Many people are still unaware of slow but steady growth of the country’s apparel accessories and packaging industry. On all counts, this industry is a success story. But this has not been highlighted in the way it rightly deserves. The industry in the last fiscal fetched export revenues worth $6.12 billion and expects to raise it even higher this year. Expectations are high that with right kind of incentives and policy support, this particular backward linkage industry would be able to double its earnings by 2021 in line with the projected earnings of $50 billion from shipment of apparel items. The fate of the accessories and packaging manufacturers, in general, are integrally linked to the rise and fall of the major export-oriented industries, the readymade garments (RMG) industry leading the pack. To its credit, the industry has also been able to enter directly, though on a very limited scale, the markets of some South and Southeast Asian countries, quite successfully. Around 1,600 apparel accessories and packaging units are now in operation, mostly in and around Dhaka and Chittagong cities. These are meeting most part of the requirements of the country’s export-oriented apparel and other manufacturing units. In the early years, apparel manufacturers were required to import accessories and packaging goods involving a sizeable amount of funds. Now those days are over. These goods are now being sourced from domestic manufacturers, thus saving billions of dollars every year. However, the operators in the accessories and packaging sub-sector have some lingering grievances. Those need to be addressed by the government policymakers. In an exclusive interview with the FE recently, the president of the Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA) highlighted the problems that its members had been facing. Most accessories and packaging goods manufacturers are small- and medium-scale production units. Yet they are reportedly not getting bank loans at lower rates of interest like most other small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Besides, the industry people feel that the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) should preserve their export earnings data separately and the utility service-providers do also need to ensure uninterrupted availability of power and gas to their factories. Furthermore, the issue of providing cash incentives that are extended to some other export-oriented sub-sectors, does deserve sympathetic consideration from relevant authorities. The policymakers must not be oblivious of the fact that without the manufacturers of accessories and packaging materials, the country would have remained mostly dependent on the import of these items at substantially higher costs. The imports, naturally, would have involved a more expensive and time-consuming process. The local exporters must be aware of the benefits of easy availability of accessories and packing materials at lower prices from local sources. More importantly, with right kind of supports, the sub-sector, it is hoped, will be able to increase its earnings from direct export of accessories and packaging goods. To earn the confidence of the foreign buyers of their items, the BGAPMEA has already established a quality testing lab having limited capacity. It needs to expand its capacity. The government can help the association on this account and also in its efforts to create more skilled manpower for the sub-sector.
