Metro Spinning plans for ’slab yarn’ production

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=117685

Metro Spinning plans for ’slab yarn’ production
Star Business Report

Metro Spinning, a concern of Maksons Group, plans to import 20 slab yarn machines from India in two phases to produce specialised yarn, as part of the company’s effort to diversify products.

The equipment that makes specialised yarn for both knit and woven fabrics will be installed at a cost of $2.30 lakh (Tk 1.58 crore).

Metro Spinning made the plan last week, according to a web posting on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website.

The company that listed on the market in 2002 said it would be able to make an approximate 20 percent increase in turnover, thanks to new machinery that also increases profitability.

For the year to June 30, the company made net profit of Tk 2.60 crore with earnings per share of Tk 3.77.

The company also decided either to acquire a ready 100 percent export-oriented composite textile unit or to set up a new one with bank loan, which is subject to approval from shareholders at the 14th AGM set for December 28.

This will also help increase turnover and profitability of Metro Spinning, which produces around 45 lakh kilograms of yarn a year, according to the web posting.

The company also decided to use a Tk 31.05 crore fund raised through rights shares for loan payback, instead of setting up a new export-oriented composite textile unit.

Metro Spinning has two units, one for the local market and the other for export markets, where carded and combed knit cotton yarn of various counts is produced.

Megatex to Invest $ 3 mn in Ishwardi EPZ

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=153290

Megatex to Invest $ 3 mn in Ishwardi EPZ
ECONOMIC REPORTER

British-Chinese company M/s. Megatex Knitters (Pvt) Limited will set up a Sweater Manufacturing Industry in Ishwardi Export Processing Zone.

This100 per cent foreign owned company will invest $ 3 million in setting up their unit and will produce Sweater items. The company will also create employment opportunity for 2162 Bangladeshi including 35 foreign nationals, says a press release.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the M/s. Megatex Knitters (Pvt) Limited in BEPZA Complex, Dhaka recently. Md. Moyjuddin Ahmed, member (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and Chiu Wai Hay, general manager of M/s. Megatex Knitters (Pvt) Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization.

Spl ferry service on Mawa route to transport RMG products to Mongla port

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=86358

Spl ferry service on Mawa route to transport RMG products to Mongla port

FE Report

The government will arrange a special ferry service on Mawa-Kawrakandi route exclusively for the readymade garment manufacturers to help them transport their products to Mongla port, thus reducing pressure on the over-burdened Chittagong port.

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan said “RMG manufacturers often fail to reach Chittagong port on time because of traffic congestion and this special ferry service will help to ease the problem when shipments are made through Mongla port.”

“The distance from Dhaka to Chittagong is 300 km where as Dhaka to Khulna is around 140 km so this ferry will save a lot of time of RMG makers,” he told reporters after meeting with a delegation of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) at his office in secretariat on Tuesday.

He said, “We may reduce different charges of Chittagong port by 150 per cent after discussing with the port authorities.”

“We have taken legal opinion to reduce Chittagong port charges which was increased by 100 to 300 percent during the tenure of the last caretaker government.”

The demand of BGMEA leaders to reduce the port charge is logical because the last government increased the rate abruptly making it a burden on RMG manufacturers,”

The Shipping Minister said: “A team will visit different ports in the developed countries between January 15 and 18 and we will try to implement the experiences to improve Bangladesh’s port operation.”

Cotton joins hybrid race

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=116824

Cotton joins hybrid race
Supreme Seed, Lal Teer market two varieties: HSC-4 and DM-1

Sohel Parvez

Textile industry is poised for a stronger backward linkage as farmers have started growing cotton through hybrid seeds that promise higher yield and better earnings than those from traditional high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, stakeholders said yesterday.

“The hybrid variety performs well. I am hopeful about better crop,” Md Golam Sorowar, a cotton grower at Daulatpur of Kushtia district, told The Daily Star by phone.

Sorowar, who has planted hybrid seeds on one acre of land, expects around 15 maunds of cotton per bigha (33 decimal).

“By using traditional HYV such as CB-9, I had earlier received as much as 11 maunds per bigha,” he said. “Hybrid variety offers better yields and prices.”

This is the first time that Bangladeshi farmers have started growing hybrid cotton after two local businesses — Supreme Seed Company and Lal Teer Seed — began to market Chinese variety hybrid seeds.

The seeds covered around 289 hectares of land this year, according to Cotton Development Board (CDB).

The companies aim to boost the farmers’ interests to grow more cotton and help meet a portion of demand from local spinning mills, which import more than 95 percent of their required raw cotton estimated at around 40 lakh bales.

The hybrid seeds came at a time when cotton production was suffering a gradual decline because of the farmers’ lacklustre performance.

Analysts said lower income from the existing HYV discourages the farmers to grow cotton as they have other options for better gains — maize, vegetables, banana and flower.

The stakeholders now expect a boost in the farmers’ confidence with the advent of the hybrid seeds.

Officials of the seed companies and CDB said two hybrid seed varieties — HSC-4 and DM-1 — would provide around three tonnes of cotton in each hectare (1 hectare=2.47 acres) compared with two tonnes from traditional CB-9.

“Many of my neighbours are now talking about growing hybrid cotton,” Sorowar said.

“I increased cultivation area this year because it offers more profit,” he said.

The one problem with the hybrid seed, as Sorowar said, is its high price.

The price of a kilogramme of HSC-4 seed of Supreme Seed Company is Tk 2,000, while DM-1 of Lal Teer costs Tk 1,700.

“It also needs more fertiliser,” said another cotton grower, Abdul Quddus of Chuadanga.

“Despite the additional costs, I hope to earn more,” Quddus said.

M Farid Uddin, deputy director of CDB, said hybrid seed would help double production.

Cotton production stood at 50,175 bales in around 32,600 hectares of land in fiscal year 2008-09. The production target has been set at 60,000 bales for the current year, according to the CDB.

“The farmers seem to get interested in cultivating cotton. It will help increase production and reduce import dependency,” Farid Uddin said, adding that cotton could be planted on around one lakh hectares of land.

Mohammed Masum, chairman of Supreme Seed, said increased earnings would restore farmers’ confidence.

“We believe there is a huge business prospect as local textile industry depends on imported cotton.”

Abdul Hai Sarker, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said increased cotton cultivation would benefit the local textile industry.

Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, expressed hope that better production would enhance backward linkage capacity of the overall apparel industry.

Citing a discussion at the WTO about withdrawal of cotton subsidy by the US, he said if the US reduces subsidy, price on the international market might go up.

“So, if Bangladesh can grow quality cotton and offer competitive price, it will increase capacity of export-oriented apparel sector and benefit the farmers.”

sohel@thedailystar.net

Prospect of footwear export looks bright

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=86108

Prospect of footwear export looks bright
World’s leading buyers queuing up

Jasim Uddin Haroon

The country’s footwear manufacturers see a bright future for their products mainly because of the prospect of procuring hide and skin at cheaper prices this year.

Rawhide and skin were sold between Tk 25 and Tk 30 per square foot this season.

Local shoemakers claimed that a large number of overseas buyers had already contacted them for buying an increased number of shoes from Bangladesh.

“A large number of overseas buyers including new ones are enquiring about our products after Eid-ul-Azha, believing that our products will be competitive in price due to lower cost of the raw materials,” Md Saiful Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BFMEA) told the FE Saturday.

According to the BFMEA, around a dozen overseas retailers including, a number of them from the United States of America (USA) are enquiring about the prices of middle and high quality shoes.

Of the world’s leading retailers, Timber Land and Bostania of the USA, Clark of the United Kingdom, Isetan, Takashuma and Tang of Singapore and ABC Mark of Japan have already communicated with the local shoemakers.

“Officials of Crastmark, a large retailer in Singapore, will visit our footwear factories from December 7,” Mr Saiful added.

Chief of the BFMEA, a group of more than 55 shoe manufacturers, told the FE ‘the buyers want assurance of consistency in supply and Bangladesh has no problem with that as there is a good stock of raw material.’

Footwear manufacturers use local finished leather and they expect to consume around 50 per cent of the country’s leather output this year against around 35 per cent previously.

Local companies including Apexadelchi Footwear Ltd, Jenny’s, Landmark, Leatherex, Bay Footwear, Picard Bangladesh, ABC Leather Goods have been producing both middle and high segment shoes for export.

Industry insiders said earlier Japanese buyers used to buy the bulk of Bangladesh products but this time many new buyers, especially from the USA and Singapore, are showing keen interest to import local shoes.

A senior official at the Jenny’s Shoes told the FE: “We’re getting regular queries mainly because of a massive shut down of tanneries in China.”

He also said adoption of China plus policy by the US government and European embargo on Chinese and Vietnamese footwear are also pushing buyers towards Bangladesh.

Local shoe and leather goods manufacturers exported products worth US$ 204 million in 2008-09 fiscal.

The export earnings stood at $61 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal against the target of $ 246 million.

$3.411m RMG unit in Ctg EPZ soon

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=115429

$3.411m RMG unit in Ctg EPZ soon
Unb, Dhaka

Bangladeshi company Pitam Garments Limited will set up a garments and garments/accessories manufacturing industry in Chittagong EPZ investing US$ 3,411 million.

This cent percent locally owned company will produce garments items. The company will also create employment opportunity for 4661 Bangladeshi nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) the Pitam Garments in Bepza Complex here yesterday.

Moyjuddin Ahmed, member of (Investment Promotion) of Bepza, and Md Khondoker Mahbubur Rob, director of Pitam Garments, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

UK-based company to invest $5m in DEPZ

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/23/news0298.htm

UK-based company to invest $5m in DEPZ
Business Report

UK based company Talisman Limited will set up a high fashion garment industry in Dhaka Export Processing Zone soon.

The company will invest US $ 5 million in setting up their unit and will produce garment items that will create employment opportunity for 1,800 Bangladeshi nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and the M/s.

Talisman Limited in BEPZA Complex.

BEPZA member Moyjuddin Ahmed, Member (Investment Promotion) and Chairman & Managing Director of Talisman Limited M A Matin signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

BEPZA Executive Chairman Brig Gen Jamil Ahmed Khan and senior officials were present.

Adidas plans Bangladesh project

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/18/busi.html#2

Adidas plans Bangladesh project
Kazi Azizul Islam

German sport-goods giant Adidas has under taken a project to produce low-cost trainers for poor buyers, a London-based newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Quoting an Adidas spokesman, the newspaper stated that the project was undertaken after being convinced by the noble laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, Mohammad Yunus.

Jan Runau, the Adidas spokesman, told Daily Telegraph that an agreement had been signed to begin production of the shoes in Bangladesh next year. He, however, said that the project was at an early stage and it had not yet been decided whether the shoes would carry the Adidas tag.

Jan also said Adidas is to make trainers [active shoes] at the price of one Euro per pair for millions of people around the world who can not afford to buy shoes.

Pilot production would begin next year in Bangladesh, he said.

Adidas usually makes expensive footwear and celebrity sponsorship but, according to the Telegraph, [Bangladesh] project was inspired by Muhammad Yunus, the pioneer of micro-loans which help the poor start their own businesses.

He [Yunus] told the company [Adidas], which has been criticised for exploitation in the developing world, that Bangladesh needed ‘social businesses’ which would create jobs in the country.

‘It is correct that Adidas Group in conjunction with Muhammad Yunus aims to put such shoes on the market,’ he said.

‘The company has now agreed it will produce shoes in Bangladesh on a non-profit basis, although a spokesman stressed the final price may be higher than the €1 (89 pence) target.’ The Telegraph wrote.

Adidas pays former England football captain David Beckham £3 million per year as a brand ambassador and to use his name to promote their Predator football boots, which sell for £130 a pair. It spent a reported £50 million to sponsor the Beijing Olympics last year and has pledged a further £100 million for the London Olympics in 2012.

He said it had not yet been decided whether the shoes would carry the Adidas brand or its trademark three stripes design, ‘Key decisions on design and branding have yet to be finalized.’

Footwear exporters see silver lining

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114491

Footwear exporters see silver lining
Sayeda Akter

Leather footwear exports are expected to turn around in two months as the shocks of recession are easing in parts of the world.

Exporters are trying to increase product quality and make prompt delivery to get more work orders from abroad. Simultaneously, they have moved to diversify products to attract new buyers, said industry leaders yesterday.

Local leather footwear and bag exports slowed in July-September, mainly due to the delayed effects of the global financial meltdown.

In the July-September period of 2009, leather footwear exports stood at $56.22 million, which was a 3 percent decline from last year’s figures, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.

Leather bag and purse exports have also slowed with sold products worth $4 million during the period, a rise of 5.56 percent from a year ago, although they failed to reach the export target set by the government.

But growth in exports of leather bags and purses was more than 90 percent in the April-June period.

Industry insiders said the global financial meltdown has had a delayed effect on demand for finished leather and leather goods that caused a decline in exports.

But the decline will not continue for long, as developed markets demand low-cost footwear, bags and purses, industry leaders said.

Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex-Adelchi Footwear Ltd, said footwear exports declined as a result of global recession that affected consumer expenditure on fashion accessories, like footwear and bags.

“Export earnings were satisfactory even three months back, but it dropped in September, mainly because of the delayed effects of global recession on demand for luxury fashion accessories,” he said.

“Another reason for the decline in exports is the seasonality factor. We take orders twice a year and produce different products in different seasons — for example, sandals for spring and boots for winter.”

“Every time we go for new orders, we have to change the entire factory set-up that slows local production initially,” Manzur explained. “But we are trying to smooth the transition further.”

He also said the situation will get better in coming months. “There is demand for our products on international markets, as we produce high quality products and many countries such as Italy have stopped producing high quality shoes.”

The market size of Bangladeshi-made leather footwear stands at around Tk 1,700 crore, of which about 45 percent is exported. The country exports around six million pairs of leather footwear a year.

Apex-Adelchi Footwear Ltd is the country’s leading footwear exporter, claiming more than half of total exports. The company earned Tk 450 crore last year.

Exports of leather bags and purses have also slowed mainly due to lower work order flow during this period. Earlier, the bag exports have risen by more than 90 percent from September 2008.

“We still have a little growth in exports of items like bag and purse, but the flow of work orders have slowed by 50 percent in recent months. Our present growth figures are resultant of the orders we received at least 8-10 months back,” said Ashikur Rahman, managing director of Rahman Leather Bangladesh, a Hazaribagh based leather bag exporter.

“The main reason behind the slower growth is the lack of consistent work orders. Yet we don’t have old and loyal customers abroad, as we are quite new in exporting bags in a large scale,” he said adding, “We still get orders from newer and irregular buyers.”

The annual market size for leather bags and purses stands around Tk 100 crore.

Meanwhile, Rezaul Karim Ansari, chairman of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association, demanded government support to enhance export performance.

sayeda@thedailystar.net

Bangladesh now a hub of sportswear outsourcing

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114340

Bangladesh now a hub of sportswear outsourcing

Workers at a factory in Gazipur check Puma sportswear. The production of quaility ready-made garments made Bangladesh a global hub of sportswear outsourcing. Photo: Amran Hossain

Refayet ullah mirdha

Bangladesh has become a global hub for outsourcing sportswear as internationally renowned brands in large numbers are flocking here to purchase such special clothing ahead of big global sports events.

Quality and cheaper rate of such local apparels attract the buyers, industry insiders say.

Sportswear brands such as Nike, Puma and Adidas are already engaged in outsourcing sportswear items from Bangladesh.

“I have exported sportswear for the players and audience of different countries in the last World Cup football, held in Germany. I am sending huge number of such item for the South Africa World Cup, too,” said M A Rahim Firoz, a director of DBL Group, mainly a knitwear maker.

He sees the rise in buying orders from renowned companies as a sign of better days in the coming years. “The higher demand manifests that foreign buyers have confidence in Bangladesh made sportswear items,” Firoz said.

Dozens of garment factories are now getting export orders round the year, he added.

Talking to The Daily Star, Viyellatex Group Chairman and Managing Director K M Rezaul Hasanat pointed to another factor that contributed to the high demand for sportswear.

This clothing is being used as a fashion item as western styles pass through a wider change.

“Nowadays, people also wear sportswear as casual dresses at home or office. This is why the demand for such clothing is increasing in the western world,” Hasanat said.

Bangladesh has been supplying sportswear for different renowned football, cricket and baseball clubs in USA, EU and other countries, he added.

When asked, Managing Director of Epyllion Group Reaz Uddin Al-Mamoon said his company has already started shipment of jerseys for audience of the World Cup football in South Africa in 2010.

“I hope I fetch $5.0 million this year from exports of at least 25 lakh pieces of sportswear to South Africa,” he said, pointing his finger at the recently-signed agreement with the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

Mamoon said he has already completed the shipment of 2 lakh pieces of sportswear to South Africa and the rest of the shipments will be completed soon. He said he sent sportswear also for the Germany World Cup.

“Bangladesh has ample scope for being a major global market player in sportswear as the country can supply fine stitched products with cheaper rates,” Mamoon said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh exported RMG products worth $3.03 billion in the first three months (July-September) of the current fiscal year compared with $3.35 billion in the same period last year.

The target for knitwear export was fixed at $7.29 billion in fiscal 2009-10 against the achievement at $6.429 billion in 2008-09. In the case of woven, the export target was fixed at $6.68 billion for the current fiscal year against $5.91 billion earned in 2008-09, the Export Promotion Bureau said.

reefat@thedailystar.net

Rajshahi Silk fair begins Sunday aiming at industrial boost

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/14/busi.html#3

Rajshahi Silk fair begins Sunday aiming at industrial boost
Our Correspondent . Rajshahi

A seven-day silk fair begins in Rajshahi on Sunday aiming to expand the local silk industry.

Bangladesh Silk Industry Owners’ Association and two non-government organised — Barendra Unnayan Prochesta and Sachetan – are the joint organisers of the fair to be held at the green plaza of the Nagar Bhaban.

Rajshahi city mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton will inaugurate the fair.

The organisers, at a press briefing on Friday at a city restaurant, said that country’s silk industry is facing different barriers obstructing its development.

In a written statement read out by the BSIOA president, Manjur Faruk Chowdhury, the organisers also said that the current demand of silk cotton stands at minimum 300 tonnes of which only 50 tonnes are produced in the country while the rest is imported.

‘If the government takes initiatives to develop the silk industry through supply of modern technology and backing the silk farmers, who are giving up the profession, the demand can be met locally,’ the statement read.

The price of locally produced yarn was Tk 1,300 per kilogram while the China-yarn was Tk 2,500 in 1988, the statement said adding that after the opening of market in 1991, businessmen and non-businessmen had started importing substandard silk taking the advantage of the open market.

At least 1,200 tonnes of silk yarn was imported at that time against the annual local demand of maximum 350 tonnes per year at that time. Huge imported silk yarn was smuggled out to the neighbouring country, the statement alleged.

Having been deprived of fair price of their produced yarn, many professional cocoon farmers already started leaving their ancestral profession.

Many factories that were involved in producing clothes have been forced to close their looms.

The BSIOA president informed the press conference that he himself slashed partial production of his factory and feared that many more factories would become non-functional after they are finished with their existing yarn stock.

According to the national silk policy-2005, the silk industry belongs to agro-based industries, the organisers said adding that they never got facilities like agro-based industries.

They also said that they want to arrange such fairs in the six divisional cities to expand the silk market in the country.

‘We want to increase the silk market in the country through publicity of the silk products and reach at the door of the customers,’ the statement stated.

Merajul Alam, former president of BSIOA, Fayezullah Chowdhury, executive director of Barendra Unnayan Prochesta, Hasibul Islam Chunnu, executive director of Sachetan, Mostafizur Rahman Sawdagarh, a silk entrepreneur and Rashed Ibne Obayed, project director of BUP, also spoke at the press briefing.

German company partners with Yunus over textile

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=113842

German company partners with Yunus over textile

Star Business Desk

Germany’s Otto Group has signed a deal with Grameen Trust to start a joint venture in textiles in Bangladesh, Yunus Centre said in a statement yesterday.

Under the deal, Grameen and Otto will jointly set up Grameen Otto Trust and Grameen Otto Textile Company.

Grameen Otto Textile Company will establish a factory in Bangladesh to produce readymade garments for the international market under “socially and ecologically sustainable conditions”.

Otto Chairman Dr Michael Otto and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus signed the deal at the headquarters of the German company in Hamburg.

Otto Group is a leading family-owned international trading and services corporation with 123 major companies and 50,000 employees in 20 countries.

Otto is the largest mail order company in the world and second only to Amazon to have the largest online marketing.

The signing ceremony was held at the end of Yunus’ visit to several German cities to attend the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Fall of Berlin Wall, Nobel Peace Laureates’ Summit, Vision Summit and Social Business Summit.

“Under the principles of social business, as developed by Prof Yunus, investors cannot receive any profit beyond recouping the actual investment,” the statement said.

“All profits from the joint venture will be used exclusively for reinvestment in the factory to provide modern technologies and humane working conditions,” it said.

It is the first social business partnership in the textile business that aims to apply the highest ecological standards in production.

“Otto Group has committed to establishing more factories in Bangladesh, based on the success of the first factory, and also promote this new social business model to the countries in Africa,” the statement added.

Shimamura set to buy garments from Bangladesh

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/13/front.html#16

Shimamura set to buy garments from Bangladesh
Kazi Azizul Islam

Japan’s clothing brand Shimamura is set to start buying garments from Bangladesh, industry sources said. Fast Retail, owner of top Japanese clothing brand Uniclo earlier started buying garments from Bangladesh.

Two top executives of the Shimamura Company Limited arrived in Dhaka on Thursday and discussed with industry leaders the possibility of apparel trade with Bangladesh. They also visited garment factories.

We are very much hopeful as the top men from Japan’s Number 2 clotting retailer are in Dhaka,’ said the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association president, Fazlul Hoque, after the meeting with the Shimamura president Masato Nonaka.

Jyunichi Yanagisawa, the general manager of the $4.5b Shimamura, also attended the meeting.

Invited by the BKMEA delegation which visited Japan recently, Nonaka was expected to be in the Japanese delegation of apparel importers which attended the Bangladesh Knit Expo and BATEXO in the first week of November. But Shimamura executives later decided to visit Bangladesh individually.

Eighty per cent of Shimamura’s apparel import worth $2 billion is supplied by China; the remaining of Shimamura’s import is supplied by Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

Industry sources said after its rival Uniclo had started buying garments from Bangladesh, Shimamura started inquiring about made-in-Bangladesh ladies wear, knitwear and other garments and hosieries.

Shimamura operates nationwide chain stores under the name Fashion Centre Shimamura, which sells fashion and utility apparel products and related items for females aged between 25 and 45.

It also operates other stores such as Birthday, which sells baby products, Chambre, which sells fashion accessories for women, and Divalo, which offers women’s shoes and other apparel items.

German company to invest US$ 1.12 million in Dhaka EPZ

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=2&id=70254&date=2009-11-11

German company to invest US$ 1.12 million in Dhaka EPZ

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Nov 11 (BSS) – German Company Ospinter Garments Limited will set up a garments Industry in Dhaka Export Processing Zone.

This 100 percent foreign-owned company will invest US$ 1.12 million in setting up their unit and will produce garments items. It will also create employment opportunity for 547 Bangladeshi nationals, a BEPZA release said here today.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority(BEPZA) and the M/S Ospinter Garments Limited in BEPZA Complex here today.

Mayjuddin Ahmed, Member (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and ichael Choa, General Manager of Ospinter Garments Limited, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Among others, Brigadier General Jamil Ahmed Khan, Executive Chairman of BEPZA, was present on the occasion.

Foreign apparel makers plan relocation to Bangladesh

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=113081

Foreign apparel makers plan relocation to Bangladesh
BATEXPO ends amid warm response from buyers

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Foreign buyers see Bangladesh as a lucrative destination for global apparel outsourcing as the country manufactures quality items at a cheap cost.

Many entrepreneurs now plan either relocation of their factories or venturing into joint business here, they said while narrating their experience as participants in the 20th BATEXPO in Dhaka.

The annual largest apparel exhibition concluded yesterday. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the three-day fair. A total of 62 companies from home and abroad participated in 86 stalls.

Talking to The Daily Star at his stall, Gao Zhourong, marketing manager of Changzhou Giantsun Textile Company Ltd, a Chinese company, said they will set up a garment unit in Bangladesh soon as this is a good place for cheaper labour cost.

“We have already completed talks with a local partner to set up the garment unit,” Zhourong said.

Currently, this company has been supplying fabrics of woven garment in Bangladesh, he said. He thinks the response from local and international buyers was very high at the BATEXPO.

Bangladesh imports a substantial quantity of such fabrics from China as the local backward integration can only supply 35 percent of the total demand.

However, the local textile millers have been able to supply around 80 percent fabrics for the knitwear sub-sector for setting up of strong backward integration over the last few years, mainly backed by the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences).

Agha Dastageer of Kassim Textiles, a denim manufacturing company from Pakistan, said Bangladesh’s export trends show a huge rise in orders from importers in future.

He said Bangladesh is doing well also in denim manufacturing as many companies have already started exporting fine denim products.

Dastageer said the quality of Bangladesh made apparels is better compared to other competitive countries as the country mainly depends on the European machinery. “European machinery is really good for apparel manufacturing. And Europeans like such quality,” Dastageer said.

But Bangladesh is suffering limited products diversification as the country still mainly manufactures basic items, the foreign apparel businessmen said.

Meanwhile, the local makers said orders from international buyers are on the rise, as the world is coming out of recession with the signs of improvement in the advanced economies.

Golam Ahmed, general manager (product) of Intramex Group, a local firm, also pointed to the upward trend of buying orders saying that foreigners are coming to Bangladesh in large numbers.

He suggested that Bangladesh should focus on product diversification in a bigger way, as buyers always demand some new items.

Meanwhile, a considerable number of foreign investors and buyers flocked to the recently concluded 5th Knitexpo in the capital. A record 156 international buyers and investors attended the show, held at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on November 2-4.

Bangladesh exported $5.918 billion woven garment and $6.429 billion knitwear products in 2008-09 fiscal year, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data said.

reefat@thedailystar.net