A two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo kicked off yesterday in the capital expecting the country to fetch US$7 billion of the brand fabric’s global market share within 2021 from the existing $3.5 billion out of $ 60 billion global market. The expo is being held at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel to showcase Bangladesh’s growth potential in the denim industry globally and share the local producers’ knowledge with international denim manufacturers and buyers. Twenty-five exclusive denim and jeans related manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and host Bangladesh are taking part in the exposition. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, inaugurated the expo as the chief guest while Head of European Commission Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, High Commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh Benoit-Pierre Laramee, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Gerben Sjoerd de Jong, BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Exporters Association Abdus Salam Murshidi and Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd Mostafiz Uddin spoke as special guests. Criticizing the USA attitude towards Bangladesh, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Bangladeshi products have to pay 16 per cent duty for entering the USA market that is second highest in the world. “No one can resist advancement of Bangladesh. Those who had termed Bangladesh bottomless basket once, now they are saying – Bangladesh is nothing but a miracle,” he said. “We signed on Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) deal to increase investment cooperation between US and Bangladesh which now becomes meaningless. Bangladesh has paid around $ 4.1 billion on export in US market as they imposed 16 percent custom duty”, the minister added. Mostafiz Uddin said the primary purpose of the exposition is to create a platform for Denim stakeholders and to make Bangladesh as one Stop Sourcing Platform for denim industry.
