Export earnings of readymade garment (RMG) products of Bangladesh fetched some USD 499.09 million from neighbouring India in FY2018–19. This led to an enormous growth of 79.09 per cent from the USD 278.67 million earned during the same period in FY2017–18. Explaining the reason, the director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and managing director of Masud Apparels Ltd, Mohammed Nasir, told The Independent that local Indian business giants such as Reliance and Tata have started their apparel business and opened up retail chain shops across the country. This has opened up an opportunity for Bangladesh to act as the prominent supplier for them, he added. “Famous international retail brands such as Zara and H and M have established their businesses in India and we are the biggest supplier for them,” he also added.“Another reason is that Indian domestic market has grown and the numbers of fashion-conscious consumers have increased. We import RMG raw materials such as cotton and machinery from India, so their exports are also increasing. It is a win-win situation for both the countries,” he said. It is a good indication that exports to major destinations have turned around along with higher growth in the Indian market, said Nasir. “India and China, these two countries, are the biggest markets for us because both countries have shifted their manual industries to high-tech industries and their wages have been increasing, which eventually ended up hiking the production cost,” he elaborated. “The Indian market is closer for us compared to European and US markets, so there is a huge opportunity for us to penetrate the Indian market in future. This is because the shipment time is just four hours from Bangladesh to India,” he added. It is a good sign that the export growth in India is increasing because the quality of products has increased but there is still a huge opportunity to penetrate the market as India imports goods worth USD 450 billion from other countries, he added. Remediation work of more than 95 per cent factory buildings has been entirely completed and fulfilled the requirements of Accord and Alliance, the platform of two Western buyers, said Nasir. The former senior vice-president of the BGMEA, Faruque Hassan, mentioned a couple of reasons. He said: “Famous international retail brands such as Zara and H and M have established their business in India and we are the biggest supplier for them.” He too said it was a win-win situation from the perspectives of both the countries. The purchasing power of Indian people has increased, which has driven them to import more apparel from Bangladesh, he added. RMG products earned USD 34.13 billion in FY 2018–19. It was USD 30.61 billion during the same period of the previous year (2017–18). The growth is 11.49 per cent.
