It is undeniable that the RMG industry has been a driving force for our economy for decades, and yet the sustainability of a reliance of this scale on a particular sector has been brought into question repeatedly -- and rightfully so.
While long-term steps are being discussed on how to bring other sectors of our country up to par, how we can ensure the future growth of the RMG sector is also a worthwhile discourse to have at this stage.
To that end, as numbers suggest, apparel exports to non-traditional markets have seen significant growth in recent times, contributing to about 18% of total RMG export earnings in the current fiscal year.
This is a great indicator for the direction that we ought to pursue.
Our traditional export destinations, mainly the major global markets, are not only already saturated, but are also highly impacted by global economic crises as the one we're currently in. With extremely volatile economic conditions and fluctuating purchasing powers, banking on only the markets that have historically worked for us may not be the wisest way forward.
Therefore, branching out to non-traditional markets -- as we are evidently doing and seeing results from -- should be a sustainable move on our part that we approach strategically for the benefit of our RMG industry.
We must also prioritize proper analysis of the needs of these markets in order to diversify our products accordingly, and expand our export base globally, the way we have planned.
With strategic moves as such, Bangladesh is certainly on the right track, and if we pursue these changes in a dedicated manner, we can ensure not only the sustainable growth of the RMG sector, but of our economy as a whole.