Bangladesh’s export earnings from Asian markets witnessed an encouraging growth in July-January in the current financial year 2018-19 due to rise in shipments of readymade garment products as the major supplier country China had pushed towards high-end garments due to increase in production cost.The country’s export earnings from its major market, United States, also continued to maintain a healthy growth as the ongoing trade tension between the US and China encouraged global garment retailers to increase their import orders to Bangladesh, exporters said.Country’s RMG export to Japan in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 46.56 per cent, raising the total amount to $ 653.67 million from $445.98 million in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.Country’s overall export earnings from Japan in the period grew by 33.04 per cent, about $822.83 million in total.‘There may be two reasons behind the export growth to Japan, one is an increase in demand following economic revival and the other is that buyers have shifted some orders from China to Bangladesh to minimise cost,’ director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (research) Khondaker Golam Moazzem told New Age on Thursday.He said that China was the major supplier of apparel to Japan but recently brands and buyers had been withdrawing orders from China due to increase in cost.
Moazzem also said that the economy of Japan has revived which resulted in growing demand for Bangladesh made apparels, which makes Japan the market.EPB data showed that export earnings from China in July-January of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 30.30 per cent, taking the total figure to $531.51 million from $407.91million in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18.RMG export to China in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 49.65 per cent to $309.74 million.Moazzem said that demand for Bangladeshi apparel increased in China as the country had been shifting its basic manufacturing to high-tech industry against the backdrop of rising labour cost. RMG export to India in July-January period of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 129.05 per cent, raising the total figure to $314.44 million from $137.28 million in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18. Country’s overall exports to India in seven month of the fiscal year 2018-19 stood at $776.19 million with a 73.55 per cent growth from the earnings $447.23 million in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18. Country’s export earnings continued to increase in the US market, the largest export destination for Bangladesh, and earnings in exporting readymade garments in the market stood at $3.61 billion with a 17.22 per cent growth in July-January period of the fiscal year 2018-19.Country’s overall export earnings from the US, in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 17.45 per cent to $4.04 billion from $3.44 billion in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18.Moazzem, however, said that despite trade war between the US and China, the US economy was growing and employment generation was taking place in the country due to many other government policies.Economic growth and employment created demand for apparel products in the US market, he said.Export earnings from Germany, the second highest export destination for Bangladesh, in July-January of the fiscal year 2018-19 grew by 8.95 per cent — around $3.72 billion from $3.41 billion in the same period of the fiscal year 2017-18.RMG exports to the market in the period increased by 9.61 per cent to $3.51 billion.Export earnings from United Kingdom, the third largest export destination for Bangladesh in July-January period of the fiscal year 2018-19 stood at $2.41 billion with a 2.95 per cent minimal growth.RMG exports to the UK in the period increased by 1.25 per cent — about $221billion, data showed.
