Sri Lanka is hopeful of increasing its apparel exports to three large economies—the EU, India and China. It is currently negotiating Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) plus facilities with EU and is in discussion with China for increasing its apparel exports. It is also hoping that India will remove the current quota of 8 million given under the ISFTA. Prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was in Brussels last week where he initiated talks with the EU on restoring GSP Plus status to his country. Sri Lanka’s apparel exports registered four per cent growth last year and GSP plus facility would be a further push for exports growth, according to Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF). The south Asian nation is also hoping some favourable outcome from the ongoing preferential trade negotiations with India and China. The Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) between India and Sri Lanka is currently in final stages of negotiation. The agreement is likely to open India’s apparel import market for Sri Lanka, and remove the current quota of 8 million under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). Chinese government is also likely to offer a more flexible environment for Sri Lankan apparel exports. Sri Lanka’s textile and garment exports stood at $4.7 billion in 2015 and the country is targeting to increase this figure to $6 billion by 2019.

The booming garment trade is just a near-forgotten past, so said the garment traders in the area who now count losses, but still sticks to their business legacy. Talking to the traders, it was evident that the sale has recently plummeted which has forced some shop owners to close their shops as they fail to pay their employees. They attributed an unfavourable business environment to the decrease in sales. Abdul Aziz Morol, proprietor of MR Garments and Chistia Garments, said: “I have been in the business over the last 25 years, but never faced such a situation.” “Once we made a sale of around Tk2-Tk5 lakh a day, but those are bygone days now.” “In the past three days I could not make any sale while Tk1 lakh is spent per month on shop rent. The country is developing but people are still starving here,” narrated the trader. Keraniganj cloth business made a silent revolution in the country, and still it meets 70% of the local market demand. The product items include different denim and woven items, including T-shirts, jeans, shirts, panjabi, borqua, undergarments and children’s wear. On condition of anonymity, a south Kaliganj wholesaler said the government has increased tax on garment products, which ultimately has shot up the prices of garments. In the wake of high price, buyers don’t feel interest to buy from here, he said. Asked how long they are going through such recession, the trader said they have seen reduction in sale over the past two years. Visiting some apparel markets of the south keraniganj vicinity to justify their claim, it was noticed that businessmen were making chit-chat with others while some were taking a doze. Harassment of buyers by the leaseholders is another reason for the downturn in sale, said Md Mojibur Rahman, proprietor of Kader Garments. He said leaseholders harass buyers while they carry goods through the boat terminal at Sadarghat. This prevents them from visiting the market. On the other hand the buyers are also forced to pay for their freight. Even sometimes they are physically assaulted if they fail to comply with the leaseholders’ demand. Some buyers alleged that muggers steal their goods. Besides, communication system and security were not good. Asked about harassment of buyers, Hasan Ahmed, one of the leaseholders said: “We charge every commuter Tk2 to enter the area on the Buriganga river, and at least Tk10 for freight they carry as per the directive of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC). Officer-in-Charge (OC) of South Keraniganj Police Station, however, refuted the allegation of mugging. He, however, said security is tight here all the time. In and around the capital, prominent shopping centres are also selling clothes made in Keraniganj. The apparel makers produce items targeting both lower and middle-income groups. “We sell a pair of normal jeans between Tk250 and Tk350 and quality ones at between Tk500 to Tk2,500,” said SK Jan-e Alam, proprietor of New Jetu Garments. The same products cost double or sometimes triple in various outlets in the capital, added the trader. “Actually we count on Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Azha for making a good sale. Besides, winter session is also our target.” Traders also alleged that some local businessmen do not pay them on time. They purchase clothes on credit but later they do not communicate with the wholesalers. There are about 5,000 small factories and 5,500 showrooms in the apparel makets in Keraniganj and around two lakh people are employed there. The keraniganj products would become famous not only in the country but also in South Asia if the government patronised them. The trader demanded tax waiver, uninterrupted electricity and gas supply, easy loan and improved communication systems to make it happen. General Secretary of Keraniganj Garments Babosayee & Dokan Malik Samabai Somity Ltd Mizanur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that recession is actually going on across the world. “We are hopeful that our business will boom in the upcoming winter session.” Mizanur said foreign clothes from India and China are also affecting their business. “Some people in our country like foreign products but they don’t know what type of products they buy.”

Country’s apparel-export earnings from Russia, China and Chile registered a colossal growth in the first quarter of the current financial year of 2016-17 while the earnings from most of the non-traditional markets including India, Turkey, Brazil and Australia suffered a negative growth in the period. Readymade garment export to Russia in the July-September period of FY17 registered a whopping 61.67 per cent growth to hit $49.10 million from $30.37 million in the same period of FY16, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data. Apparel export to China in the first quarter of FY17 grew by 42.35 per cent to $82.71 million from $58.10 million in the same period of FY16.To Chile, RMG export in the July-September period of FY17 grew by $38.84 per cent to $13.79 million from $9.93 million in the same period of FY16, the EPB data showed. Exporters said that RMG export to Russia registered an encouraging growth as the country reduced its import from Turkey due to political and other reasons and Bangladeshi suppliers were gaining the market share. They also said that China’s shifting from the production of basic garments to high-end products was the reason for the strong growth in Bangladeshi RMG export to China while the export to Chile witnessed a robust growth due to duty-free market access. ‘Recently the demand for Bangladeshi RMG products has increased in Russia as the country reduced its import from Turkey due to political reasons. Earlier, some Bangladeshi products were re-exported to Russia from Turkey, but now we directly export the products to the market,’ Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, told New Age on Monday. He said Russia is a big and potential market for Bangladesh but Bangladeshi exporters are yet to gain the market share due to complicated banking system and non-tariff barriers. Faruque Hassan, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said that the payment system of Russia was being eased gradually and Bangladesh’s export there was also increasing. ‘Now we understand the Russian market better than before we did and our manufacturers are producing products suitable for the market,’ he said. Faruque said that Bangladesh would gain more share in the China market as the country reduced the production of basic garments and concentrated on fabric and yearn production. He said that China was shifting its production to high value-added products due to worker shortage and increasing production cost.China would meet the local demand for basic garments through import in future, Faruque said.He also said that the export growth in Chile increased as the country provided duty-free market access for Bangladeshi products from January this year. According to the EPB data, RMG export to Brazil fell by 56.11 per cent to $17.67 million in the July-September period of FY17 while the export to South Africa decreased by 24.46 per cent to $15.80 million. RMG export earnings from Australia in the first quarter of FY17 declined by 12.30 per cent to $142.81 million while the earnings from Turkey fell by 10.63 per cent to $102.44 million. RMG export to India in the July-September period of FY17 fell by 2.04 per cent to $36.41 million from $ 37.17 million in the same period of FY16, the data showed.