Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine July Issue 2018 | Page 16

COVER STORY THE LATEST NEWS HAVE YOUR SAY For the latest news on apparel and textile, make sure that you visit https://apparelresources.com/top-news/ Write to Apparel Resources, B-32, South Extension-1, New Delhi (110049), India or email: [email protected] in knitwear, has three garment manufacturing units in the country – Tangail, Baona and Konabari (Gazipur), respectively, producing kidswear, menswear, and womenswear with production volume of around 2.2 million pieces a month. Ashis Kumar Das (R), CEO with Kamalendu Dutta, Executive Director of Aryatex Sourcing attributed this trend to Bangladesh’s losing its competitive edge in the US market due to prolonged lead time, lack of strong backward linkage especially in the woven sector and the trade benefit that some of Bangladesh’s competitors enjoy in US. Another section, though sounding a bit low and accepting that export earnings growth in US market in the current fiscal was not as per the desired level, were optimistic that things may well fall back in place sooner or later. They also opined that exporters should take initiatives to regain the US market with the Government’s help through policy support in view of the changing global scenario. However, there are still others who have been already working with Germany and seemed quite optimistic! “I am working with the German customers since 1998 and almost 80 per cent of my sourcing business is for Germany...,” underlined Md. Ashikur Rahman (Tuhin) – Director of Mayc’s Garment Limited and CEO & Managing Director of Texweave speaking to Apparel Online. In Germany, Tuhin has been working with some top of the line retailers. Having worked with German buyers for long, Tuhin finds it really comfortable working with Germans as they are more logical compared Roshan Withanage, Managing Director of CJ International to some buyers from other parts of the world.  Tuhin’s optimism is also shared by Roshan Withanage – Managing Director of CJ International, who seemed very upbeat about Germany. “Germans have more dispensable income compared to many other countries in Europe while at the same time, the German market is also very price-sensitive,” Roshan maintained. Keeping the prospects of Germany in consideration, Ashis Kumar Das, CEO of Aryatex Sourcing, has planned to open a new office in the country, which besides helping him to make inroads, would also aid in effectively catering to clients in the neighbouring countries. For Recipient of Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), Gold Level- International Organizaton for Standardization (ISO), 9001:2000- Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Oeko-Tex Standard 100- Supplier, Ethical Data Exchange (Sedex) Standard, Mitali Fashion’s prime market hitherto has been Germany. “I began with Germany… For us, it is a very beautiful market,” opined the Managing Director of Mitali Fashions, Syed Abu Yousuf Abdullah. Established in 1996-97, Mitali Fashions Limited, which specialises 16 Apparel Online Bangladesh | July 2018 | www.apparelresources.com Bangladesh’s export earnings from Germany in 2014-15 stood at US $ 4,338.76 million, which increased to US $ 4,653.13 million in 2015-16 and touched US $ 5,135.01 million in 2016-17. This aura of optimism pertaining to the German market – as expressed by the buying houses and manufacturers alike – does not seem unfounded when seen in light of Bangladesh’s exports to Germany vis-à-vis USA in the last few years. A statistical analysis reveals that Bangladesh’s exports to USA in the last three years has been rather uneven, whereas that to Germany, though slow, has made a steady progress. Bangladesh’s export earnings from USA in Financial Year 2014-15 was US $ 5,288.12 million, which increased marginally to US $ 5,624.92 million in 2015-16 to falter in 2016-17 and reach US $ 5,204.01 million. On the contrary, the country’s export earnings from Germany in 2014-15 stood at US $ 4,338.76 million, which increased to US $ 4,653.13 million in 2015-16 and touched US $ 5,135.01 million in 2016-17. A further analysis by Apparel Online,  revealed that knitted apparel exports from Bangladesh to Germany was US $ 2,420.42 million, while woven tapped US $ 1,784.47 million in its respective exports in the first nine months of 2018 while the same for USA stood at US $ 1,013.95 million in knit and woven accounted for US $ 2,915.45 million. Going by the figures, it would not be an exaggeration to state that Bangladesh is strengthening its foothold in Germany, which could well play in the country’s favour in the longer run; more so as some of the export bastions, especially the USA, seem to be losing their relevance in light of dwindling market share and exports.