Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine September Issue 2018 | Page 30

BANGLADESH CANVAS HAVE YOUR SAY BREAKING NEWS Tell us your news by emailing at [email protected] To read the latest sustainability news, go to https://apparelresources.com/business-news/sustainability/  Bangladesh eyes US $ 32 billion RMG export in FY '18-19 Bangladesh has set a target of US $ 32.68 billion for its prime export item – readymade garments – for fiscal 2018-19, in line with the target of US $ 50 billion exports by 2021. all the challenges in the past.” This would be a 6.33 per cent increase from US $ 30.61 billion exports during the fiscal of 2017-18. The target of knitwear exports has been fixed at US $ 16.15 billion, up 7.21 per cent from the previous fiscal; and woven at US $ 16.53 per cent, up by 7.21 per cent. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed unveiled the export target at a press conference at his ministry office on August 8, 2018. The total export target has been set at US $ 39 billion – up 6.36 per cent from the previous fiscal. Apparel would occupy 83.79 per cent of the total export. Additionally, the cash incentive for garment exporters has been hiked to 4 per cent, from 3 per cent. While laying out the target, Minister Ahmed said, “We do not see any major challenge in achieving the export target, though it is an election year for the country. Bangladesh has been performing strongly in overseas trade defying With the higher cash incentives, garment export to some new destinations like India, China, Japan and Australia grew a lot this year, said Siddiqur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), at the press conference. Bangladesh has had an impressive run during the 2017-18 fiscal, making great strides in increasing the garment exports. During the fiscal, the apparel exporters marked an 8.76 per cent gain on a year- to-year basis – which is indeed encouraging in the competitive market where prices of apparel are falling. Cash incentive for apparel exports to new markets hiked by 1 per cent In what may be termed as an effort to popularise non- traditional and new export destinations amongst the apparel exporters, the Bangladesh Government recently increased the incentive for RMG export to markets other than the US, Canada, and the European Union, by 4 per cent from earlier 3 per cent for financial year 2018-19. Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed announced the same while addressing a press meet to declare the country’s export targets for the current financial year. “Simply increasing production cannot increase export earnings. You need markets to export too. That is why the Government has taken this decision to help explore new markets,” the Commerce Minister reportedly underlined at the meet. Hailing the Government’s decision, President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Md. Siddiqur Rahman said, “Japan, China, and India are very potential markets for Bangladesh. And the incentives will increase our exports to non-traditional markets.” In financial year 30 Apparel Online Bangladesh | September 2018 | www.apparelresources.com 2017-18, the country reportedly earned US $ 4.67 billion from apparel exports to non- traditional markets, which is 9.92 per cent higher than the earnings of US $ 4.24 billion in FY ’17.