MIND TREE
Q-and-A
The growth of the Bangladesh apparel industry has apparently slowed down in the last couple
of years? What (factors) according to you could arrest this decline and boost further growth?
Please share your views…
Nadith Liyanaarachchi,
Country Manager, Kufner Bangladesh Ltd.
Ashraful Hassan, Managing
Director, Grameen Knitwear
There are a number of reasons behind the decline in the growth rate.
Among these, the most important reason that I can think of is low pricing.
Buyers are not ready to pay increased price while they are continuously
mounting pressure on us to solve compliance issues, build green
factories, etc. Besides this, our industry has remained stuck on the
same product categories from the very beginning and we are still known
more for products such as T-shirts, polo shirts, denim jeans, etc. In this
competitive world, we would have to diversify our product categories, add
more innovation and efficiency to sustain growth.
We should also focus heavily on infrastructure development and utility
supply enhancement. Trade bodies and the Government should pay
attention to these issues urgently.
M.A. Sabur,
Chairman, Masco Group
It is true that the growth rate has been declining since the last two-three
years. We have to take it positively as this could be an ideal opportunity
for us to rethink our strategy and plan accordingly.
I sincerely believe that Bangladesh is still an extremely potential player in
the apparel sector. To control the declining growth rate, the Government
and BGMEA should take steps to facilitate business primarily through
infrastructure development and increase of gas supply.
Arafat Hossain, Executive
(Marketing & Sales), Nassa Denim
First of all, I would like to state that we ourselves are responsible
for this; we are still depending on China and India for raw materials
to finished goods. Besides this, lack of requisite infrastructure
arrangements is also creating barriers in the progress path. But in spite
of these obstacles, I also want to add that our prosperity in denims
is a really remarkable achievement; today, we are one of the leading
denim suppliers and manufacturers globally and I am positive about
the future opportunities.
10 Apparel Online Bangladesh | AUGUST 2017 | www.apparelresources.com
It’s very difficult for me to analyse the actual reasons behind the slow
growth rate as I am here in Bangladesh for the last few months only.
Nevertheless, I realize that the global financial stagnation could have
played some part in it as the buying capacity of consumers has been on
decrease, around the world.
Moreover, there are some country-specific reasons also like absence of
adequate infrastructure, shortage of utility supplies and dearth of product
diversifications. I think we need to pay attention to all these aspects to
arrest this situation and boost future developments.
Md. Mahbubur Rashid,
Managing Director, Trendy Tex Ltd.
I believe this slowdown is temporary. After the Rana Plaza incident,
though not many new factories have come up, most of the existing ones
have vertically enhanced their capacities, added new machineries, and
introduced new technologies, besides production upgradation also going
on. Factories are also passing through a transition period to follow the
Accord/Alliance guidelines. Huge re-investments are being made for
production and efficiency increase. Alongside, product diversification
is also going on. Export of products like down jackets, lingerie and
foundation garments have increased. Factories should not just restrict
to manufacturing but also invest in PD to come up with new and rare
designs that have global demands. They also need to set-up marketing
and distribution channels and open retail outlets in different countries. If
these strategies are incorporated, Bangladesh will soon become the hub
of global distribution for retail sales.
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