India and China are strongly emerging as very promising export destinations for the Bangladeshi apparel products and the country’s Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi is hopeful that exports to these two countries could go up significantly in the coming days.
Munshi reportedly informed the Parliament that the Government hopes that export volume to India and China will increase in a significant amount by next one year. He said this while responding to a supplementary question from a treasury bench member, while underlining that there remains wide scope for Bangladesh’s exporting readymade garments to India and China.
The Commerce Minister further reportedly underlined that if Bangladesh can seize the opportunities, there will be big exports from Bangladesh in these two big markets.
As per data from Bangladesh’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in July-December of the 2018-19 financial year, Bangladesh earned US $ 267.26 million from China with growth 60.54 per cent from what was US $ 166.48 million in the same period of financial year 2017-18 while in the July-December period of the 2018-19 financial year, Bangladesh earned US $ 270.86 million from India, recording a growth of 143.30 per cent from what was US $ 111.32 million in the same period of financial year 2017-18.
“Famous international retail brands such as Zara and H&M have established their business in India and we are their biggest supplier…Another reason is that the Indian domestic market has grown and the number of fashion conscious consumers has increased. We import raw materials such as cotton and machinery from India. So, their export is also increasing. It is a win-win situation for both the countries.” – Faruque Hassan, Senior Vice President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
Incidentally, Bangladesh enjoys duty free facility in India as well as China, underlined the Commerce Minister.
