Bangladesh is witnessing an encouraging sign of increase in its export of apparel items. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), of the total apparel exports of US$21.22 billion worth of apparel 49.78 percent went to the EU market. The United Kingdom had a share of 10.77 percent and export amount stood at US$4.59; US$7.73 billion worth of apparel was exported to the US market – which was 18.14 percent. The share was 3.26 percent and a total of US$1.39 billion in apparel exports to Canada. Besides, US$7.69 billion was exported to non-traditional markets – which had a share of 18.04 percent. It is expected that the volume of export to non-traditional markets will significantly increase by the end of 2023.
The EPB source said, the European Union has contributed significantly to this growth. This is because it is the largest destination for Bangladesh’s apparel exports, with a growth of 9.94 percent in July-May 2022-23 as compared to July-May 2021-22 fiscal year, and apparel exports increased from US$19.30 billion to US$21.22 billion. Exports in Germany declined by 7.22 percent during the same period of the previous fiscal year (July-May 2021-22), from US$6.50 billion to US$6.03 billion. Exports to France and Italy reached US$2.6 and 2.06 billion respectively. Export growth was 23.4 percent and 44.81 percent.
After lagging behind for two consecutive months, May’s exports have surged again. Export earnings gave this good news at a time when import of industrial raw material are facing obstacles due to the dollar crisis.
Export earnings in 11 months have reached close to 12 months of last year. If this trend of growth continues, Bangladesh is going to set a record by the end of June 2023.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has released the country-wise export data for the July-May period of FY2022-23. The total RMG export during this period has reached US$42.63 billion with 10.67 percent year-over-year growth. Out of this total RMG export, US$21.22 billion went to the EU market with a share of 49.78 percent of total export.
A recent study says that low productivity, shortage of mid-level management professionals, and limited backward and forward linkages are among major challenges that need to be addressed for further expansion of the country’s RMG sector. The other challenges identified by the study included dependency on the import of raw materials, inadequate supply of utilities, transport services, and high production costs, limited facilities in ports, lack of interest in financing small and medium producers, and administrative and regulatory constraints. Hence, relevant authorities should come up with effective measures to tackle the challenges in no time. Also, Bangladesh now needs to devise measures to develop skilled manpower in RMG sector in order to invite more foreign investments in the coming days.
RMG exports from Bangladesh rebounded strongly in the last year, recording 24 percent annual growth. Reportedly, Bangladesh holds the second position in the European market and the third position in the US market in the export of ready-made garments. However, Bangladesh needs to diversify its export basket in order to sustain accelerated economic growth, increase investment opportunities and create more jobs.
