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INDUSTRY SPEAKS
Roshan Withanage, Managing Director, CJ International Ltd. inflows of FDI between July 2016 and May 2017, whereas the amount was US $ 2.33 billion in the same period of the previous year. Korea in particular is said to be one of the major investors in the country.“ South Korea is one of the largest sources of FDI in Bangladesh and the largest foreign investor in the Export Processing Zones( EPZs). This is not all. We can receive more FDIs from Korea,” reportedly maintained Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Abida Islam while speaking to the media, adding that an enhanced inflow of Korean FDI could be a game changer for Bangladesh’ s industrial development. The Korea
in the readymade garment sector in the SEZs and high-end fashion items to give the RMG sector the much-needed thrust. And this has already evoked a lot of interest amongst many garment manufacturing companies from across the globe including countries like China, Japan and Mexico that are keen to relocate to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’ s promise has even drawn in its competitor Vietnam, which has recently shown active interest to invest in the country. President of Vietnam, Tran Dai Quang, during his March visit to Bangladesh reportedly expressed
AOB: Can Vietnam surpass Bangladesh in apparel exports in near future?
Roshan: Yes, this is quite possible as they are currently almost at Bangladesh level … Both the countries stand at about US $ 34 billion annual exports this year. Also, Vietnam has an advantage of a very stable Government and far superior infrastructure and an educated and productive labour force. The only drawback for Vietnam is the expensive labour when compared to that of Bangladesh. But the Vietnamese workforce is more efficient and productive and so it is going to be a close call.
AOB: Probability of Bangladesh to maintain lead …
Roshan: Bangladesh always has the size advantage of being a country of 170 million people as opposed to the 92 million in Vietnam. But the country’ s next five years’ growth will be mainly dependent on the Government’ stability, infrastructure development, plus streamlining the support services, such as customs and banking.
AOB: Catalysts for growth
Roshan: The apparel financing and payment systems need to be modernised with banks and other Government institutes making it easy for factories and buyers to do business in Bangladesh. Currently the bureaucracy is holding the industry back. It doesn’ t matter how far we have developed and what positive changes we have brought in. If our competitor has done better than us( Vietnam in this case), then we have failed.
AOB: Bangladesh’ s strengths vis-à-vis Vietnam
Roshan: Large, cheaper, efficient and productive workforce; lower cost of energy; better infrastructure; Government and other institutional efficiencies.
AOB: Concern areas that Bangladesh need to address?
Roshan: Bangladesh needs to improve its support services really fast in order to emerge as the winner.
International Cooperation Agency( KOICA), in particular, has an active presence in Bangladesh and since its inception, 19 projects have been completed under KOICA grant with an amount of US $ 39.67 million while currently 8 projects are ongoing at a total cost of US $ 54.49 million.
When it comes to promoting and supporting the readymade garment sector, Bangladesh has not been found waiting either. The Government, besides deciding to open 100 Special Economic Zones across the country, is reportedly mulling to give a go-ahead to foreign direct investment( FDI) his country’ s eagerness to invest in Bangladesh’ s textile sector alongside telecom, agriculture, information technology, oil & gas and infrastructure.
“ There is a lot of opportunity for investment with the current size of the economy of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a big market and low-cost production facility,” reportedly maintained Quang while addressing the media.
Manpower & Production Cost
It’ s no secret that the garment business typically chases the next cheapest pair of hands. Due
16 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2018 | www. apparelresources. com