Bangladesh Denim Expo established on Tuesday in high hopes, with entrepreneurs targeting to export $7 billion worth of denim products by 2021, when the country’s total garment export is expected to cross the $50-billion mark. The second edition of the show started at the Radisson hotel in Dhaka on Monday. Bangladesh currently exports denim products worth $3.5 billion a year, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said at the concluding session. Mostafiz Uddin, managing director of Denim Expert and the organiser of the expo, said a total of 25 companies from Bangladesh, the US, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey participated in the show. Currently around 400 factories export nearly 180 million pieces of denim products a year, he said, adding that Bangladesh has 25 denim fabric producing factories with a total investment of more than $834 million. The expo is a non-profit initiative, he said. Any surplus fund from the expo will be used for establishing a denim university in Bangladesh, Mostafiz added. Bangladesh is the second largest denim exporter to the European markets and the third largest exporter to the US, according to industry insiders. The next exhibition will take place in Dhaka on November 11-12, Mostafiz said. Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, senior secretary to the commerce ministry; Greg Wilcock, Australian ambassador; Christian Martin Fotsch, Swiss ambassador; and Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also spoke.
