The 12th International Denim Expo is underway at the International Convention City Bashundhara, where local and foreign clothing brands and exhibitors are presenting the latest fabrics and trends. The expo is equipped with all sorts of up-to-date denim products like readymade garment accessories.
Ziaur Rahaman, regional head of H&M for Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Ethiopia stated that Bangladesh is the biggest destination for their sourcing and they are expecting to increase the sourcing amount by 11% in the next 5 years.
Similarly, G-Star’s regional operation manager, Shafiur Rahman showed interest in increasing knitwear garments purchasing from $70 million to $90 million per year, which is 30% more than the current purchase rate.
Since the Rana Plaza tragedy in 2013, the government has brought a lot of improvement regarding the workplace safety regulation, so the garments are having an increased volume of work orders.
“Although the global fashion industry stakeholders thought Bangladesh could host an expo of international standards, now they are eagerly waiting to come here and participate in such an event”, said Mostafiz Uddin, a Bangladeshi denim entrepreneur and the man behind Bangladesh Denim Expo.
Currently, the RMG sector contributes around 80% of total export earnings for Bangladesh. Even after the global lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh has been able to set a new record in apparel exports. In 2021, Bangladesh exported $35.56 billion worth of garment products, which is $2.5 billion more than in 2019. It is to be noted that the export industry was disrupted in various ways in 2020 for the Pandemic. Still, Bangladesh earned $31.45 billion in 2020.
The theme of the 12th International Denim Expo is “Beyond Business” and currently there are 79 exhibitors who are set to attend the event including both international and local participants. The turnout for the event goes to prove that the Bangladesh RMG sector is a diamond in the rough that is waiting to be polished.
Leave a Comment