COVER STORY
INDUSTRY SPEAKS
Upul Pathirana , General Director-Head of Operations , Epic Designers Vietnam Ltd .
AOB : Can Vietnam surpass Bangladesh in apparel exports in near future ?
Upul : It would be difficult for Vietnam to compete with Bangladesh ( in near future ) for exports to USA and that is mainly due to the price standpoint perspective . However , due to CPTPP , customers will enjoy the benefit of dutyfree importing to the countries that are part of this trade deal , which would result in increase
Md . Fazlul Hoque , Managing Director , Plummy Fashions Limited
AOB : Can Vietnam surpass Bangladesh in apparel exports in near future ?
Fazlul : Although Vietnam is running close to Bangladesh , I still think Bangladesh can maintain the lead over Vietnam for the next few years at least .
AOB : Probability of Bangladesh to maintain lead …
Fazlul : Bangladesh would be able to maintain the lead because our apparel industry is also getting stronger every day with product ( within apparel ) of exports from Vietnam and this could become a threat to Bangladesh .
AOB : Probability of Bangladesh to maintain lead …
Upul : Production cost increases in Vietnam significantly and is far above that of Bangladesh ; based on this aspect , I feel Bangladesh would still maintain the lead compared to Vietnam .
AOB : Catalysts for growth
Upul : Process improvement and automation could be the main drivers of growth for Bangladesh , which would help keep the manufacturing cost under control .
AOB : Bangladesh ’ s strengths vis-à-vis Vietnam
Upul : Availability of workers is one of the positive factors for Bangladesh .
AOB : Concern areas that Bangladesh needs to address ?
Upul : Process improvement and skill upgrading are two major areas that Bangladesh needs to improve upon .
and market diversification ( like South America , China , etc ).
On the other hand , we have already about 70 Green ( LEED Certified ) factories among which 14 factories earned LEED Platinum Certification with world class set-up . Another 200 more factories are in the pipeline to be developed with similar structures . This is and will enhance the image of the local apparel industry and will help a lot to attract the customers in order to boost our export significantly .
AOB : Catalysts for growth
Fazlul : Apart from the above-mentioned factors , continuous improvement of quality , delivery , productivity , infrastructure improvement , and lower rate of bank interest , etc ., will be the major catalysts for Bangladesh .
AOB : Concern areas that Bangladesh need to address ?
Fazlul : Although we have made a good progress in the field of productivity improvement , I believe that there is still a lot to improve in the coming days . Besides improvement in negotiation skills is another very important area which we need to address on a very serious note to emerge as the winner . to the labour-intensive nature of garment manufacturing , the industry is typically concentrated in locations with relatively low labour costs and Quang was bang on in identifying the ‘ low-cost ’ factor that has clinched the deal in Bangladesh ’ s favour so far in the global arena . Boasting of abundant manpower , Bangladesh is now poised for a wage hike though with labour unions demanding base wage of Taka 16,000 ( US $ 190 approximately ) as compared to what was US $ 65 in 2013 . In comparison , labour wage in Vietnam increased from US $ 116-166 ( in 2016 ) to current US $ 170-220 , which tips the balance in Bangladesh ’ s favour to some extent .
Allied Factors
Apart from manpower and wage , there are many other factors – raw materials , infrastructure , workers ’ skill set , manufacturing efficiency , supply chain connections , etc . – which are equally important in determining a country ’ s lure as the preferred sourcing destination . Hence , even if Bangladesh and Vietnam stand neck-to-neck in many aspects , they have their inherent pros and cons that might go a long way in deciding who would have the last laugh . According to many , Vietnam still performs markedly better than Bangladesh and India when it comes to ease of doing business . While Vietnam ’ s labour costs are not as low as that of Bangladesh , stable economic policies and focus on international trade makes it more of a peer to China .
Predominantly an island nation that shares maritime borders with Indonesia , Malaysia , Philippines , and Thailand , Vietnam has three major sea ports , Saigon Port ( South ), Hai Phong Port ( North ), and Da Nang Port ( Central ), with well-developed infrastructure while Bangladesh ’ s main port is the Chittagong Port , which handles the significant bulk of the exports . However , Bangladesh is also now developing a deep-seaport at Payra in the Patuakhali district , which is expected to significantly take the load off Chittagong and give a further boost to apparel exports . To be further considered in this context is the US $ 1.7 billion
18 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2018 | www . apparelresources . com