A two-day ‘Bangladesh Denim Expo’ begins in the capital today (Monday) to showcase the country’s growth potential in the denim industry globally as well as share knowledge with international denim producers and buyers, reports UNB. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed is expected to inaugurate the expo at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel on Monday while State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam will be present at the concluding ceremony of the exposition. Chief Initiator of the expo and managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, Mostafiz Uddin said the show aims not only to promote denim trade in Bangladesh but also to encourage greater business practice to raise the living standard of the people in this country. “Our primary purpose is to create a platform for Denim stakeholders and make Bangladesh as one Stop Sourcing Platform for denim industry, which could bring benefits to the entrepreneurs. Any surplus fund from the expo will be donated to a seed fund for establishing a Denim University in Bangladesh,” he said. Some 25 exclusive denim and jeans related manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and host Bangladesh will take part in the exposition. The organisers are expecting good turnout of apparel entrepreneurs, businessmen, fashion professionals and stakeholders of the industry from Europe, the USA and the UK during the expo. Four seminars, including a special one with titled ‘Made in Bangladesh a new Reality-vision 2021’ jointly organised with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) & Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on the sideline of the exposition. The discussions at the seminar will focus towards devising a strategic action plan to overcome the existing challenges with a vision to increase Bangladesh’s share to US$ 7 billion in the global denim market by 2021. According to the industry insiders, Bangladesh is the second largest denim exporter in European markets while it is holding the third largest position in the USA market. About 400 factories are exporting nearly 180 million pieces of denim jeans to the world. Bangladesh presently has 25 denim producing factories with total investment of over $834 million. After performing the forthcoming May show, Bangladesh Denim Expo will showcase there Next Exhibition on November 11-12 this year.
Source: https://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2410845&date=2015-05-11
