Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine September Issue 2018 | Page 19

COVER STORY
M.A. Jabbar, MD, DBL Group
Maashed Abdullah, Director,
Dressman Limited
whopping 111 per cent, which by any
standards is huge. Those companies
that have tasted success are looking
for more opportunities. “We have
been working for Woodland for last
7 years and never faced any problem,
but now that other Bangladeshi
firms are also getting on to the
bandwagon, the prices being offered
earlier have declined,” shares Md.
Khosru Chowdhury, Chairman &
MD, NIPA Group that manufactures
outerwear. The company is looking
for more partners, and Reliance
Retail is one of them.
In fact, Reliance Retail have their
own liaison office in Dhaka to
support their sourcing operations
from the country. Proshanta
Kumar, Senior Sourcing Manager,
Reliance Retail (Bangladesh
Liaison Office) overseas operation
for all reliance brands in the
country. The international brands
that they handle include – Scotch
& Soda, Brooks Bros, DC, Diesel,
Dune, Ermenegildo Zegna, Gas,
Quicksilver, Steve Madden, Kenneth
Cole among others.
The retailer sources a wide range
of products from Bangladesh in
woven and knits with denim as
the largest category. The current
volume sourced from Bangladesh
is about 3 million units/annum
this year.
For some companies, the sourcing
is happening directly through their
international brands with POs made
for specific countries. One such
company is Hydroxide Knitwear,
which is sending products for the
Bestseller brand to India, through
Md. Manabber Ahmed,
Director, Anowara Group
Omar Chowdhury, MD,
Hydroxide Knitwear
the liaison office in Dhaka for their
200 stores in the country.
“We don’t have to make any special
effort as our buyer directly sources
the total requirement and ships
out to the individual countries;
sometimes a product reaches India
even before it can reach shelves in
Europe,” says Omar Chowdhury,
MD, Hydroxide Knitwear.
Interestingly, Chowdhury points out
to the buying power of European
countries reducing because of which
garment manufacturing companies
are increasingly looking eastward
for business.
He adds that China at the moment
is more interesting than India, as
he feels it is more organised to work
with the Chinese.
This view is strongly refuted by many
of the exporters who argue that the
cultural similarities that India shares
with Bangladesh make the process
easier and more enjoyable.
“Why would I want to struggle to
establish business in a country
where everything is a challenge
– from language to food habits to
the way business is conducted.
Working with Indian retailers is
more satisfying and with retail
getting better organised, the issues
that were previously a deterrent,
no longer exist,” reasons Munir
Ahmed, Director, M&J Group.
The company has already
established relations with two
Indian retailers and is upbeat on
the potential.
His views are supported by many
who feel that India is like a second
“We are
sourcing 95
per cent of
our products
directly. From
which countries
we buy, depends
upon the
product. For
bottoms, light
wash bottoms
and denims,
we go to
Bangladesh.”
– Chaitra Ramamurthy
Md. Khosru Chowdhury,
Chairman & MD, NIPA Group
home. “If any discussion is required,
it is so easy to fly over and sort it out
directly. After all, most Bangladeshis
are comfortable travelling to India on
regular holidays and even shopping,”
smilingly says Imranur Rahman,
MD, Bando Designs, a part of
the Sterling Group of companies.
Rahman feels that Indian retail is an
opportunity market that no exporter
looking for growth can ignore.
It is important to note that with
imports from other coun