COVER STORY
Karnaphuli Multi-Channel Tunnel Project , which once completed , is expected to significantly cut travel time between Chittagong and Cox ’ s Bazar , ease congestion on the two bridges across Karnaphuli River , besides feeding into the ongoing Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox ’ s Bazar Highway project , thereby substantially easing communication with the all-important Chittagong Port .
Resources Matter
Access to quality textiles is a common problem for both Vietnam and Bangladesh leading to increased lead times . But Vietnam ’ s close proximity to China makes transporting raw materials ( fabrics and accessories ) convenient and less time-consuming compared to Bangladesh .
Depending heavily on China for raw materials , Bangladesh lately has invested a lot in fabric production and enhancing capacities , but it has remained more in favour of woven . Renowned as the global denim capital , Bangladesh has 30 denim mills with a capacity to produce 435 million yards of fabrics a year while at least 6 new denim mills are supposed to be set up with an investment of US $ 100 million in a year or two . This has taken the focus off from other fabrics thereby making the country dependent on overseas destinations to cater to its requirements .
Once a net importer of accessories ( mainly from Hong Kong and China ), Bangladesh , however , has developed by leaps and bounds in achieving self-sufficiency in accessory production , so much so that local manufacturers are now exporting the integral parts of apparel items to other countries . At present , there are nearly 1,600 factories producing accessories ( some are directly exporting to other countries ), with earnings from apparel accessories hitting US $ 600 million in 2015-16 .
Skill Development
Technological advancements in manufacturing and demand for valueadded apparels gaining increased popularity , skill set of workers has become a very important issue now . The World Economic Forum ( WEF ) Human Capital Index measures the
INDUSTRY SPEAKS
Wanigabaduga Sujeewa Indika , Chief Operating Officer , Utah Fashions Ltd .
AOB : Can Vietnam surpass Bangladesh in apparel exports in near future ?
Indika : Yes , there is a threat to Bangladesh … If they ( the industry ) fail to change standards , it can go downwards from many line items and criterions in the list in near future . As per the current data , Vietnam is above Bangladesh and within recent 2-3 years ’ time , Vietnam has clearly moved ahead in terms of growth in apparel exports ; besides , the number of workers and number of factories has also increased .
Vietnam is maintaining good labour standards by providing better working environment . They are improving the standards everyday and also have good educational mechanism to provide good employees to the companies ; even their team member level people also have good educational background .
But in recent 2-3 years Bangladesh didn ’ t grow as much as Vietnam did . Export levels have also not improved drastically . Standardization and using new industrial methodologies are weak and Bangladesh is still lacking in good human resource management and in compliance procedures . The 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery attack which was labelled as a terrorist act , created some sort of image crisis for the country . Further such incidents will be a huge threat to the industry .
Also , sometimes Bangladeshi companies are found violating country ’ s working hour standards and some of the companies still fail to provide better work environment to employees . Middlemanagement and ground-level employees also lack in good educational background too . So if Bangladesh needs to maintain its reputation globally , it needs to change those weaknesses into opportunities as soon as possible .
AOB : Probability of Bangladesh to maintain lead …
Indika : It depends … If Bangladesh continues with some of its current manufacturing standards in future , it can be a threat to the industry . At the moment , the industry is depending mainly on its high worker availability and is ahead of most other apparel manufacturing countries by maintaining low labour costs .
If Bangladesh does not adapt to the global requirements and standards quickly it will be surpassed by many countries in future , apart from Vietnam or India .
Preventing terrorism , human resource management and proper compliance management , stopping child labour activities , maintaining high product quality standards , focus on product / machinery automations and innovations , implementing process development methods such as Lean , TPM , Establishing Green concepts like eco management systems , etc . will be key factors if Bangladesh wants to grow or maintain its global business volumes .
Also , the country needs to improve educational standards in general to improve its industrial standards . Most of the companies are still lacking in maintaining global apparel manufacturing standards and procedures , and they are following outdated , traditional ways to survive in day-to-day activities because of the poor educational standards of the employees and middle-management .
Day by day buyers ’ requirements will grow while price will be low . So without developing skills or processes Bangladesh cannot survive in the apparel industry for a long time .
AOB : Catalysts for growth …
Indika : Industry ’ s increasing dependence on raw materials manufactured within the country , educated – young generation getting involved with the industry , availability of good technical experts and experienced employees and good financial infrastructure .
AOB : Bangladesh ’ s strengths vis-à-vis Vietnam
Indika : Cheapest labour among RMG-producing countries ; compact , organized and favourable infrastructure ; pre-export financing institutions for assistance ; technical management appears to be very dynamic and capable of improved performance ; bodies and associations like BGMEA , BKMEA , and BEPZA etc . to build strong collaboration with various related organizations ; good reputation of product quality globally ( increasing more export options ); strong rise of knitting sector , availability of very good quality yarn locally , more options of new employments ; great pricing capability , attracting new buyers by establishing new buying houses ; encouraging new joint venture projects ; and the change in Governments ’ attitude towards the RMG sector .
www . apparelresources . com | MAY 2018 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 19