Bangladesh is apprehended to miss the export target for the current fiscal year as it has to earn $7.9bn more in the final two months of FY2014-15. Trade analysts and exporters have feared that it would be quite impossible to fulfill the gap as the last 10-month trend suggests. The dismal export performance is attributed to the country’s political unrest, devaluation of Euro against US dollar, weak demands of global consumers and compliance issues – all putting bar to placing high volume work orders, they said. As per the latest data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), during July-April of FY2014-15, Bangladesh fetched $25.30bn in export earning against $33.2bn target, registering a rise of 2.63% compared to the same period a year earlier. The export earning needs to be upped by 23.8% to reach the target. RMG sector, the lifeline of export earnings, failed to reach the target. In July-April Bangladesh earned $20.56bn by exporting clothes against its target of $26.89bn for the current fiscal year. As per the EPB data, the woven sector earned $10.55bn, which is 4.53% less than required to reach target while knitwear earned over $10bn, 6.3% less than required target amount. Among other major sectors, frozen food missed export target by 16.76% followed by tea 22.68%, leather and leather products 19%, shrimp 14.25%, raw jute 13.17% and computer services by 6.6%. “A $33.2bn export target was very easy to achieve but the political unrest stood in the way,” Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Tribune. “Bangladesh will be far away from meeting the target on the basis of current growth trend,” CPD additional Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem told the Dhaka Tribune. He cited four broad reasons – political unrest in the first part of the year, devaluation of Euro against US dollar, slow demands from the European buyers and compliance issues – as obstacles to meeting the export earnings target. Bangladesh might be able to earn $3bn in the remaining two months by achieving 5% growth, he said, adding that the total export earnings will touch $31bn if it achieves 10% growth, he added. “In January-February period of the current fiscal, exporters failed to net expected orders due to political unrest, which cast shadow on export earnings,” EPB Vice-Chairman Shubhashish Bose told the Dhaka Tribune. Bose added that 10% growth target was set, but due to devaluation of Euro and political stalemate it would not be possible to reach the target. Some sector people also raised question about the growth as they witnessed negative production growth and accounts. “From my perspective and production report, I am doubtful about the growth target as products and earnings from export show meager growth,” an exporter said, preferring not to be named. From the beginning of the year, a jolt had been felt in production because of turbulent political atmosphere in the country, which hit earnings badly, he added. The government dreams to become a middle-income country by 2021 and to earn $50bn from RMG export by the fifth anniversary of Bangladesh’s birth, but it will be unlikely if the export earnings do not reach a desired level, he added.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/may/13/exports-set-miss-target#sthash.2XkS3OsK.dpuf

The country’s export earnings in the financial year 2014-15 is set to fall around $2 billion short of target as readymade garment exports witnessed sluggish growth because of restructuring of the garment sector and also political turmoil, economists and exporters said. The export earnings in the first 10 months of the FY15 stood at $25.30 billion, which is 5.71 per cent short of the target of $26.83 billion, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Tuesday. With the current trend of $2.3 billion-$2.8 billion monthly export, the country may fetch at best $5.8 billion in the remaining two months of the fiscal year taking the total export earnings to around $31 billion, around $2 billion short of annual target of $33.20 billion, estimated the analysts. The government has set the export earnings growth target at 10.02 per cent for the current financial year 2014-15 — the lowest target rate since the FY09 when the goal was 15.50 per cent. The data showed that during July-April of the FY15 country’s export earnings growth was 2.63 higher than the same period of the FY14. It is unlikely to reach $33.20 billion export earnings target in the FY15 as the export of readymade garments has lost its space in the US market and political unrest hit export oriented sector from the beginning of the year, Centre pr Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman told New Age on Tuesday. ‘Export earnings in the current financial year may fall short of target by $2 billion and the earnings growth will be near to 4 per cent,’ he said. Mustafiz said that deprecation of euro was one of the reasons for the shortfall in export earnings target. ‘Reaching $33.20 billion export target will be impossible because of the political unrest and due to the impact of back-to-back Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashion fire incidents,’ Exporters Association of Bangladesh president Abdus Salam Murshedy told New Age. He said that the country’s readymade garment sector witnessed a slowdown in the financial year as global retailers started safety inspections in the sector following the Rana Plaza building collapse. During the period many small and medium factories were forced to suspend their productions as they failed to meet tough conditions enforced by the retailers’ platforms, Murshedy said. ‘We are not concerned about the missing of export earnings target, but we are hopeful that we could overcome the situation as we are developing our industry,’ he said. Earnings from readymade garments in July-April period fetched $20.56 billion against its target of $26.89 billion for the current fiscal year. As per the EPB data, export earnings from woven fall short of target by 4.53 per cent to $10.55 billion in the first 10 months of current financial year while knitwear exports stood at $10 billion which is 6.3 per cent short of its target. According to Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, a former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, it is obvious that if the RMG sector fails to achieve its target, the overall export earnings will miss the target as the RMG sector contributes to 81 per cent of the total export earnings. ‘It is not surprising that the export earnings in the current fiscal year may fall short of its target as the safety inspection of European and North American retailer groups is holding the sector back,’ he said. The country’s export earnings also missed its target by 1.06 per cent in the FY14. In the FY14, the exports grew by 11.65 per cent to $30.17 billion year-on-year missing the target of $30.5 billion, according to the EPB data.

Source: https://newagebd.net/119228/export-earning-set-to-fall-2b-short-of-target/#sthash.CCcJpbAH.dpuf

A female readymade garments factory worker was gang-raped in her factory bus in Dhondi area of Sonargaon upazila on Monday night. Sub-inspector of Sonargaon police station Md Aminul Islam said that the victim and other female workers were returning to residences in Dhondi area of Sonargaon from Araihazar upazila by their factory bus. They all were workers of Fakir Garments Factory in Araihazar upazila. When all but the victim got down from the bus, the bus driver Chandu Mia, his helper Rubel and other associates raped the girl in the vehicle. The girl became unconscious and the rapists fled leaving at a nearby house on the road. The bus started journey at 10.30 pm after the factory was closed and dropped passengers in different areas. Police being informed conducted a raid on Tuesday and arrested bus helper Rubel. OC of Sonargaon police station Kamrul Islam admitting the fact said that the drive will continue to arrest the culprits.

Source: https://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=257999:rmg-worker-gang-raped-in-bus-in-nganj&catid=136:metropolitan-others&Itemid=175

Apparel export growth slowed last month as industry people say compliance requirement and recent political turmoil ate into income. Exports proceeds slowed down to 1.16 per cent in April, compared with the same period last year, the Export Promotion Bureau said. Exports of ready-made garment in July and August 2014 witnessed a 0.07 and 4.23 per cent growth compared to that of the same period of 2013 while the receipts fell by 2.06 and 9.69 per cent in the next two months-September and October, the bureau data showed . But earning from overseas sales rebounded in November with 9.71 per cent growth in the same year and slowed down to 2.38 per cent in December again in 2014 while it has been maintaining a moderate growth since January of the year. Income from exports of apparel products recorded a significant growth of over 7.0 per cent in the first three months of the calendar year. Knitwear earnings stood at $10.0 billion and woven fetched $10.55 billion during the July-April of the current fiscal year 2014-15. But both the sectors failed to achieve the targets by 6.31 per cent and 4.53 per cent set for the period. The overall earnings in April 2015 stood at $2.39 billion against $ 2.41 billion year-ago period marking a 0.55 per cent negative growth. The earnings also fell short of the target by 11.36 per cent, data showed. The total earnings during the first 10 months of the current fiscal stood at $ 25.30 billion showing a 2.63 per cent growth compared to the same period last fiscal. The country also failed to achieve the target set for the period by 5.71 per cent. Md Shahidullah Azim, vice president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said the recent political turmoil and the compliance issues had a negative impact on April growth. Knit export fell significantly in April after the scarcity of orders mainly due to the recent political turmoil, he said, adding: “Buyers followed ‘wait and watch’ approach and placed work orders at a reduced volume at the end of last year as the safety drive went on.” But with the completion of initial inspection by Accord and Alliance, buyers are regaining their confidence in Bangladesh, he said. He added that buyers are gradually increasing work orders in recent times as political turbulence eased.

Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/05/13/92481

Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) has turned into a meaningless arrangement as the country is yet to reap any trade facility from the US government, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said here yesterday. “Despite Bangladesh signed the TICFA, we are yet to get any sort of trade and investment benefits from the USA government under the framework,” he told the inaugural ceremony of a two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo held at a city hotel. The exhibition kicked off with an aim to fetch US$7bn of the brand fabric’s global market share within 2021. “It would be meaningless until and unless we can achieve something under TICFA, which has already become a platform for nothing but holding meetings only,” Tofail said. Strongly criticising the US government for not restoring the GSP facilities, Toail said, “Unfortunately we did not get any trade and investment benefit from the US government in the last five years, rather it suspended Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) of our products to the US market even after the signing of the TICFA.” EU Head of Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon said, “It’s not only about prices, rather the European consumers are very much directly connected with Bangladeshi workers and that is why we had reacted very strongly two years back.” He repeatedly called for compliance with the conditions set in the sustainability compact signed to improve workplace safety and workers’ rights in the RMG sector. Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Benoit Pierre Laramee said, “Price and quality are no longer factors for the Canadian customers.” Rather, what the customers want is that the workers are respected, treated with dignity and their rights and safety ensured, he added. Regarding denim, he observed: “As denim has tremendous potentials, investment is necessary to grab more market share. Bangladesh Denim can play a lead role in achieving the US$50bn target.” Criticising Accord’s recent activities in connection with the termination of workers in a factory, BGMEA President MdAtiqul Islam accused the Accord’s Executive Director Rob Wayss of over exercising his power, which is beyond his jurisdiction. He also alleged that Wayss asked the factory owner to re-appoint the sacked workers, or else, he warned the owner of blacklisting the factory by its buyers. Twenty-five exclusive denim and jeans manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and Bangladesh are taking part in the exposition. “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 the country,” said Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd and also organiser of the Expo MostafizUddin. 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. Around 400 factories are exporting nearly 180 million pieces of denim jeans to the world. Bangladesh currently has 25 denim producing factories with total investment of over $834m. After this show, the next Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on November11-12 this year.

Source: https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2015/may/12/tofail-ticfa-fails-bring-benefits#sthash.Lo4Fnu6c.dpuf

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed visits a stall after inaugurating the two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo at a hotel in Dhaka on Monday. Despite signing the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA), Bangladesh is yet to get the benefits as the US does not provide any major trade facilities for Bangladeshi products to its market, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed claimed. “TICFA was signed between Bangladesh and the US aimed at promoting trade and investment. But there was no major benefit for Bangladesh except holding of some meetings,” he opined. The commerce minister also claimed that the US has been depriving Bangladesh of providing duty-free quota free access of products though Bangladesh is enjoying it in many largest economies. All Bangladesh products are enjoying EBA scheme in EU market, duty free and quota free access in Canada and many other largest economies in the world. But the US market is not open for Bangladeshi garment items which share around 80 percent of the country’s export earnings. Bangladesh does not enjoy such facilities for ‘unknown’ reason, Tofail added. Tofail was speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo which kicked off in the capital on Monday. Pierre Mayaudon, Head of European Commission Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh, Benoit-Pierre Laramee, High Commissioner of Canada to Dhaka, Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of Exporters Association of Bangladesh, and Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd and also organiser of the event, also spoke on the occasion. While speaking at the event, Benoit-Pierre Laramee said Canada has been working with the government of Bangladesh to ensure safe RMG sector and to bring a sustainable development in the sector. He also emphasised the necessity of implementation of labour law with a view to protecting the interests of the workers. Bangladesh has a huge opportunity to grab world denim market, said Abdus Salam Murshedy informing that Bangladesh’s denim industry has enjoyed 11 percent growth from 2009 to 2014. Praising the exhibition, Murshedy said such expo will not only encourage the local entrepreneurs but also bag recognition of its quality globally. BGMEA President Atiqul Islam said Bangladesh’s garment industry has been going through a critical time as prices of currencies have been fluctuating sharply against Bangladeshi taka. In addition, many other obstacles, including political instability and price competitiveness, have aroused Atiqul said calling the commerce minister to pay due attention to the sector in next budget. Expressing hope for making the exhibition successful this time, Mostafiz Uddin said they are going to arrange the fair largely in November next. He also said the profit gained from the exhibition will be spent in developing the country’s denim industry.

Source: https://www.daily-sun.com/print/business/2015/05/12/502675#sthash.2fmM2c85.dpuf

A two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo kicked off in the capital expecting the country to fetch $7 billion of the brand fabric’s global market share within 2021, says a press release. The expo is being at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel to showcase Bangladesh’s growth potential in the denim industry globally and share the local producers’ knowledge with international denim manufacturers and buyers. Twenty-five exclusive denim and jeans related manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and host Bangladesh are taking part in the exposition. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, MP inaugurated the expo as the chief guest while Head of European Commission Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, High Commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh Benoit-Pierre Laramee, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Gerben Sjoerd de Jong,BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Exporters Association Abdus salam murshedi and Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd, Mostafiz Uddin spoke as the special guests. The Commerce Minister expressed his hope that the exposition will help opening of new trade avenues between local denim and jeans producers and international buyers. “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,” the key initiator of the expo Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd, Mostafiz Uddin Mostafiz Uddin said. He said the primary purpose of the exposition is to create a platform for Denim stakeholders and to make Bangladesh as one Stop Sourcing Platform for denim industry. “Any surplus fund from the expo will be donated to a seed fund for establishing a Denim University in Bangladesh,” he added. A good numbers of turnout of apparel entrepreneurs, businessmen, fashion professionals and stakeholders of the industry from Europe, USA and UK also attended the expo. A total of four seminars including a special one with titled “Made in Bangladesh a new Reality-vision 2021” jointly organized with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA) & Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held on the sidelines of the exposition. The discussion in the seminar will focus towards devising a strategic action plan to overcome the existing challenges with a vision to increase Bangladesh’s share to $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. Around 400 factories are exporting nearly 180 million pieces of denim jeans to the world. Bangladesh currently 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 11-12th this year.

Source: https://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2410938&date=2015-05-12

The country’s trade deficit increased by 56.78 per cent to $7.14 billion in the first nine months of the current financial year 2014-15 compared with that of $4.55 billion during the same period of the FY14 due to a massive drop in export earnings against a higher import payment. Officials of Bangladesh Bank said falling export growth of readymade garment, the main export product of the country, dented the overall earnings in July-March of the FY15 while import of capital machinery continued to rise significantly during the period. The trade deficit had posted a growth of 4.94 per cent in July-March of the FY14, according to the BB data. The trade deficit was $4.86 billion in the first nine months of FY13. The export earnings registered a 2.96-per cent growth in the first nine months of the FY15 against 13.46 per cent growth in the same period of FY14. The export earnings stood at $22.61 billion in July-March of the FY15 while it was $21.96 billion during the same period of the FY14. The BB data showed that RMG exports from Bangladesh in the July-March period of the FY15 rose by 3.18 per cent to $18.62 billion against the last year export value of $18.05 billion, but the figure was 4.72 per cent less than that of the target of $19.55 billion set for the first nine months. The imports registered a 12.21-per cent growth in the first nine months of the FY15 compared with that of 11.09 per cent growth in the corresponding period of the FY14. The import payment stood at $29.76 billion in July-March of the FY15 and it was $26.52 billion in the same period of the FY14. A BB official told New Age on Monday that the decreased growth in export earnings had put an adverse impact on the country’s trade account. The lower export growth in the recent period has already created a worrisome situation for the country’s business sector, he said. The higher import growth in the period was apparently good for the industrial sector, but the trend also raised suspicion of money laundering due to a lower private sector credit growth in recent months, he said. He said, ‘The import growth of capital machinery was much higher than that of industrial raw materials, but the businesspeople took little initiative to expand their business in the period due to political crisis.’ He said importers might now be making over-invoicing to launder money abroad as the recent higher import growth had not put any major positive impact on the industrial sector. He said that the country’s commodity import would increase in the next few months ahead of Ramadan that would widen the trade gap more in the period. The BB data showed that the trade deficit in the service sector increased by 24.04 per cent to $3.58 billion in July-March of the FY15 from $2.89 billion in the corresponding period of the FY14. In the first nine months of the FY15, the country received $2.24 billion from the service sector but it paid foreign sources $5.83 billion for different services during the same period.

Source: https://newagebd.net/119005/trade-gap-jumps-to-7-14b-in-9-months/#sthash.3DiIIUn1.dpuf

A two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo kicked off yesterday in the capital expecting the country to fetch US$7 billion of the brand fabric’s global market share within 2021 from the existing $3.5 billion out of $ 60 billion global market. The expo is being held at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel to showcase Bangladesh’s growth potential in the denim industry globally and share the local producers’ knowledge with international denim manufacturers and buyers. Twenty-five exclusive denim and jeans related manufacturers and enterprises from the USA, Spain, Japan, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, China, San Marino and host Bangladesh are taking part in the exposition. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, inaugurated the expo as the chief guest while Head of European Commission Delegation and Ambassador to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon, High Commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh Benoit-Pierre Laramee, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Gerben Sjoerd de Jong, BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, President of Bangladesh Exporters Association Abdus Salam Murshidi and Managing Director of Denim Expert Ltd Mostafiz Uddin spoke as special guests. Criticizing the USA attitude towards Bangladesh, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Bangladeshi products have to pay 16 per cent duty for entering the USA market that is second highest in the world. “No one can resist advancement of Bangladesh. Those who had termed Bangladesh bottomless basket once, now they are saying – Bangladesh is nothing but a miracle,” he said. “We signed on Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) deal to increase investment cooperation between US and Bangladesh which now becomes meaningless. Bangladesh has paid around $ 4.1 billion on export in US market as they imposed 16 percent custom duty”, the minister added. Mostafiz Uddin said the primary purpose of the exposition is to create a platform for Denim stakeholders and to make Bangladesh as one Stop Sourcing Platform for denim industry.

Source: https://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=257881:bangladesh-denim-expo-begins&catid=108:business-finance&Itemid=152