Apparel export grew by 27.77 percent in five years during the 2011-2015 period owing to a rise in the demand of Bangladeshi apparel products in international market. The country fetched $19.21 billion from apparel export in 2011, and the income soared to $26.60 billion in 2015, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data. The export growth was driven by a rise in the demand of local RMG products in the existing markets in US, UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Canada; as well as in some newly created markets in across the West And East, specially in Japan, China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Australia. RMG exporters said they successfully drew the attention of the world’s leading apparel retailers over the years by offering very competitive prices taking the advantages of the Chinese exporters’ reluctance in producing low-cost RMG goods. Bangladesh has already become the world’s second largest apparel exporter with RMG export worth $26.60 billion last year. Local apparel industry also improved its compliance standards with the help of the concerted efforts of two buyers’ platforms, the ILO, Germany, the Netherlands and the government following several major disasters at some garment factories in 2012 and 2013. Apparel exports stood at $23.50 billion in 2013, $19.78 billion in 2012 and $19.21 billion in 2011, according to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “The second half of 2015 showed a good comeback for us in terms of export growth,” BGMEA Senior Vice-president Faruque Hassan said. He said apparel export grew by 7.84 during the July-December period of 2015 over the corresponding period in 2014. The BGMEA leader also informed that the US was the single largest importer for Bangladeshi apparel products in 2015 as 21.27 percent of the country’s total apparel exports headed for the US in the year. The share of EU (28 member countries) was 59.73 percent, including that of three main buyers—Germany, UK and Spain. RMG export to US in 2015 stood at $5.66 billion followed by $4.36 billion from Germany, $3.32 billion from UK, $1.73 billion from Spain, $1.63 billion from France and $1.24 billion from Italy. The garment exporters also fetched $974 million from Canada, $ 606 million from Australia, $ 680 million from Japan, $ 305 million from China, $ 101 million from India, $ 144 million from Mexico, $ 216 million from Russia and $ 162 million from Brazil, $ 473 million from Turkey and $ 73 million from South Africa in 2015. BGMEA said a number Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Czech Republic and Malta are showing promising outlook in terms of importing RMG goods from Bangladesh. The share of non-traditional markets in RMG exports was only 7 percent in 2009, which soared to 15.29 percent in 2015 with export income from new markets reaching $4.07 billion. Exporters said exploring more non-traditional markets to boost garment export is important for Bangladesh to ensure sustainable export growth in the apparel sector.
