Japan is emerging as a booming export destination for Bangladesh’s apparel items.
According to data from Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh exported a net total of US $ 845 million worth of apparel items to the Asian country during fiscal 2017-18– which was a very impressive 13.7 per cent gain on a year-to-year basis.
Further research into the matter by Apparel Resources finds out that it was an equal market share of woven and knit exports. Bangladesh exported over US $ 444 million of knitwear and US $ 401 million worth woven garments in Japan.
In overall exports, Bangladesh fetched US $ 1.13 billion from Japan during the fiscal, which was also an impressive 11.7 per cent gain. It was mostly thanks to the readymade garment exports which occupied over 74 per cent of the basket.
According to the industry insiders, Bangladesh has been engaged in increasing apparel exports to Japan since 2010. The knitwear manufacturers have a big contribution to the boosting exports following the apparel trade fair in April.
Mohammad Hatem, vice president, Bangladesh Exporters Association, told Apparel Resources that Japan was heavily reliant on China in the past. As they moved to diversify their sourcing, they opted for Myanmar for a while before taking an interest to Bangladesh.
According to him, the consumers of Japan demand high-end and high-quality products which the Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers are able to provide. “There is scope to penetrate the market further,” he says.
