In a changed business strategy Bangladesh government and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) are now eager for foreign investment in textile sector especially in the fabrics segment.Even few years ago BGMEA totally negated any proposal for foreign investment, but recently they are say foreign investors may invest for producing accessories including yarns and fabrics to feed the booming readymade garment manufacturers.Bangladesh is a lucrative spot for the foreign investors, where they can produce goods worth $30 paying wages of only an incredibly low wage of $3 to the labourers.BGMEA thinks foreign investors may be interested to invest in Bangladesh textile sector without hesitation as most of Bangladesh factories and workplaces have become compliant following concerted efforts put by all stakeholders including the government, the International Labour Organisation, local manufacturers and foreign buyers, over the last four years following deadly Rana Plaza collapse.However, Bangladesh garment manufacturers do not want to see foreign investors take up their business share producing t-shirts, sweaters, shirts, jackets etc which they generally produce for export.But they suggest that foreign investors may fill the gaps in which local garment manufacturers are lacking. As the local apparel manufacturers have no proper technology to produce value added products like suits, lingerie, sports wears, jacket, work wears, etc foreign investors should focus on these items to get lucrative returns by exporting to the world market.Local human resources also be benefited by learning technical knowhow from foreign experts for improving in this particular sector. Thus both the foreign investors and the local garment manufacturers will be equally benefitted, said BGMEA Senior Vice President Mahmud Hasan Khan (Babu).Currently Bangladesh produce only around 40 per cent of fabrics you need to feed the garment sector and the rest 60 per cent are imported from abroad at high costs. If this 60 per cent can be produced locally, it is needless to say how far Bangladesh can go in this sector. The RMG exports constitute around 89 per cent of the country’s total export earnings. Of this figure 82 per cent comes from the woven garments and the 7 per cent comes from knitwear exports Bangladesh is mostly dependent on cotton, synthetic fibres, wool and silk, etc, where there is a huge possibility in manmade textile fibres (MMF) produced from polymers such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, etc. “As the world garments industry is moving faster toward manmade textile fibre (MMF), we are rethinking on it,” Babu added.Bangladesh needs to diversify its textile material base from cotton to other man-made fibres like spandex yarn, linen yarn, viscose, polyester and synthetic yarns and fabrics in which the country still lags behind.”So, foreign investors may invest in Bangladesh in these sectors, where value retention would be higher, said cks capacity,” said another Vice President of BGMEA Mohammed Nasir.Besides, Bangladesh government is making every effort to ensure more favourable environment for trade and investment in the country. Bangladesh is one of the most favoured nations in the South Asian region for investment because of its lucrative fiscal and non-fiscal policies.
