Readymade garment (RMG) exports to India from Bangladesh grew by more than 165 per cent to $ 232.39 million during the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 over the same period of the last FY.The figure stood at $ 87.43 million during the July-November period of FY 2017-18, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.Of the total export earnings in the current five months, $ 66.16 million came from knitwear and $ 166.22 million from shipments of woven items.The overall exports to India stood at $ 567.82 million in July-November of the current FY against $ 288.20 million in the same period of the last FY.The RMG exports from Bangladesh to India grew following the increase of the demand among the Indian rising middle class and Western retailers, having their outlets in India, found it competitive to source the RMG products from Bangladesh, according to traders.Indian GST (goods and service tax) also might have a positive impact as the basic customs duty on imports from Bangladesh has been exempted under the GST. The duty-free access to India has also encouraged the western buyers to source from here for their Indian market, they said.Bangladesh’s RMG export to China also grew by 66.43 per cent to $ 221.66 million while the exports of the same items to Japan also increased by 53.33 per cent to $ 221.66 million, during the period compared to the previous year.Meanwhile Bangladesh fetched $ 302.91 million from apparel shipments to Australia, marking a 22.67 per cent growth during the first five months. The country’s exports grew by 21.34 per cent to $ 2.54 billion in the US market.The RMG exports grew by 15.50 per cent to $ 2.50 billion in Germany, 12.81 per cent to $ 1.05 billion in Spain, 13.42 per cent to $ 802.03 million in France and 13.14 per cent to $ 417.39 million in the Netherlands during the period.The exports, however, witnessed a slow growth of 2.55 per cent in the UK and the earnings stood at $1.59 billion, according to EPB data.
