
“We have already updated our factories in compliance with building safety code and fire-safety installations. And such initiatives will help to sustain export earnings growth,” he added.
Murshedy further said that our exports are expected to rise further in the months to come helping to achieve the export target.
Earlier, the government set apparel export target at $27.40 billion for the current fiscal.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest apparel exporter after China and the value to total garment exports last fiscal was $25.49 billion.
