Lingerie a growth segment for most
COVER STORY after Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed reportedly assured that he would recommend the Finance Ministry to provide cash incentive to the RMG accessories exporters.“ I will collect information about the garment accessories from the Export Promotion Bureau( EPB) and send it to the Finance Ministry with recommendation to provide cash incentives to the exporters,” Ahmed reportedly said while throwing open the four-day GAPEXPO-2017 in Dhaka. The Minister also assured of all possible Government support for the development of the sector.
Concentrating on improving the export volumes is no doubt a very good step towards ensuring the growth of the accessory sector but at a time when the garment manufacturers are looking at value additions and adding new product categories, there might still be scope enough within the domestic market to provide the momentum.
Garment exporters are very happy with the way the accessory segment has kept pace with their requirements, but there are still some products that have to be imported.“ The accessories sector has developed tremendously and we are mostly using accessories manufactured locally. But we still need to import certain accessory items like buttons, rubber patches, lace and metal items from time to time,” admits Zakirul Alam, MD of Zas Apparels Ltd. Zakirul’ s sentiments found an echo in Chaminda Jayaweera – Manager CSR & Sustainability, Hop Yick Bangladesh Ltd. who underlined that the company uses the locally available accessories like poly bags and cartons but have to depend on overseas for products like bra foam cup, ring, slide, fold over elastic, lace, etc. Chaminda stressed on quality improvement, innovation, use of latest technology, third-party certification, ethical & environmental compliance, transparency and improved lead time as certain areas like the accessory sector needs to be looked into and addressed.
Accessory manufacturers upbeat of potential growth …
Lingerie a growth segment for most
The upward moving garment industry in Bangladesh is ably supported by the accessory manufacturers, who thrive to remain in tune with the requirements of the industry and support them with better services and products. BGAPMEA, the official association for this industry claims that there are about 1,500 companies engaged in manufacturing accessories and packaging material for the RMG sector. These companies have supported the export industry in reducing the lead times and decreasing dependency on imported accessories. The strength of the industry can be gauged from the fact that last year the sector earned US $ 6.12 billion in foreign exchange. Now the focus of the industry is shifting very strongly towards narrow fabrics as most of the companies see undergarments and lingerie as the next big opportunity.
Montrim, a leading accessory manufacturer in Bangladesh, is expecting to see a three-fold rise in its growth by setting up its own dyeing unit in 2017 and by expanding majorly in narrow fabrics and other lingerie-related products. At present,
it produces 7,000-8,000 yards per day which will increase to 25,000- 30,000 yards per day once the house dyeing mill becomes operational.“ We have a certain edge coming from a garmenting background, as we understand quality parameters and the challenge of fulfilling commitments,” says Nahid Hossain, Sr. Deputy
Sheikh Mohammad Khobir( L) – MD, RSS Thread & Accessories with Sheikh Ali Zulfiqar – Director Marketing, RSS Thread & Accessories
www. apparelresources. com | MAY 2017 | Apparel Online Bangladesh 15