BANGLADESH has a name at global level for producing clothes for man, women and children that it exports to global market. Its textile products and handlooms items like saris, kamiz, salwars and Punjabis are equally popular but it appears that we are failing to value our goods and instead briskly purchasing clothes smuggled into the country from across the border. Before the forthcoming Eid festival such illegal arrivals, along with limited formal imports are flooding the market as police and members of law enforcing agencies are passively looking on the movement and hoarding of such clothes in different city markets.
The New Nation reports on Saturday said that newly designed collection of clothes imported from India, Pakistan and Thailand have grabbed the Eid market throughout the country. Such products are highly alluring to consumers, especially women and kids who believe foreign clothes are good and it has a demonstration value over local products. So shoppers sell such products in plenty while crowds in shops selling local products buy them mostly as their second choice.
On the occasion of Eid, businessmen import more clothes to do brisk business. What appears noticeable is that local market is losing control to foreign clothes while most local producers find their stock unsold or forced to sell at lower price. In this season Indian producers push their famed brands across the border, in addition to some formal export as cover to informal export. They even sell in credit and their push sellers take permanent residency in local hotels to ensure regular supply and then recover price on after sale basis. Local shoppers also find it easier to pay the price on sale and they operate a network of marketing defying ban on sale of illegally imported or smuggled in goods.
This trend is very alarming depriving huge revenue to the government. It is unthinkable that smugglers are regularly bringing smuggled clothes to the city by roads and highways and then dispatching them to the districts. Crowded lanes and by-lanes of Gabtoli area shelter trucks loaded with illegally imported clothes almost every night but police avoid searching the transports for reasons known to almost everybody. They get handsome for helping the illegal trade. Imported fabrics under bonded warehouse facility are also regularly entering the local market distorting the entire Eid trading system.
In our view, the laxity of security in the border is allowing smuggling of Indian clothes. Indian border guards allow such smuggling with support from Bangladesh side and it is damaging the national economy. During every Eid festival, Indian suppliers reap thousand crore taka business while local producers continue to suffer. We believe that mobile vigilance is important on highway and at market place to stop such trade.
