Apparel manufacturers and buyers have said recent factory disasters did not affect the sourcing of readymade garment products from Bangladesh.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune at the ongoing 24th Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition (Batexpo)-2013, Enzo De Renzo, manager (import) of European retailers CAPRI and Alcott, said: “We [buyers] are not leaving Bangladesh and going to other countries for sourcing RMG products.”
Commenting on foreign companies’ reaction to the disasters at Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashion, he said the percentage of disasters was very low as only two or three among the large number of RMG factories had witnessed disasters.
Admitting that Bangladesh was still very strong in the RGM sector because of comparatively low prices and low wages of workers, Renzo however suggested that Bangladesh needed to retrofit the factories and ensure full-fledged compliance to rules for averting accidents.
Also present at the Batexpo, Senior Manager (marketing) of Beximco Textile Mohammad Delwar Hossain said the disasters in the readymade garments (RMG) sector did not cause downtrends for sourcing of RMG products from Bangladesh.
Saying the suspension of generalised system of preferences (GSP) was also unable to have a negative impact on the sector, Hossain argued that owners would have had to shut down factories and sack labourers if there was a fall in foreign orders.
The buyers express concerns after the occurrence of any incident, but do not stop their orders as they are able to buy products from Bangladesh at comparatively lower prices, he noted.
Wilburt, a buyer from Philippine, echoed Hossain, saying the quality of Bangladeshi RMG products are very good, and buyers are attracted for the comparatively low prices.
Md Mahbubul Alam, general manager (sales) of Cosmo Group, said the company has not observed any sign of falling trends for its export of apparel accessories to China, India, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Imrose Sohel, general manager (marketing) of Uniglory Accessories Limited, said there had been an increase in demand for RMG accessories, especially for cartons. This proves that export had increased, he claimed.
BM Ashif Iqbal, executive (sales) of Expo Freight Limited, also said the ordering trends were on the rise. Buyers, however, were putting pressure for hiking wages to improve the living standard of workers, he said.
Meanwhile, participants at Batexpo said this year’s turnout was less than previous ones because of Eid, while a section of foreign buyers did not take part in the fair fearing political violence.
The three-day BATEXPO-2013, organised by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), began on Thursday to showcase local apparel products to the international buyers.
Export Promotion Bureau statistics showed RMG export posted over 24% growth to $6.2bn in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to $5bn from the same period of last year.
In the last fiscal year, the RMG sector earned US$21.51bn, which was 12.7% higher compared to the earnings of 2011-12 fiscal year.
On the other hand, according to BGMEA statistics, over 1275 workers died in the last two years in RMG factory disasters. The fire at Ashulia’s Tazreen Fashion killed at least 124 people in November 2012, while 1,129 workers were killed in April this year when Rana Plaza collapsed in Savar.
The latest fire that broke out at Gazipur’s Aswad Composite Mills Limited on Tuesday, killed seven people.