\nPakistan Observer, Pakistan
\nDhaka\u2014Bangladesh\u2019s leading garment-making group said Wednesday that exports would more than double to around 25 billion dollars over the next five years, as buyers turn away from rising labour costs in China.
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\nGarment exports rose by nearly 17 percent to a record 10.7 billion dollars in the financial year to June 2014, and in July alone rose a year-on-year 75 percent, according to figures from the government\u2019s Export Promotion Bureau.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 2014-09 financial year, our exports will hit 13 billion dollars,\u201d said Anwar ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, head of the 4000-factory strong Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the bigger factories have expanded due to increased orders from buyers such as Wal-Mart. We\u2019ve now targeted 25 billion dollars in 2013,\u201d Parvez said. Experts said the impoverished country\u2019s abundant cheap labour and stagnant growth in Chinese apparel due to higher wages had helped make Bangladesh more attractive to the world\u2019s top buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina is still the dominant player in the global apparel market. But they are no longer competitive,\u201d said Syed Fakhrul Islam Murad, head of the textile department at private Southeast University. \u201cBangladesh\u2019s wages in garment factories are now at least one-third of China. No one can produce cheaper than us. If the power problem is fixed, the growth would be unlimited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The garment trade is the backbone of Bangladesh\u2019s manufacturing industry, accounting for 80 percent of total exports and 40 percent of industrial jobs.\u2014AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan Observer, Pakistan Dhaka\u2014Bangladesh\u2019s leading garment-making group said Wednesday that exports would more than double to around 25 billion dollars over the next five years, as buyers turn away from rising labour costs in China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n