A recent report said that US fashion companies rated Bangladesh highly as the topmost competitive country in terms of product prices among the world's apparel-manufacturing countries.
While the majority of the participants reported a decline in sourcing from China, none was willing to do so from Bangladesh.
The report titled "2023 Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study" revealed that the social and labour-compliance risks associated with sourcing from Bangladesh decreased in the past two years although concerns hung over.
It also highlighted growing social and labour-compliance risks associated with sourcing from China, Vietnam, and Cambodia for their "forced labour", high raw-material sourcing from China and political instability respectively.
Findings of the tenth edition of the survey, jointly conducted by the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) and the University of Delaware, were released Monday.
Respondents rated Bangladesh at 4.5 points -- the highest -- out of 5 while they rated Vietnam (decreased from 3.8 to 3.5) as less price-competitive as an apparel sourcing base in 2023, according to the findings.
The rate for China, India and Cambodia is 3.5 and Indonesia 4.0, according to the survey.
The improved rating for risk of social and labour-compliance category (2.5 in 2023 vs 2.0 on average between 2019 and 2022) acknowledges the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders to enhance social responsibility practices in the Bangladeshi garment industry since the Rana Plaza tragedy.
Given the improved shipping and logistics situation this year and the lifting of Covid restrictions, China has enhanced its speed to market performance from 3.0 to 3.5, Vietnam from 2.7 to 3.0, but the rate for Bangladesh in 2023 is 2.0.
China and Vietnam have been ranked as most competitive regarding sourcing flexibility and agility (quickly adjusting the delivery, volume, and product of the sourcing order upon customers' requests) this year.
This year, several suppliers, including Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and CAFTA-DR members, received improved ratings regarding their sourcing flexibility and agility performance.
Highly consistent with macro trade statistics, Asia remains the dominant sourcing base for respondents.
Notably, seven out of the top ten most-utilized sourcing destinations in 2023 are Asia-based, led by China (97%), Vietnam (97%), Bangladesh (83%), and India (76%).
Regarding Asia-based suppliers, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India are among the most popular destinations where respondents plan to increase sourcing over the next two years due to their relatively large-scale production capacity and stable economic and political situation.
According to Otexa, an affiliate of the US Department of Commerce, Bangladesh received $3.30 billion during the January-May period of 2023, marking over 19% fall, compared to the corresponding period of last year.
