The ready-made garment industry of the country is in a precarious condition; every day, factories are closing down and hundreds of workers losing work. Consequently, exports are suffering.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA) Rubana Huq, has said: “Faced with financial constraints, 60 garment factories closed down between January till October this year, resulting in the loss of 29,594 jobs.”
Given such a dismal trend, the future looked bleak with little chance of improvement, she added.
A depressing picture is also reflected in the Bangladesh Bank report. Compared to October last year, export this October has fallen by 17.19 percent.
In October, 2018, export income was $3.72 billion while in the same period in 2019, the export income was $3.07 billion.
Export income this October has fallen by $ 640 million . Garment businessmen say that this was due to a fall in garment orders.
On the other hand, new competitors have emerged in Myanmar, India, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Joint president of FBCCI and former BGMEA president Siddiqur Rahman, said: “European countries are facing economic recession Though the US market is better, we cannot use the opportunity properly. As a result exports have seen a precipitous fall.”
'India, Pakistan and other competitors have devalued their currencies against the Dollar but our currency is not being devalued and so we are losing in competition,' he observed.
At present, the number of BGMEA institutes is a little more than 3,000 and during Ramadan, 22 factories shut down in 18 days.
Many of the factories closed down failing to pay wages, faced with labour unrest and other issues.
As per an Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) report, export earning has fallen in October by 2.46 percent or $ 352.6 million. In four months, the export earnings from leather sector has been $ 316.9 million, which is 8.2 percent lower than the last year. In the current year, the export target has been set at $54 billion.