That Bangladesh apparel export is going through a tough time is common knowledge. However, the magnitude of the faltering exports was made clear by the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Dr. Rubana Huq recently when she revealed that the target of US $ 50 billion in apparel exports by 2021 may not be possible to achieve, as per media reports.
Rubana cited low valuation and declining global trade as the reasons for the same.
“I disagree with the target taking the current scenario of the sector as export earnings declined by more than 6.0 per cent in last 5 months,” Rubana said, adding, “We should concentrate more on value addition rather than setting numbers (export target),” while addressing a programme on the resilience of the RMG sector’s supply chain organised by the Planning Commission at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in capital Dhaka recently.
She further added that the target of US $ 50 billion was set in 2014, a year after the Rana Plaza building collapse, but the world market now was going down because of declining trade and consumption while underlining that the World Trade Organization has also reduced the global consumption rate to 1.2 per cent from 1.8 per cent.
Pointing out that RMG’s contribution to the GDP was only 11 per cent, the BGMEA President said it clearly indicated that the value addition was very little while adding that the garment sector was going through a very bad time as exports had witnessed negative growth in the past 5 months of the fiscal year.
