It sounds incredible that Bangladesh is missing the $10 billion apparel market in the Gulf countries because of lack of initiatives of the government and the apparel makers to tap the same. Gulf countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman are brotherly countries but they import apparels mainly from China, Turkey and India. Bangladesh as one of the world’s leading apparel makers is very close to the Gulf countries politically, diplomatically and also in terms of easy communication. But we are missing the huge market. Any explanation is not enough to shield the failure. Country’s apparel makers have remained tied to traditional EU and US markets and some western nations.
The government and BGMEA often talked about diversification of RMG markets but why they can’t see the potential of the Gulf market is a big question. As per International Trade Centre data, in 2020, the UAE imported $4.40 billion worth of apparels from global markets, Saudi Arabia imported $3.01 billion, Kuwait $1.13 billion, Qatar $660 million, Oman $608 million and Bahrain $274 million RMG products. In this backdrop Bangladesh exports only $367.49 million worth of RMG products to this region, which is not only a shame but also shows lack of effective drives.
Bangladesh’s RMG exports meet about 5 percent annual demand of the UAE, 4 percent of Saudi Arabia and less than 1 percent of the demand in the rest of the Gulf region. There is an ample scope to improve exports. As it appears Bangladesh is continuously focusing on low paid export of manpower while apparel exports and ‘made in Bangladesh’ brands in Gulf’s show rooms could earn huge respect for the nation. We have diplomatic missions in every Gulf nation. The question is why they don’t organise trade fairs regularly in each country to familiarise our apparel products and the capacity of Bangladesh’s apparel makers who are successfully competing in global markets. If our missions in the Gulf countries can’t pull up to organise fairs as BGMEA president complains, the envoys must be called back. We would also say why BGMEA having enough resources doesn’t take initiative to open the Gulf market. Another big question is why the ministry of commerce and the Export Promotion Bureau also lack the initiative.
