Bangladesh Govt. and Textile Exporters Need to Proactively Explore Fresh Venues: Mostafiz Uddin

Economy

Bangladesh Govt. and Textile Exporters Need to Proactively Explore Fresh Venues: Mostafiz Uddin

Mostafiz Uddin, the founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) and Bangladesh Denim Expo, in a recent opinion piece exposed the chinks in the armor of the Bangladesh Textile export mechanism, highlighting that neither the government nor the export body was interested in being proactive in conducting and participating in RMG trade fairs for the benefit of exposure to their manufacturers.

He was of the opinion that while economists and analysts were busy interpreting the deceleration of growth for Bangladesh in the RMG sector, they have ignored an obvious route that would automatically provide opportunities to the manufacturers. He referred to this phenomenon as neglect of untapped opportunities.

Pointing out that to grow in the export segment, the main prerequisite is to expand your market segment by exploring new buyers, he bewailed the fact that Bangladesh despite being the second largest exporter of RMG has failed to take initiative in hosting apparel and textile expos at the international level. Both the Bangladesh government and the various industry associations have failed to take any step in this direction, he added.

Citing the instance of its close neighbor, India, Uddin puts it in perspective: “India too is an exporter of apparel. Look at how they go about it. They had conducted a grand textile Fair in Gujarat the previous June which was inaugurated by their Prime Minister. In other words, their textile industry is fully backed by the textile ministry.” Citing the scale of the expo in India, he said, “Visitors and buyers from some 220 countries attended the event that was conducted in 14 mega-size halls.”

Bemoaning the fact that the Bangladesh government was not playing a proactive role by hosting such international apparel fairs, he expressed angst that the industry association too was equally lackadaisical. Uddin sought clarity on why the premier export body of the country Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) discontinued hosting the BATEXPO since 2013.

In the absence of being able to play host, the Bangladesh textile industry was left with the option of participating in international trade fair for expanding their markets, said Uddin. “This too turns out to be a skewed affair as they fail to adopt the correct way of participating and invest in the wrong fairs,” he added.

To top it all, even though Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau expends huge sums from the government funds to provide subsidy to those who participate in various trade fairs, they are not judicious in the choice of fairs and fail to streamline the participation professionally and properly, explained Uddin .