The BGMEA is organising a three day conference in December, Bangladesh RMG 2021, with the aim of promoting a roadmap to help increase earnings from RMG exports from the current level of $30bn to over $50bn by 2021.
Last year our garment exports to the United States dropped slightly from $3.86bn to $3.78bn, while Vietnam’s increased more sharply from $6.05bn to $6.9bn.
Although Bangladeshi exporters are diversifying their geographical reach, this fall in this major market must be seen as an indication that some US brands are choosing to buy from Vietnam even though its factory wages are higher, because their factories are considered safer and more productive.
For the Bangladesh RMG industry to grow as everyone hopes, including the hundreds of international brands and stakeholders who are committed to supporting factory renovations via the Accord and Alliance initiatives, it is essential that more land be made available to build modern, purpose-built factories.
In Bangladesh, most garments factories are still located in multi-storey urban buildings, which are not ideal for either safety or productivity. The industry’s future viability depends on moving more factories into safer, purpose-built factories.
The government has thousands of acres of idle (khas) land. This land should be zoned as RMG parks and offered to the garment industry on a long-term lease. That would allow investors and RMG companies to develop modern, more productive factories, from which the sector can sustainably grow.