Country’s export earning from ready-made garment products in the non-traditional markets increased in the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal 2015-16.Bangladesh fetched $2.01 billion from the non-traditional markets by exporting RMG products in the first half, which was $ 1.86 billion during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Export earning in the non-traditional market increased by 8.13 per cent, according to the latest data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey are considered as the non-traditional markets.Vice-President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BKMEA) Mohammad told The New Nation that non-traditional markets could be more promising destinations for the Bangladeshi exporters and it could help the sector recover from the bad patch in the traditional markets like the US, Europe and Canada.The BKMEA leader expected a tremendous export growth in non-traditional markets, as Russia, China and Japan were keen to source from Bangladesh. “We are working to grab the non-traditional markets. If we succeed, the whole scenario in this sector would change”, said the business leader.Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA) President Md Siddiqur Rahman said, export growth in non-traditional markets are increasing gradually, contributing to 12 per cent of the total RMG export.He said, the government and the entrepreneurs were working together to increase export volume to non-traditional markets, as there were enormous potential in Russia, China, Japan and Latin America.He urged the government to provide more incentive for the exporters to export in the non-traditional markets. “We will continue to explore the new export destinations and the incentive would be helpful to penetrate the markets”, said the BGMEA leader.The exports to EU increased in volume but earnings remained below expectation due to a depreciation of the euro against the dollar, Faruque Hassan, Senior Vice-President of BGMEA said. The RMG exporters had a plan to give drives in some potential markets including Russia, China and South Korea. Trade delegations from Bangladesh will visit the countries and will select export products studying the markets, the business leader said.The robust growth has been possible mainly because of the all-out efforts made by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) to explore new destinations for the apparel products, said Faruque Hassan. BGMEA and BKMEA had launched such a move to explore non-traditional markets in 2010 and the move is still on,” he informed.He said, duty-free access to some markets and government cash incentives for searching new destinations for RMG products have finally yielded positive results in the previously unexplored market. “We will continue our drive to reach still untouched and unexplored markets”, he said.
