Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Bangladesh’s apparel export to the US market is experiencing a sluggish growth in the recent times as the US retailers are reportedly shifting their focus from Bangladesh to other destination due to safety concern and political turmoil, insiders said.
They said, local manufacturers are also losing ground to their competitors in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the wake of high cost of doing business coupled with infrastructure bottleneck, leading to fall in export growth in the US market.
Bangladesh’s apparel export posted a 0.81 per cent negative growth during the July-March period of the current fiscal compared with the growth 4.50 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
The US importers imported apparel items worth $3.79 billion during the said period of the current fiscal compared with an import of $3.8 billion during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladeshi garments where local exporters have shipped apparel items worth $5.14 billion in the fiscal year 2013-14.
“Bangladesh’s apparel export in the US market has been experiencing a declining trend for the last one year as the US buyers and retailers slashed their orders over safety and compliance issues and political violence in the country,” Reaz Bin Mahmud, Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and
Exporters Association (BGMEA) told The New Nation on Thursday.
At the same time, Bangladesh’s apparel items are losing competitiveness to their competitors resulting export fall to the US market, he added.
“When exports from Vietnam, Cambodia, India and Pakistan continued to increase in the US market, our exports are falling,” he said, adding, “Vietnam has already emerged as the second largest RMG exporter to the USA market beating Bangladesh.”
He also apprehended that Bangladesh’s position in the US market might aggravate further in the days to come unless measures are taken immediately to regain confidence of the US buyers and reduce our cost of doing business.
The BGMEA leader also called upon the government to offer more facilities to the Bangladeshi exporters and develop necessary road and port infrastructure to enhance the competitive advantage of the local garment sector.
