AOB-March-2021_Web.pdf - Apparel Resources

2 AO Bangladesh | March 2021

March 2021 | AO Bangladesh 3


24Cover Story

Industry’s Logistical Ordeals

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p21

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Most footwear brands count losses due to the pandemic but some make profit

China’s booming luxury market has surpassed every other in the world; Tmall serves as a very crucial link for outsiders to get a piece

What is BGMEA doing to retain EU’s trade privilege...

InduStry verdICt12 I By When Can Exports Start Making

A Turnaround?

retaIl rIght//natIonal13 I Coronavirus Pandemic: Majority Shoe Brands Count Losses As Some

Make Hay

retaIl rIght//newS15 I Weather Plays Spoilsport This Time;

Uk Footfall Remains Flat

retaIl rIght//InternatIonal21 I The key To Capturing China’s

Inaccessible Luxury Market

ManufaCturIng30 I BGMEA’s Efforts At Retaining The

EU Trade Privilege32 I COVID Challenge To LDC Graduation35 I Raw Material Prices Burning Holes

In Pockets37 I Significance of ASEAN for

Bangladesh39 I Stakeholders Chip In To Help

Industry Fight Covid Challenges Through Productivity Increase And Tech Upgrade

ManufaCturIng//newS42 I Woven Segment Far From Recovery,

Claim Reports

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March 2021 | AO Bangladesh 5lectra.com

Create the harmony you need to work faster and waste less in production, with the new

cloud-based automatic marker-making solution:


SuStaInabIlIty50 I Are Retrenched Workers Being Hired

At Lower Wages?52 I Calling To Skip Workers’ Raise

For 2 Years…54 I Safety Programme Implementation:

RMG Sustainability Council In Focus Again!56 I What’s The Latest With EU’s Cash

Support Programme For Retrenched Workers?

trendS In foCuS//runwayS60 I Couture Has A New Definition:

Comfort Couture Spring 2021

faShIon buSIneSS63 I key Opportunities For Businesses

To Consider In 2021 To Appease The Future Consumer

deSIgnerS & labelS66 I Dhaka Denims: Bangladesh’s Youngest

Brand Creating Products Out Of 100% Recycled And Upcycled Materials

teCh ManageMent70 I Finally AI In Manufacturing: Garment

Measurement Inspection In A Flash 72 I These ‘Process Optimisation’

Technologies Can Earn Factories Higher Profits

77 I ‘Robotic Assembly Of Garments’ Possible; ARM Institute (USA) Unveils A

Successful Project Detail

trade StatIStICS80 I US Apparel Imports (Jan. To Dec. 2020):

2020 Data Is Out! USA Declines 23.46 Per Cent In Apparel Import Value

reSourCe Centre84 I Intertek Bangladesh, BEXIMCO Announce Opening of PPE Center

Of Excellence

p50Allegations of rehiring the retrenched workers at lower pay

p60Couture looks towards Comfort for Spring 2021

p66Dhaka Denims- crafting fashion out of 100% recycled and upcycled Materials

p63Key business opportunities to tap the future consumer

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As vaccines for the dreaded Covid-19 roll out in various countries, including that in Bangladesh, one can only hope life will get back to normalcy soon and so will businesses, both at the domestic and global levels.

Notwithstanding the optimism, one has to accept the mayhem caused by the pandemic will take time to heal! And for Bangladesh, things haven’t been any better either after its garment exports in 2020 decreased by 16.94 per cent to US $ 27.47 billion from that of US $ 33.07 billion in 2019 on account of the fallouts of the pandemic even as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) underlined that the pandemic dealt a bigger blow to Bangladesh than its competitors whilst adding that Coronavirus is having a profound impact not only on the global demand but also on the relative competitiveness of the countries.

The impact of the contagion is going to be felt for long as further underlined by a recent Reuters report, which maintained that major retailers in USA and Europe were still sitting on excess inventories and cutting back on new (Spring) orders whilst as per McKinsey, the value of unsold clothing globally, in stores and warehouses, ranges from US $ 168 to US $ 192 billion, which is more than double the normal levels.

It goes without saying that the pre-Christmas lockdowns in most parts of Europe followed by another clampdown in January 2021 have hit garment makers in Bangladesh hard even as 50 factories surveyed by the BGMEA maintained that they had received 30 per cent lesser orders than usual this season.

However, as the massive inoculation drives by countries across the globe continue, there definitely is a sense of hope and expectation and as aptly as it may sound, Bangladesh has rightly embraced the path of sustainability, which experts believe will be the only way forward as we come out of the bleak, dark days of Covid-19, in bigger way.

It has started its growth journey in the post pandemic period, after more than 30 global fashion brands, recyclers and local manufacturers joined hands to collaborate in a new initiative aimed at reusing textile waste in Bangladesh, named Circular Fashion Partnership, which counts names like Marks & Spencer, Bershka, H&M Group, Target Australia, Gina Tricot, Pull & Bear, C&A, Peak Performance, Grey State, Bestseller, Kmart Australia and OVS amongst the participating brands whilst amongst the manufacturers taking part in this initiative are, Ratul Group, Asrotex Group, S B Knit Composite (Sankura Dyeing and Garments), Bitopi Group (Tarasima), Crystal International Group Limited, the Northern Group, Salek Textiles, Amantex, JM Fabrics, MAS Intimates, GSM, Echotex and Fakir Knitwear.

Thus, even as the industry gears up for the new world and business order in the post pandemic period, the new leadership of BGMEA — BGMEA is expected to go to polls in April — will have a much bigger role to play to guide the industry in the right direction whilst also deal with the other challenges, new and inherent, in the best possible ways in 2021– a year, even though challenging, is expected to offer new avenues of growth and development.

And as a keen observer of the industry, I am sure, Bangladesh, as always, will not fail to make the most of the emerging opportunities, no matter the challenges.

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’s DESK…

Gearing up for a post-Covid world order

Deepak Mohindra Editor-in-Chief

Deepak Mohindrae-mail me at [email protected]

editor’S note



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S E N D y o u r c o m m E N t [email protected]

Economic growth and development are matter of pride for any country. Bangladesh, despite many challenges (both inherent and otherwise), has been making tremendous growth in the socio-economic index over the years so much so that the country is expected to take the big leap to join the league of developing nations from the current LDC status by 2024.However, as per experts, Bangladesh would have to face many bottlenecks after the transition in various fronts, whether it is in exports or investment.According to you what are the various pitfalls that Bangladesh should prepare itself for on account of the LDC transition?Please share your views with us.

NEXT INDUSTRY VERDICT QUESTION

Thanks to Covid-19 pandemic which has hit hard apparel shipments, Bangladesh’s exports in the just concluded year of 2020 fell by 14.57 per cent to US $ 33.60 billion from what was US $ 39.33 billion in the previous year.According to data released by EPB on 4 January, garment export in 2020 decreased by 16.94 per cent to US $ 27.47 billion from that of US $ 33.07 billion in 2019.The data showed that out of the US $ 27.47 billion earnings from RMG in 2020, US $ 11.92 billion came in the January-June period and US $ 15.54 billion in the July-December period.By when do you think exports could start making a turnaround?

Q&A

Faruque HassanGiant Group

We should not count or consider the figure as it is; last year was an abnormal year for the global economy.

The buyers are also suffering as their sales fell, too. In addition, the prices of cotton went up leaving manufacturers with another challenge in their hands. The crisis deepened further as the second wave of Covid-19 compelled several countries in Europe and the US to go into fresh lockdowns. Thus, we lost our exports.

We should chalk out plans for 2021 by taking the lessons from the previous year. In the given context, the Government should provide policy and financial support to come out from the impact of the second wave of Covid.

Dr. Ahsan H. MansurPolicy Research Institute

To sell products, you need to have a buyer. With people dying or falling ill, who would buy goods? In addition, amidst the economic slowdown, people focused on basic needs and were more cautious in spending fearing the pandemic would take a turn for the worse.

In the post-Covid era, the export market, especially that of garments, would be totally different, where environment, labour rights, health safety and compliance will be more crucial.

Technological upgradation and adoption of new technology to communicate and for product development will be at the heart of the supply chain. We need to be well equipped for this

khondaker Golam MoazzemCentre for Policy Dialogue

I hope Bangladesh’s exports will be able to recover by the second half of 2021 as vaccination has started in the export destinations. Bangladesh should be ready for the post-Covid world as the supply chain and economic activities will emerge with a new dimension.

Dr. Rubana HuqBGMEA

It was a dark year for the industry. Given the effect of lockdowns in Europe and the USA and their impact on retail and demand, the worst-ever Christmas sales the world has seen, and most of all the effect of price decline, which is around 5 per cent since September 2020.To put things into perspective, the Christmas sales in the Western world have been the lowest in recent memory.

As the uncertainties and stresses caused by the second wave still persist coupled with the relatively poor administration and unavailability of vaccine, and the impact on global economy it would leave, this downtrend in export will probably continue till April of this year

The RMG witnessed downturn in export in December with 9.64 per cent fall, which wrapped up the annual export performance for 2020 with an unprecedented fall of 16.94 per cent.

In December, woven garment export posted the worst performance since June 2020 as it declined by 18.07 per cent. knitwear export managed to have a relatively stable position with negative 0.45 per cent growth in December, thanks to the demand for apparel for home use.

induStry verdict


Riding on strong economic growth and rising purchasing power of consumers, footwear sector in Bangladesh had been growing at around 15 per cent for the past decade or so. Steady rise in demand also brought in investments from both foreign and local businesses with at least 15-20 new leather products and footwear factories reportedly opening in Bangladesh each year.

According to a research by the Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) in 2019, the domestic market size of footwear was around Taka17,000 crore in the fiscal year 2018-19 and domestic demand for

footwear was about 200 to 250 million pairs a year.

The good show that the footwear sector has been putting up was, however, only to continue till the Coronavirus pandemic hit, to throw everything out of gear. So, despite the good run so far, Covid-19 proved to be the undoing of the footwear brands and retailers operating in Bangladesh in 2020, almost all of which suffered setbacks in varying degrees.

To start with, net profits of Apex Footwear witnessed a sharp decline by 48.49 per cent in the fiscal year ending on 30 June 2020, with the company’s

Coronavirus PandemiC: majority shoe brands Count

losses as some make hay

sales dropping due to Covid-19 both in domestic and export markets.

According to the financial statement for the fiscal year 2019-20, Apex Footwear made net profits of Taka 6.32 crore, down by 48.49 per cent, which had been Taka 12.27 crore in Fy ’19. The company saw a decline in earnings as it had missed sales during the last Eid-ul-Fitr, the main season for sales, due to the countrywide lockdown.

“The sharp fall of earnings was caused by lower sales during the April-June period as the country went through a shutdown to stop the spread of Coronavirus,”

The good show that the footwear sector has been putting up in the last few years subsequent to the strong economic growth and rising purchasing power of consumers, came to a grinding halt in 2020 as Coronavirus

pandemic led almost all major shoe brands in the country to count losses. However, changed consumer behaviour, also on the account of the pandemic, helped some to grow business substantially.

retail right// NatiONal


maintained Company Secretary of Apex Footwear, Md. Omar Faruque, who added that around 40 per cent of Apex’s sales come during Eid-Ul-Fitr, when mostly new and valuable products are sold.

But due to the pandemic, the company missed the prime sales as well as general sales as people avoided shopping due to the pandemic.

As per the financial statement of the company, its annual turnover also dropped by 25.25 per cent to Taka 1,181 crore in Fy 2019-20, which was Taka 1,580 crore in Fy ’19.

Apex Footwear is a sister concern of Apex Group, which manufactures and retails quality footwear in the country and sells footwear and leather goods through its 260 sales points across Bangladesh.

The company listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1993, and belonging to ‘A’ category also, exports leather goods and footwear to 135 global clients in Europe, North America and Japan.

Next in line is Bata Shoe, which for the first time in its 58-year stay in Bangladesh, reportedly suffered losses subsequent to missing out on main shopping season as people’s income was wiped out by the pandemic. The sales collapse of shoes, considered a basic item, reflected the fallouts of the pandemic on the economy and the people’s livelihoods, since Bangladesh first detected the Covid-19 positive cases in March last year.

According to reports, Bata’s sales dropped 85.37 per cent to Taka 41.24 crore in the second quarter of 2020. Sales dropped 55.37 per cent to Taka 204.92 crore in the first half of the year.

Due to the collapse in sales, Bata Shoe sank into losses in the April-June period, giving up Taka 73.51 crore, whereas it had netted a profit of Taka 21.68 crore a year earlier.

Half-yearly loss stood at Taka 70.68 crore against a profit of Taka 26.14 crore year-on-year.

“As far as I know, this was the first time we fell into losses,” underlined Company Secretary of Bata Shoe, Hashim Reza

months following a hike in the demand for low-cost, non-leather footwear products consequent to most people staying at home to avoid infection and preferring to buy casual shoes at affordable prices.

According to Managing Director of Lotto’s Bangladesh operations, Kazi Jamil Islam, the outbreak of the pandemic did force Lotto Bangladesh to shut its operations on 23 March 2020, just days ahead of a two-month nationwide lockdown. At the time, Lotto employed nearly 1,300 people at its local production facility but since then things have changed radically so much so that the MD of Lotto’s Bangladesh operations has recruited another 700 workers at a new facility to increase production so as to meet the growing demand.

when the lockdown was eventually lifted on 30 May 2020, many people took up jogging and other physical activities in an effort to improve their immune systems which led to the increased demand for low-cost washable footwear, explained Kazi as the principal reason behind the company’s sales picking up even during the pandemic.

Kazi, who is also the Managing Director of Express Leather Products, the world’s fastest growing Lotto licensee, now plans to set up another factory in Tongi, where various sportswear such as jerseys and track suits will be produced.

Seeing that washable, non-leather products were selling well, Kazi reportedly increased production but was still unable to cope with the rapidly rising demand and as such decided to open another factory of around 11,000 square foot.

“Luckily, I had the raw materials for those items on hand and was able to do good business,” he said adding with the sales going up nearly 40 per cent year-on-year during the pandemic period, he has increased the commission paid to retailers to 35 per cent and plans to open five more outlets in different parts of the country soon.

So even as the pandemic spelled hardships and business loss for many, some were lucky enough to cash the changing consumer behaviour, it seems.

even then as the company’s financial report indicated that about 25 per cent of Bata Shoe’s business comes during the Eid festivals. So, it ramped up stock three months before Eid-ul-Fitr only to witness its hopes dashed after the Government imposed a countrywide lockdown on 26 March 2020 to contain the soaring cases of Covid-19.

And by the time the economy was partially opened on 31 May, the shopping season was already over with Eid-ul-Fitr being celebrated on 25 May already.

Though the Government had allowed limited opening of shops ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the turnout was low, so were the sales, said a store manager while adding the store normally posted revenue of Taka 30 lakh in Eid-ul-Fitr during normal times but it was mere Taka 2 lakh this time around.

Somewhat similar has been the fate of other footwear makers and retailers in Bangladesh. “The leather industry is still in a vulnerable position as domestic demand has yet to rebound,” said Nasir Khan, Chairman and Managing Director, Jennys Shoes then, adding, “I closed 40 out of 65 outlets across different districts and divisional cities where operational costs exceeded revenue.”

However, even as most of the entities have been struggling on account of the pandemic, Lotto Bangladesh had a different experience altogether as it reportedly witnessed a business boom on account of change in the consumer behaviour.

According to media reports, the ongoing pandemic has been a blessing for Lotto Sport Italia as it enjoyed increased sales in Bangladesh for the past several

... Despite the good run so far, Covid-19 proved to be

the undoing of the footwear brands and retailers operating in Bangladesh in 2020, almost

all of which suffered setbacks in varying degrees.

retail right// national


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Weather plays spoilsport this time; UK footfall remains flat

Hudson’s Bay cuts 600 jobs

If pandemic-induced store closures and frequent lockdowns weren’t enough, now weather too has started playing spoilsport across the UK retail world.

Footfall all across the UK was flat last month – especially during the 24-30 January week – as poor weather affected many parts of the country.

Heavy snowfall and rain have kept many people indoors across the country since the last week of January.

As per Springboard, footfall rose by 0.4 per cent week-over-week across all retail destinations during the aforementioned period.

Springboard delivers data with unrivalled precision for malls,

Hudson’s Bay has, reportedly, condemned the decision of officials to shut down stores in some regions. In a statement released to media, the company said that despite the Supreme Court questioning the wisdom and efficacy of

Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns and runs chain of clothing retail stores in Canada and in the US, has, reportedly, announced to lay off 600 of its workers.

All the affected employees work at the company’s stores in Canada. This was confirmed by a company spokesperson.

The company also confirmed in an e-mail that it will not be shutting down any of the stores. Notably, Hudson’s Bay has 88 stores in Canada.

Here it is pertinent to state that nearly half of its stores were temporarily shut down owing to the pandemic impact.

high streets and retailers.

while footfall at shopping centres rose by 1.1 per cent, it fell by 2 per cent week-over-week at the high streets. Retail park footfall saw a rise of 4.7 per cent from the previous week.

The overall footfall in the country dropped by a huge

lockdown rules governing non-essential retailers, almost half of company’s stores were temporarily closed.

It further said that owing to such an unavoidable situation, the company had to make some adjustments thereby leading to cutting jobs.

Expressing regret over the decision taken, the company said that it is committed to treating every affected individual with fairness and respect in these tough times.

Hudson’s Bay, which also owns Saks Fifth Avenue, generated CA $ 9.4 billion in 2018.

65.2 per cent compared to what it was during the same period last year.

Notably, footfall at the end of 5th week of third lockdown was slightly higher than what it was in the same period of the first lockdown. However, poor weather has impacted the footfall and hit the retail sector significantly.

Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon’s CEO

Jeff Bezos, the founder of e-commerce giant Amazon, is set to step down from his position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the third quarter of this year. Confirming the same on 2nd February, the company said in a statement released to media that Jeff will assume the role of the Board’s Executive Chair.

Andy Jassy, who is currently the chief of Amazon’s AwS cloud services unit, will be replacing Jeff as the new CEO.

Jeff ’s decision to step down as CEO comes in the wake of Amazon’s recent quarterly performance that saw its net sales jump to 44 per cent to clock US $ 125.6 billion.

while the fourth quarter was impressive as far as net sales were concerned, the full-year numbers too were very good. The full-year net sales for the e-commerce stalwart rose by 38 per cent to record US $ 386.1 billion. Amazon owes majority, if not all, of its success to Jeff ’s methodologies and passion and therefore his stepping down has certainly diluted the digital platform’s steady sales performance.

However, Neil Saunders, MD, Global Data is optimistic when he says that Jeff, by assuming the role of Executive Chair, will surely ensure that Amazon does not lose its innovative edge.

In a note to the company’s staff, Jeff said that he will devote all his energies and attention to new products and early initiatives.

retail right// neWS





Joules sees profits and sales fall

After buying Debenhams, Boohoo now plans to acquire Arcadia brands

Christopher & Banks has bidder for its digital business

Joules, the British lifestyle retailer, continues to battle the pandemic-induced crisis as most of the fashion retailers.

The retailer, known for selling apparels at country shows, saw its Group revenue slump by 15.3 per cent to touch £94.5 million in26 weeks that ended 29 November 2020.

The fall was expected considering the number of stores that were closed during the period.

The 26-week period also witnessed the retailer’s profits

case, then potentially many jobs could be hit again. In a statement released to media, the e-tailer said that talks were going on and the deal may or may not happen. Here it is important to state that Boohoo is not alone in the race. Its close competitor Asos Plc too is in talks with Arcadia Group to acquire Topshop, Topman and other brands of the Group.

assumed liabilities. As per the agreement, the bidders will have to top the bid by at least US $ 650,000.

Christopher & Banks has been going through tough times after posting loss of US $ 10.8 million in Q3 ended 31 October 2020. Receiving notices of default on a term loan and on secured vendor programme earlier this month proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the retailer.

Christopher & Banks had initially approached around 200 parties for sale; however, most of them refused any deal though 3 of them, reportedly, showed some interest in purchasing the company’s e-commerce assets.

Boohoo, the British online fashion brand, was in talks to acquire part of Arcadia Group’s brands.

As per report in Sky News, Boohoo has confirmed that negotiations were underway to purchase Burton, Dorothy Perkins and wallis brands. Reportedly, the e-tailer is eyeing only the brands and not the stores. And if that’s the

Christopher & Banks, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier, has got a bid on its e-commerce business from a term loan lender – thereby setting a baseline for bankruptcy auction.

This was confirmed in the documents submitted to the court.

The American womenswear retailer has, reportedly, signed a letter of intent with ALCC LLC to serve as the stalking-horse bidder for the upcoming auction. ALCC is an affiliate of Hilco Merchant Resources.

The purchase price for the digital business, under the bid, would comprise the value of the term loan (US $ 8.1 million) in addition to

shared that this performance – underpinned by very strong sales growth through e-commerce – was attained despite all store closures and

before tax fall from £8.4 million (in the previous year) to a low of £3.7 million.

As it’s been the case with most of the fashion retailers, the online revenue for Joules saw a surge of 45 per cent in the first half of the said period.

In fact, robust e-commerce performance in 7 weeks to 3 January 2021 offset the impact of store closures during the holiday season.

Pleased over the performance, Nick Jones, CEO, Joules,

prolonged lockdowns across the UK. As of 2018, Joules has as many as 123 stores and generated revenue of £185.9 million.

retail right// neWS



VF Corp. revenue decreases by 6%

Clothing retailer Belk to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

VF Corp. released Q3 results ended 26 December 2020 of fiscal 2021 and raises full year fiscal 2021 outlook.

The company’s revenue from continuing operations decreased by 6 per cent to US $ 3.0 billion, while active segment revenue decreased by 9 per cent including a 6 per cent fall in Vans brand revenue.

The outdoor segment saw its revenue decrease by 5 per cent, which included flat revenue in The North Face brand.

The work segment revenue increased 8 per cent including a 9 per cent rise in Dickies brand revenue.

to revamp. Notably, Sycamore Partners holds over 75 per cent of Belk’s first lien term loan debt and all of its second lien term loan debt.

The agreement is expected to help Belk bring down its debt by around US $ 450 million and extend maturities on all term loans by July 2025. This was confirmed in a statement

third quarter results were largely ahead of expectations despite the impact of additional Covid-19-related disruption to our business,” said Steve Rendle, VF’s Chairman, President and CEO. He further added that the portfolio remains on track to return to growth in the fiscal fourth quarter and the company is confident in its plans to accelerate growth into fiscal 2022 and continue advancing the business model transformation. He stated “we remain optimistic about the year ahead and look forward to improvements in our geopolitical, macroeconomic and pandemic-related situations.”

2021, expectedly, seems to have started from where 2020 left! Sycamore Partners has, reportedly, confirmed that American apparel retailer Belk is all set to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The fashion retailer has entered into a restructuring support agreement with Sycamore Partners in its efforts

As far as regionwise revenue is concerned, international revenue was flat, while Europe revenue increased by 1 per cent. The Greater China revenue rose by 18 per cent, which included a rise of 22 per cent in Mainland China.

Its full year fiscal 2021 revenue is now expected to be in the range of US $ 9.1 billion to US $ 9.2 billion, reflecting a decrease of 12 to 13 per cent on an adjusted basis. “Our

released by Sycamore Partners.

Meanwhile, Sycamore Partners – along with investment firms Blackstone Credit, KKR and some others – has committed US $ 225 million in new capital.

Once the agreement process concludes, many lenders will have minority stake in Belk, with Sycamore Partners having majority stake.

Sycamore Partners, which bought Belk in 2015, refused to comment.

Founded in 1888, Belk is known mainly for its apparels, accessories and shoes, and has around 300 stores in 16 US states.

Menswear brand Hawes & Curtis is now into loungewearFashion retailers, who are fast learning the new norms, are now exploring and embracing new product categories in order to survive.

we saw underwear label Thinx expanding into activewear early this year and now this British menswear brand Hawes & Curtis too has launched its maiden loungewear collection. That’s the call of customers in this ‘new world’ and Hawes & Curtis has understood this well.

Known for its formalwear and premium cotton shirts, Hawes & Curtis – with this new launch – has yet again shown its commitment to quickly adapt to changing needs of customers.

The collection features elevated essentials that include crewneck sweatshirts, hooded sweatshirts, sweatpants and T-shirts – all in super soft organic cotton fabric. Importantly, they would be a perfect blend of style and comfort. Notably, these have been pre-shrunk for a comfortable fitting dress that would not shrink in the wash.

The collections, which were launched online on 25 January, are available in grey shades, dark green, navy, blackberry, black and Airforce blue.

Founded in 2013, Hawes & Curtis runs over 20 stores in the UK and has a store in Germany too.

retail right// neWS



Going beyond jeans! Levi’s extends partnership with Target

Shopee unveils new initiatives to enhance Shopee Mall experience

It’s always news when denim pioneer meets a fashion giant! American denim stalwart Levi’s is all set to extend its partnership with fashion retailer Target – and this time it’s going beyond jeans.

The pandemic-hit retail world is making every big and small retailer come out with different strategies to survive and succeed.

Levi’s is now, reportedly, entering into a home-goods partnership with Target – the partnership that will now include products like pillows, quilts and tableware.

This seems to be the new

in areas of innovation and marketing.

The 100 Million Dollar Club challenges brands to attain US $ 100 million in gross merchandise value within the year. The first 10 brands to unlock this milestone will be rewarded with special perks. Besides, Shopee will be unveiling a series of new

Shopee’s efforts to power the next stage of growth for brands continue! The renowned e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia launched a series of initiatives and features for Shopee Mall at the inaugural Shopee Brands Summit 2021.

The event, held at Andaz Singapore, witnessed Shopee’s leadership team share the 2021 roadmap for brands to capture the next wave of growth in the region’s US $ 172 billion online market.

while the first major initiative is Regional Champion Brands Programme, the second is 100 Million Dollar Club. The former is a by-invite programme including 16 brands that will receive priority support from Shopee

retailers who drive customer traffic.

Chip Bergh, CEO, Levi’s, has, however, said that Levi’s doesn’t have any plans of

trend as there are reports of another denim bigwig wrangler and Pottery Barn Teen coming together to sell homeware items like denim quilts.

As per the agreement between Levi’s and Target, the former’s Red Tab label will now be further expanded into Target stores.

The plan is to expand it to 500 locations by the fall of this year.

Levi’s, as per reports, is devising a business strategy wherein the focus would be to move away from department stores and eye

venturing into homeware business permanently.

Founded in 1853, denim maker Levi’s generates revenue of US $ 5.575 billion.

retail right// neWS

initiatives to help brands get new customers, retain existing ones and optimise their digital performance.

In this regard, there are plans to scale up on its mega shopping events and brand collaborations so as to enhance brands’ online visibility as well as get new consumers.

Besides, in order to retain customers, Shopee has also launched the Brand Membership programme for brands to increase consumer retention by rewarding shoppers with loyalty points when they shop from brands’ Official Stores on Shopee Mall.

Shopee is also helping brands with an extensive range of warehouse support, allowing them to fulfil orders quickly and reliably all through the year.

The focus is to provide seamless shopping experience to consumers and thereby help brands grow.

Started in 2015, Shopee is the leading online platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.


retail right//international

There has been endless discussion on the fate of the luxury market come 2020, and while most have predicted growth despite the fall in number for the past couple of quarters, others are keeping their views reserved. One reason for this can be the fact that the hubs of luxury were some of the worst hit during the pandemic, sending economies plummeting.

when it comes to luxury, Europe and USA have always been at the heart of it, so there’s no reason for that to change now, or is there? In a year where global luxury spending has fallen dramatically, China’s domestic market is still poised to grow, as the region’s crème de la crème stayed home but still managed to splurge plentifully on luxuries. Historically, luxury markets in Europe and the United States have been fuelled by international travel

— especially of Chinese tourists. But the new report from Bain & Co. predicts that China’s elite are going to be doing much more of their spending locally in the years ahead.

In fact, by late 2020, Mainland China was expected to be the only region to report y-o-y growth, with the country’s luxury market soaring 45 per cent to reach 44 billion euros or US $ 52.21 billion, according to Bain’s 2020 Fall Luxury Report. This leads to another crucial find, and that is the drastic shift in luxury’s demographic. China’s Gen Z’s fondness for high-end goods is coupled with their love for streetwear and anything inspired by pop-culture. Such is their fascination that a study by McKinsey & Company showed China’s Gen Z spend sat an average of RMB 25,000 (US $ 3,600)

ThE kEy TO CApTurIng ChInA’s InACCEssIBlE

luxury MArkET

a year on luxury goods, already as much as their parents in the post ’65s -’70s generation.

Given the growing influence of younger consumers, luxury brands are increasing online penetration. Fortunately, there isn’t a dearth of portals to choose from —Alibaba’s Tmall, JD.com or the smaller domestic companies like Pinduoduo. Even weChat is an option. However, owing to its size and recent acquisitions, Tmall has firmly cemented itself as China market’s luxury leader. Talking to Bain & Co., Christina Fontana, Head of Luxury and Fashion for Tmall, US and Europe, confirmed that Tmall is China’s leading customer engagement platform, all thanks to its content curation for its range of brands. “Once a brand is on board, it has the tools to target any consumer, whether



it’s a Gen Zer or an urban silver shopper,” Fontana explained adding, “Each user has different touch points, all targetable through our platform.”

the rise and rise of tmall“In China, you need to be ubiquitous to get noticed,” James Hebbert, Managing Director of Chinese digital agency Hylink Digital Solutions, said while talking to Vogue Business. His clients include Chanel, Harvey Nichols and Tom Ford. “In the west, we assume exclusivity means only being accessible in one place, but research shows that the Chinese consumer will have at least 16 touch points before committing to a purchase.”

with the rise in digitalisation of luxury, to date, there are over 200 brands on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion, including Valentino, Balenciaga and Versace. Burberry and Hugo Boss which were amongst the first to join. Luxury Pavilion is an invite-only service for luxury brands as opposed to Tmall Global, which provides luxury and premium brands without a Chinese entity, entry into the burgeoning market.

However, brands weren’t always lining up to open their flagships on Tmall. Until recently, many luxury fashion houses were at loggerheads with Alibaba over the availability and sale of counterfeit products. American fashion label Michael Kors called Alibaba their ‘most dangerous and damaging adversary’ in 2016.

Nonetheless, the company started singing a different tune in 2019 with John Idol, CEO of Michael Kors, calling Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion ‘the perfect venue to communicate Michael Kors’ brand vision’. Chinese shoppers are engaging more with luxury online, Idol noted when he announced in July that Michael Kors would open a digital flagship on Tmall.

The turnabout epitomises how the fashion world, which once eyed Alibaba with suspicion, is now flocking to it in order to pander to China’s luxury-hungry shoppers. Business-intelligence firm Gartner L2 noted in a recent report that of the 45 top global fashion brands it tracks in an index, 51 per cent now have official flagships on Tmall.

A study by McKinsey & Company showed China's Gen Z spends an average of RMB

25,000 (US$3,600) a year on luxury

goods, already as much as their parents in the post '65s -'70s

generation

Adding to the list of prestigious brands, in December 2020, Gucci picked Tmall as a new partner for its Chinese digital expansion, giving a boost to the Chinese e-commerce giant. The Kering-owned luxury brand made amends with Alibaba after years of detesting the counterfeit products available on the website and has planned to open two digital stores on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion. It will be selling its fashion collections in a digital flagship from 21st December and its Coty-licensed Gucci Beauty collection in February 2021, expanding its online footprint to reach Alibaba’s 750 million consumers.

the success of Luxury PavilionLuxury Pavilion was launched by Alibaba in 2017 as an invite-only service while Tmall Global, a cross-border marketplace, has existed since 2014. After redesigning to introduce a new ‘Maison’ tab meant to enhance the luxury feel of the site, Tmall started bolstering its efforts to establish itself as a name synonymous with luxury.

In April 2019, Alibaba added Luxury Soho to its Pavilion offerings, which notably marked the entry of China’s largest e-commerce company into the luxury outlet business. This strategy shows how the group is trying to maximise the lifecycle of products on Pavilion. Now, marked-down seasonal items can be purchased via this new initiative, which

Tmall collaborates with Shanghai Fashion Week to increase reach Unveiling of the Tmall Luxury Pavilion Club



targets the uninitiated luxury consumers from China’s lower-tier cities or new Gen Z shoppers.

2020 was a big year for Tmall in terms of bringing brands on board and furthering collaborations. Farfetch entered into a new joint partnership with Richemont, which is the parent of luxury e-commerce competitor Net-a-Porter, and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. Farfetch will have an online store on both of Alibaba’s Tmall luxury platforms, Luxury Pavilion and Luxury Soho, while Alibaba and Richemont will jointly invest US $ 1.1 billion in Farfetch, of which US $ 250 million from each will go towards securing a 25 per cent stake in Farfetch’s Chinese ventures.

This seems to be a significantly beneficial move for all parties involved: exponentially expanding Farfetch’s reach outside the Europe and USA, adding potentially hundreds of new names to Tmall through Farfetch and giving Richemont yet another stronghold on luxury e-commerce compared to its more traditional (read, offline) rivals LVMH and Kering.

Farfetch is home to more than 3,000 small independent brands, and more than 700 independent boutiques. Gaining access to the Chinese market is becoming a major priority for all hailing from the luxury background, as it’s the only market slated for growth this year. It has emerged from the pandemic mostly intact, while many

other countries are still dealing with the perils and repercussions of Covid-19. while the big conglomerates are set to reap in the profits, this collaboration will positively impact the hundreds of brands and boutiques that sell through Farfetch and will now have access to the notoriously difficult to reach but incredibly lucrative Chinese market.

In September 2020, Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli said the company’s sales jumped in China by 66 per cent in July, while its sales in the other regions of the world were down or grew by a much small ermargin. In July, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault said the company’s sales in China stand doubled since March. Even as many brands have been wary of expansion in these tough times, the platform has on-boarded 50 new luxury brands since March, nearly double the rate at which new brands were joining pre-pandemic.

A reason that can be accredited for this rise is that brands have full autonomy over their flagships on Luxury Pavilion. The invite-only platform offers a distinctive environment where luxury brands can deliver the same kind of exclusivity and custom-tailored shopping experience online as they offer in their brick-and-mortar stores.

“Tmall Luxury Pavilion is really unique worldwide because it is the only place and the only platform I know of where brands have 100 per cent control over

everything,” Christina Fontana told WWD adding, “They pick the price. They pick the merchandising strategy. They pick the communication strategy.”

Innovating to rope in audiencesAside from being digital natives, another quality that sets China’s Gen Z apart from the previous generations of luxury buyers is their penchant for creative content, social media and interactive features.

with that in mind, Tmall Luxury has introduced Soho Live – a destination for luxury-focused livestreaming. This service is the perfect avenue for designer brands to effectively leverage the medium to engage their young fashion lovers through real-time interaction with their favourite KOLs and fashionist as. This is not all! Tmall has another new content-marketing tool Soho Mag which allows consumers to tune in anytime to keep up with the latest fashion trends as well as shoppable editorial features.

On its third anniversary last year, the platform launched a month-long series of events that included its first-ever shopping festival catering specifically to young luxury shoppers in China. Earlier feature launches include tools for livestreaming—which has become of utmost importance when trying to communicate directly with consumers in China— a membership loyalty programme and interactive experience capabilities such as virtual 3D pop-up stores, augmented reality functionality and personalisation features.

Other than this, back in 2018, Tmall signed an agreement with Shanghai Fashion week to help drive attendee and consumer insights. Fashion aficionados who did not get a chance to attend runway shows watched some of the brand showcases in an immersive, 360-degree ‘see now, buy now’ format on Tmall.

Tmall sees the tie-up as part of a wider push to support these upstarts, following its collaboration that February with New york Fashion week: Men’s, where four Chinese brands debuted their new collections during ‘Tmall China Day’.

Alexander Wang's flagship store on Tmall's Luxury Pavilion


Good infrastructure and efficient logistics are the cornerstones of growth and development. However, as far as Bangladesh is concerned, the apparel exporters and the readymade garment sector of the country are caught in a tricky situation, thanks to some new developments that have complicated the logistical bottlenecks further.

“Efficient logistics enhances countries’ competitive edge substantially reducing cost of doing business. The efficient logistics management has a stronger effect on trade promotion than tariff cuts,” says Shams Mahmud, the President

of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), adding, “Irrespective of the remarkable economic progress, Bangladesh still lags behind competing countries in terms of logistics infrastructure competitiveness” even as the President of the apex garment makers’ body in Bangladesh (the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association-BGMEA), Dr. Rubana Huq on her part stated, “We need to ensure best utilisation of full capacity of ports. In terms of improvement in logistics performance, inward FDI and intra-regional trade are also important.”

challenges coming in as new freight rates strain businesses!Ever since the Coronavirus pandemic hit the industry, apparel exporters — who have already been battling on numerous fronts including that of increased production cost, falling margins, etc. — are forced to deal with all new challenges and each one with far-reaching devastating consequences. Order cancellations, request for discounts, falling order volumes, the list just goes on and on. And now to add to the woes, freight charges have risen sharply, which is impacting the sector significantly.

Industry’s logIstIcal ordeals

Increase in freight rates (air cargo and shipping) has made life more difficult for the apparel exporters, who are already battling it out on various other fronts. Adding to the complications are also

issues related to the off-docks.

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To start with, feeder vessel operators to and from Chittagong Port and the hubs of Colombo, Singapore and Port Klanghave decided to levy emergency cost recovery surcharges (ECRS) on outbound and inbound shipments to Bangladesh, a move which followed the so-called acute congestion at the hubs, linked to pandemic-related reduced numbers of port workers.

If reports are to be believed, not long ago, feeder vessels calling at Colombo have had to wait for up to five days and, in Singapore, for more than two days to get a berth. This created uncertainty for feeder containers to get on board their mother vessels, according to stakeholders, with various feeder vessel operators announcing an ECRS to recover extra costs due to the congestion.

If Singapore-headquartered Far Shipping Lines, reportedly, informed customers its decision to levy additional US $ 75 for each laden container and US $ 37.50 for each empty box somewhere in November last year, applicable to

and from Chittagong and Colombo, Transworld Feeders too did not take much longer before it also announced applying an ECRS, and at the same level on its Chittagong-Colombo-Chittagong route, and a US $ 70 per laden container and US $ 35 per empty box charge on its Chittagong-Singapore-Port Klang route even as Maersk had confirmed severe delays being witnessed across Colombo’s container terminals.

According to reports, around 44 per cent Bangladeshi goods are transhipped through Singapore, 37 per cent through Colombo, 12 per cent through Tanjung Pelepas and the remaining 7 per cent through Port Klang.

“Any additional charge ultimately creates pressure on shippers or consignees affecting trade,” said an official of a main line operator in Dhaka while Chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association, Ahsanul Hoq Chowdhury on his part maintained that the congestion at several ports was causing a pile-up of containers, and this had led to additional operating costs for vessels, forcing shipping lines to increase the freight rates.

The sudden and sharp increase in freight charges due to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the global shipping sector that have witnessed all major mainline operators increasing freight rates citing acute shortage of empty containers following a surge in demand for imports has pushed cost for importers and exporters, said industry people adding besides, the

“The importers have to pay Taka 4,140 for taking delivery of a twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of container from the port while it is Taka 7,300 in the case of the private ICDs.”

- Mohammad Rahul Amin Sikder

“It’s not possible to take delivery of the consignments from the off-docks at this moment of crisis due to additional charges and time.”

- Dr. Rubana Huq

Challenges coming in as new freight rates strain businesses!

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of the instructions of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the port authorities.

The BGMEA had issued a circular asking its members to provide documents of additional charges realised so that the trade body could take effective measures with the support of the NBR and port authorities to put a stop to the imposition of any unauthorised charges. The circular said that, as per the direction of the NBR and port authorities, no charges were applicable for import consignments of readymade garment companies shipped under freight prepaid and export consignments shipped under the Free on Board or Free Carrier (FCA).

Earlier, the BGMEA, while claiming that feeder vessel operators had increased the rent for containers arriving at and leaving Chittagong Port in the name of ECRS which would impact export competitiveness badly, wrote a letter to the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) terming the ECRS illogical and unacceptable and demanded the withdrawal of the surcharge.

this challenge, the apex garment makers’ body, the BGMEA, reportedly, asked all its members to provide information on additional charges levied by the shipping lines.

The BGMEA had asked its members to inform the trade body about realisation of additional charges by freight forwarders and shipping lines on import and export consignments as apparel exporters alleged that freight forwarders and shipping lines had been charging additional money on import and export consignments at the Chittagong Port in violation

ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain, causing delays in shipment and congestion at several ports.

Further, CMA-CGM, the fourth largest container shipping line in the world, had also announced its decision to implement new freight charges for the routes between base ports in Northern Europe and the Indian subcontinent, effective from 1st January 2021.

Not a very good way to kick off the new year for garment exporters in Bangladesh, one would acknowledge.

“As most of our raw materials are imported, the freight charge hike will increase the import cost. The export cost will also be raised for the same reason,” said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Chairman of the standing committee on port and shipping of the BGMEA, adding the hike in freight rates would impact the country’s garment exports.

The impact on the export costs will be felt in the next season when buyers will have to adjust the additional freight charges with the prices of their next order, said BGMEA First Vice-President MA Salam, who criticised the rising trend of freight charges and went on to add that it’s not only the shipping industry but every business and sector have had to deal with the fallouts of the Coronavirus pandemic.

So, the shipping industry should not have arbitrarily raised the freight rate to recover their losses at the expense of other sectors, complained MA Salam.

BGmEA in firefighting mode…Thus, even as the apparel exporters continued to find ways to deal with

“The air freight business has not restored yet. The airfare almost doubled compared to the pre pandemic period.”

- Kabir Ahmed

BGMEA in firefighting mode…

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Double whammy as air freight rises significantly!There seems to be no end to worries when it comes to freight charges! After the significant increase in shipping, now the garment exporters have a new issue to deal with- that of air cargo charges, which have almost doubled in the last few months.

According to reports, apparel exporters have been dealt a fresh blow by a doubling of air shipment rates for cargoes flying out of Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport as airlines raised the rates subsequent to the growing demand for air shipment amidst improving global outlook and squeezing of carrying capacity from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by 60 per cent on the back of suspension of cargo and passenger flights by some international flight operators.

But, before we get into the figures in terms of increase in air freight, let us first get a grasp on what is the volume of air freight from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport?

If media reports are something to go by, around 400 tonnes of cargoes — the volume was 900 tonnes

before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in March 2020 — are transported through air from the airport every day, with garment accounting for 80 per cent even as according to the BGMEA, in 2020, the air shipment of garment items declined 33.68 per cent to 134,806 tonnes from 203,256 tonnes in 2019.

It may be mentioned here that around 40 local and international airliners used to carry the goods earlier but nearly 50 per cent of them have, reportedly, either suspended carrying goods or stopped

flights from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport as they deem them unprofitable since they do not get enough goods to carry, so claim recent reports.

Given the turn of events, apparel exporters are faced with a real big challenge even as many international airlines are, reportedly, also imposing higher freight rate to make up for the losses suffered between March and September 2020, because of the suspension of international flights and hiring staff at higher costs to load and unload goods at the airports.

According to reports, airlines are charging between US$ 3.20 and US$ 3.30 per kilogramme from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to any airport in the European Union — Europe is the largest export destination for Bangladesh with a concentration of more than 60 per cent of the national export and 64 per cent of the garment shipment — without trucking facility, while the rates are US$ 3.55 to and US$ 3.65 per kilogramme with trucking facility even as in March last year, the rates were around US$ 1.70 to US$ 1.80.

Trucking facility is a facility provided by airlines to carry goods from the airports of destinations to the buyers.

Meanwhile, suppliers who ship goods to North American markets have not been spared either as airlines are reportedly realising US$ 5.90 to US$ 6.20 per kilogramme of goods from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to airports in the US, which is reportedly way higher than that of US$ 2.80 to US$ 2.85 charged in March.

The higher shipment of masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), Covid-19-related gowns, bedsheets and isolation bed sheets coupled with the garment shipment have fuelled the demand for air shipment from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

“The impact on the export costs will be felt in the next season when buyers will have to adjust the additional freight charges with the prices of their next order.”

- MA Salam

Double whammy as air freight rises significantly!

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“A month ago, I even asked one of my European buyers to cancel work orders when he asked me to send the goods through air, which is more expensive than my production costs and profit,” maintained the Managing Director of Kappa Fashions, Ahmed F. Rahman, speaking to the media, adding, “I will face a major loss if I send the goods to him via air. Luckily, the buyer agreed to bear the air shipment cost.”Since many international airlines have suspended carrying cargoes from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, passenger flights have been turned into cargo flights in some cases, reportedly claimed an executive of an international cargo airliner working at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, who added that air shipment of garment items has increased as buyers want quick delivery.In some cases, buyers bear the cost of the expensive air shipment, but in most of the cases, the suppliers have to pay the expenses, said some industry insiders.“The air freight business has not restored yet. The airfare almost doubled compared to the pre-pandemic period,” underlined the President of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, Kabir Ahmed even as Syed Ershad Ahmed, Country Manager and Managing Director of Expeditors (Bangladesh) said because of the Coronavirus outbreak, important supply chains in the logistics and transportation industry have been hampered.Since there is no option to carry cargoes in passenger flights, goods are flown out through cargo freighters and the freighter rate is always higher than the passenger flight, Kabir Ahmed explained while Syed Ershad Ahmed on his part observed that the gross value-addition for the global logistics industry dipped by 6.1 per cent even as the estimated

impact of Covid-19 on logistics markets varies country to country, from a 0.9 per cent decline in China to an 18.1 per cent fall in Italy amidst many expressing apprehensions that global freight forwarding market was expected to shrink by 7.5 per cent in the worst-case scenario in 2020 compared to 2019.Ahmed said once airlines resumed operations after the outbreak of the Coronavirus, the rate per kilogram rose by 100 per cent to 200 per cent compared to the pre-Covid-19 period.

off-docks add to the complicationsEven as the garment makers continue to figure out ways to deal with increased freight charges, privately-operated Inland Container Depots (ICDs) or what are known as off-docks are only adding to the complications for the garment makers. According to reports, not so long ago, the CPA took an initiative to ease container congestion at the Chittagong Port by diverting the work of handling imported apparel consignments through the off-docks. Further, related to the same, the port authorities also submitted a proposal to the country’s NBR.

However, it was just a matter of time before the garment makers turned down the CPA’s proposal which leads one to the question - when the CPA’s move was to ease the congestion, which ultimately was in the interest of those receiving and sending shipments through the port - why are the garment makers against such an initiative.

It may be mentioned here that ships docking at Chittagong Port, reportedly, dropped by around 2 per cent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; there were several other problems too faced last year, including congestion of ships in the outer anchorage, severe backlog of containers caused by slow delivery, and evacuation of jetties due to the threat of cyclones.

Handling around 98 per cent of sea containers (goods), there are around 12 jetties which are used in the loading and unloading process of the ships, but only 8 to 10 ships could be unloaded each day even as on average 20-30 ships every day are reportedly found waiting in the outer harbour for anchoring in the jetties during the normal time.

Now as to the proposal of the CPA, the apex garment makers’ body in

off-docks adds to the complications

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the country, the BGMEA President reportedly wrote a letter to the NBR underlining that apparel exporters would lose competitiveness if the NBR accepts the CPA proposal.

The garment makers complained the ICDs are charging higher fees as well as taking more time than the CPA to release their goods, and requested NBR to allow apparel exporters to use the port to get their imported consignments cleared. However, leader of the ICD operators, the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA), has differed on these issues.

Though they admitted that their fees are a bit high, they, however, denied having taken longer time to release the imported consignments. On the contrary, they actually perform the task faster than the Chittagong Port, they claimed.

“The importers have to pay Taka 4,140 for taking delivery of a twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of container from the port while it is Taka 7,300 in the case of the private ICDs,” explained Mohammad Rahul Amin Sikder, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA) while underlining that as per the Time

Release Study (TRS) conducted by the World Bank (WB), the release of goods took 11 days on an average in 2017-18 at the Chittagong Port.If the time even came down to nine days in 2019, it is still higher than that of the off-docks as it takes only four days here, claimed Mohammad Rahul Amin Sikder adding the private operators usually try to provide speedy services to stay competitive even as BICDA President Nurul Qayyum Khan said there is a misconception about these issues as the Government has offered the exporters options to choose either private ICDs or the port to release their goods and went on to add that it takes four days to release imported goods from the private ICDs and added that huge investment in the private ICDs was under threat and the investors were struggling to survive.The private ICD operators — there are a total of 18 private ICDs delivering only 23 per cent of the Full Container Load (FCL) containers while 10 per cent are delivered at the consignees’ premises and the remaining containers are delivered from the port premises — argued that all FCL containers at all ports of the developed countries are released from the off-docks.Meanwhile, speaking to the media, BGMEA Vice-President A.M Chowdhury Selim said the private ICDs charge some undue fees beyond the law and added that the RMG exporters cannot bear the additional charges as they have to stay competitive in the international market.Due to the pandemic, especially in Europe and North America, the business of export-oriented apparel sector is facing extraordinary challenges even as many export destinations are under lockdowns and restrictions to combat the second wave of the pandemic while a new, more contagious variant of the Covid-

19 virus has further compounded the problem. The BGMEA thus in its letter to the NBR, rightly underlined that supply order worth US$ 3.18 billion of garment products has been cancelled or suspended by international buyers due to the pandemic and understandably so in such a scenario to remain competitive, they would naturally want to reduce the cost of doing business; hence it goes without saying that apparel exporters are somewhat sensitive about the higher container handling fees that they allege the private ICD operators are asking from them.

According to reports, even if the private ICDs have been barred from handling imported apparel items, the off-docks were allowed to deliver all goods, including those belonging to the apparel exporters, from 24 April to 14 June last year to ease the then congestion at the port while on 1 December last, the CPA recommended increasing the number of items to be released from the off-docks and gradually bringing all imported items under the scheme to reduce the container congestion at the Chittagong Port.

However, the exporters also alleged that the lack of space, equipment and labour force in the private ICDs was causing delays in handling the goods.

“It’s not possible to take delivery of the consignments from the off-docks at this moment of crisis due to additional charges and time,” reportedly, maintained the BGMEA President even as under the given circumstances, the exporters requested the NBR to allow continuing with the existing facilities of releasing the import consignments from Chittagong Port to reduce the cost of exports and help the sector survive.

“As most of our raw materials are imported, the freight charge hike will increase the import cost. The export cost will also be raised for the same reason.”

- Nasir Uddin Chowdhury

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The European Union (EU) is a very important export destination for Bangladesh, where around 61 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports are destined, including readymade apparel items (garments account for about 85 per cent of the national sales abroad), which rose from US$ 12.49 billion in fiscal 2009-10 to US$ 27.95 billion in 2019-20 (according to a recent study by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association BGMEA), on the back of the Generalised System

of Preferences (GSP) scheme that Bangladesh currently enjoys as a Least Developed Country (LDC).

However, as Bangladesh joins the big league of developing nations in 2024, the GSP facility, a part of which is EU’s Everything But Arms (EBA) initiative under which all imports to the EU from the LDCs are duty-free and quota-free with the exception of armaments, will come to an end. And as per reports, Bangladesh will have to meet the EU’s new criteria on human rights to retain its duty-

BgMEA’s EffOrTs AT rETAInIng ThE Eu TrADE prIvIlEgE

free market access to the bloc even as the EU is scheduled to assess the trade privilege in light of the human rights situation.

Reports have it that Bangladesh garment sector will lose around US$ 4 billion in export to the EU after the graduation and even if the standard GSP can be availed, the loss will amount to US$ 3.2 billion.

“As a major beneficiary of the EBA, Bangladesh will have to comply with the new criteria on human rights to enjoy the benefit on exports,” reportedly stated Rensje Teerink, Head of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh, recently.

It may be mentioned here that on 7 December, the European Council adopted a decision and a regulation establishing a global human rights sanctions regime, which will allow the EU to target individuals, entities and bodies – including state and non-state actors – responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occurred.

“The new regime enables us to impose sanctions regardless of where human rights violations and abuses occur…,” explained Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, adding, “…without having to create new, country-specific sanctions regimes as we had to do until now. This means we have new tools to increase accountability and fight impunity.”

The EU can also respond to human rights violations by suspending development aid or withdrawing EBA trade preferences, Borrell said.

“So, Bangladesh needs to protect the EBA facility by complying with the new conditions of human rights,” explained Teerink to the media,

The European Union (EU) is a very important export destination for Bangladesh, where around 61 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports head, thanks to the trade privilege that it currently enjoys there as an LDC.

Given the importance and significance of the EU for Bangladesh’s exports, especially the apparel products, the BGMEA, in its efforts to

get duty-free trade benefits to the EU extended once Bangladesh leaves the group of LDCs, has signed an agreement with Sidley

Austin LLP to receive advisory services.

manufacturing


adding, “The Director-General Trade and DG Employment of the EU have been closely monitoring the human rights situation in Bangladesh to be assessed for the next eligibility.”Retaining the trade privilege in the EU is important for Bangladesh because the current economic growth of the country happened significantly riding on the bloc’s generous trade benefit over the last five decades. But, once the country graduates to a developing nation from the LDC grouping in 2024, Bangladesh will face a lot of competition from other countries in the EU, and there is a possibility of losing the market share due to erosion in preference, the envoy said.“It is very difficult to say exactly how much Bangladesh would be affected due to graduation,” Teerink said, adding that the EU would remain a major market for Bangladesh even after the graduation.Bangladesh is said to be the biggest beneficiary of the GSP amongst all LDCs and is alone utilising 67 per cent of the trade preferential treatment because of higher shipment of apparel items. However,

to qualify for the GSP Plus, a country must meet some criteria, including the fact that a potential country must be considered vulnerable — a vulnerable country refers to a nation which is not classified by the World Bank as a high-income or upper-middle income country for three consecutive years — as per a document of the European Commission on the EU’s GSP.Also, a country must have ratified 27 core international conventions in the fields of human and labour rights, the environment and good governance to qualify for GSP Plus, which is a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance and, it slashes tariffs to zero for vulnerable low and lower-middle-income countries.Meanwhile, Bangladesh, along with other LDCs, has been pushing for an extension of the current GSP status for 10 more years because of the fallouts of the Coronavirus pandemic even if Teerink on her part reportedly stated she was not much aware of the EU’s position in this regard.Given the importance and significance of the EU for Bangladesh’s exports, especially the apparel products, the apex garment makers’ body, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), has now signed an agreement with Sidley Austin LLP to receive advisory services in its efforts to get duty-free trade benefits to the EU extended once Bangladesh leaves the group of LDCs.According to reports, the Sidley lawyers will advise the traders’ body (BGMEA) in preparing arguments and strategies to prolong preferential market access into the EU, with a focus on the ongoing EU GSP reform discussions and BREXIT.

Sidley will be assisting the BGMEA to develop policy briefs to be submitted to the Government so that the perspective of the private sector is clearly communicated to the policy makers, reportedly, underlined the BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq interacting with the media adding the law firm’s — Sidley Austin LLP is the 11th largest US-based law firm having offices globally with annual revenues of more than US$ 2 billion — services are free of cost under its Trade for Development Initiative, Emerging Enterprises pro bono programme.

“Sidley Austin will help the BGMEA with framing the grounds based on the Government’s extended Everything But Arms (EBA) engagement request,” stated Dr. Rubana, adding, “The BGMEA wants to ensure that the Government representatives should also kindly be in sync with the private sector’s engagement with Sidley so that a common view can be developed,” and went on to elaborate that the first meeting amongst the BGMEA, Sidley and other officials concerned has already been held virtually of late, which was also reportedly

“The new regime enables us to impose sanctions regardless of where human rights violations and abuses occur…”

- Josep Borrell

“Sidley Austin will help the BGMEA with framing the grounds based on the Government’s extended EBA engagement request.”

- Dr. Rubana Huq

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attended by tariff commission and Economic Relations Division (ERD) representatives.

Being the country’s largest trading bloc, the significance of the EU market is demonstrated by the rise of its share in Bangladesh’s total exports — Bangladesh has been trying to have its current GSP status extended past 2027 as the domestic economy has been hit badly by Covid-19 even as Bangladesh has been lobbying with the EU through an LDC group under World Trade Organisation (WTO), with the Commerce Ministry having already sent a letter seeking 10 more years past 2024 — which has increased from 58 per cent to 61 per cent in the past 10 years.

According to a report, the dependence of Bangladesh’s exports on zero-duty benefits of the EU’s GSP has grown by 9.03 per cent in the past 10 years to US$ 17.15 billion with some US$ 25 billion or 73 per cent of external trade of Bangladesh enjoying duty-free access for the LDC status (which will come to an end as the LDC graduation takes effect with the economic growth of the country) currently.

Meanwhile, even as the EU is reviewing its GSP scheme for 2023, which will be finalised soon, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the bloc jumped 86.6 per cent in the last 7 years, from that of US $ 11.38 billion in FY 2011-12 to US$ 21.13 billion in FY2018-19 and then went on to touch the US$ 27.95 billion mark in FY2019-20.

The efforts thus put in by the BGMEA to get the duty-free trade benefits to the EU extended, are seen as a very significant move on which a lot will depend in the days to come, from the industry’s perspective.

Bangladesh is set to meet the LDC graduation criteria for the consecutive second time and will be recommended for graduation during the upcoming triennial review of the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the United Nations in February 2021 even as Bangladesh called upon the international community for continuation of international support measures for an extended period to make the graduation smooth and sustainable.

Bangladesh made this call during a session of the Expert Group Meeting of the Committee for

Development Policy, held as part of the Preparation of the upcoming triennial review meeting where Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs) of the Prime Minister’s Office, Zuena Aziz, led the Bangladesh delegation for the online session while Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), Fatima Yasmin, delivered a presentation during the session-highlighting the unprecedented socioeconomic progress achieved by Bangladesh in recent times as well as the latest position of the country regarding graduation.

COvID ChAllEngE TO lDC grADuATIOn

As per the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) latest profile, notwithstanding all the positives of the

past decades, some deep-seated challenges continue to linger on Bangladesh’s sustainable development prospects, notably the modest

progress in terms of export diversification, and the elusive quest for adequate sustainable development finance. These challenges are made

even more formidable by the fallout from the pandemic…

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It was projected during the meeting that since Bangladesh had met all the criteria for LDC graduation for consecutive second time, the country would be recommended for graduation in the upcoming triennial review in February 2021. At the same time, the Bangladesh delegation called for providing extended preparatory period of five years spanning from the year 2021 to 2026. It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh had met all the criteria for LDC graduation for the first time during the last CDP triennial review held in March 2018 and, as per the provisions of the United Nations, a country must be found eligible in two successive triennial reviews to be recommended by CDP for graduation. As per the rules of CDP, a country can enjoy three to five years long preparatory period after being recommended for graduation and if Bangladesh gets five-year preparatory period for graduation after being recommended by CDP during the triennial review, it would formally graduate from the LDC status in 2026. During this preparatory period, Bangladesh would be entitled to enjoy all the international support measures reserved for LDCs. In addition, as per the existing provisions, the country would also remain eligible to enjoy duty-free quota free access in the European Union market for three more years lasting until the year 2029. During her country presentation, ERD Secretary mentioned that Bangladesh is going to be recommended for graduation at a time when the whole country is celebrating fifty years of its independence as well as the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh

Mujibur Rahman even as the country presentation highlighted the unprecedented progress achieved by Bangladesh in recent years in various macroeconomic and socioeconomic indicators. It also reflected on multifarious measures that have been and will be taken by the Government in partnership with all the relevant stakeholders to best utilise the opportunities that would be created for the country in the aftermath of the graduation. The country presentation also called on the international community for the continuation of international support measures in the aftermath of graduation as well as for enhancing the flow of development financing to tackle the impacts of climate change and for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Senior Government officials were part of the Bangladesh delegation for the meeting. Chair of Committee for Development Policy Jose Antonio Ocampo and other members of CDP praised the unprecedented socioeconomic progress made by Bangladesh in recent years. The identification as well as graduation of LDCs is currently based on three criteria:

1. GNI per capita 2. Human Assets Index (HAI) 3. Economic and Environmental

Vulnerability Index (EVI).However, even if the country prepares for the much-awaited transition to join the big league of developing nations, things aren’t going to be easy for Bangladesh during this transition period it seems, thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had underlined that the Covid-19 pandemic poses challenges for LDC graduation and added the emergence of the pandemic and the ensuing global recession had interrupted a period of rapid economic growth. “Yet, the country has so far weathered the crisis relatively well and appears set to record positive GDP growth even in 2020, notwithstanding a sharp slowdown in economic activity,” maintained UNCTAD, which before March 2020, had assessed Bangladesh’s vulnerability profile based on the pre-Covid data of the economy to determine the graduation criteria.The sudden onslaught of Covid-19 from March onwards has badly impacted the global economy and also of Bangladesh, leading the UN body to come up with a separate vulnerable profit. It shared the findings with the Government and suggested for addressing some challenges during the transition period for smooth and sustainable graduation.According to the UNCTAD’s latest profile, despite all the positives of the past decades, some deep-seated challenges continue to linger on Bangladesh’s sustainable development prospects, notably the modest progress in terms of export

“Yet, the country has so far weathered the crisis relatively well and appears set to record positive GDP growth even in 2020...”

- UNCTAD

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diversification, and the elusive quest for adequate sustainable development finance.These challenges are made even more formidable by the fallout from the pandemic, which threatens to leave long-lasting scars on the world economy, making the international environment less conducive even as the emerging mega-trends such as climate change and digitalisation are bound to exert wide-ranging implications for the future development trajectory of developed and developing countries alike.The UN agency said that notwithstanding Bangladesh’s success in strengthening its overall export capacities, the evidence points to limited progress in product diversification as the clothing items contribute 85 per cent of gross exports while adding that if there is indeed some untapped scope for product differentiation, alone this is unlikely to provide a decisive

spur to an industry that has relied largely on cost-competitiveness and preferential access to developed markets.Estimates of the impact of losing LDC-specific preferential market access range between 7 per cent and 14 per cent of exports, with the bulk of the reduction impinging on textile and clothing exports to developed markets, where changes in tariffs would be relatively more adverse. Similarly, large tariff differentials, coupled with persistent infrastructural and logistics bottlenecks, are bound to entail a serious blow to an industry for which these dimensions represent major drivers of international trade and investment flows.The UNCTAD’s profile also said if Bangladesh is to continue its remarkable growth performance, the country has to diversify into gradually more complex products while adding that the advent of robotisation and industrial digitalisation also questions the sustainability of Bangladesh’s progress in bolstering its productive and export capacities.These so-called ‘mega-trends’ – which have in many ways accelerated in the wake of Covid-19 – are expected to trigger far-reaching reconfigurations in existing global value chains, reducing heightened dependence on key suppliers, encouraging reshoring and regional embeddedness and potentially weakening the importance of low-labour cost competitiveness and unlike in many other countries, in the case of Bangladesh, this resilience appears to be vindicated also in the context of the Coronavirus crisis and ensuing global recession.“If the outlook in 2020 appears

to be reasonably encouraging, however, this might be at least partly due to idiosyncratic factors; the medium-term future remains far more uncertain,” the UNCTAD said adding that with the impact of the pandemic still weighing down economic prospects for 2021, global labour markets are unlikely to rebound quickly, especially in key destinations for Bangladeshi migrants such as the Gulf nations, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States.These prospects loom large on the remittances outlook, it said.It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh growth performance in the last 10-15 years has been characterised by a considerable investment push, with the investment-to-GDP ratio consistently exceeding 25 per cent of GDP since 2006, and reaching 31 per cent prior to the Covid-19 shock.There is little doubt that this trajectory is consistent with the economy’s need to redress supply-

AS peR the RUleS of CDp, A Country CAn enjoy thRee to five yeArs lonG prepArAtory period After beinG reCommended for GrAduAtion And if bAnGlAdesh Gets five-yeAR pRepARAtoRy peRioD for GrAduAtion After beinG reCommended by CDp DURing the tRienniAl Review, it would formAlly GrAduAte from the ldC stAtus in 2026.

bAnGlAdesh gRowth peRfoRMAnCe in the lAst 10-15 yeArs hAs been ChArACterised by A ConSiDeRABle inveStMent pUSh, with the investment-to-Gdp rAtio ConSiStently exCeeDing 25 peR Cent of Gdp sinCe 2006, And ReAChing 31 peR Cent prior to the Covid-19 shoCk.

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side bottlenecks, especially in terms of infrastructural provision, UNCTAD maintained while adding that the Covid-19 shock entails an even darker outlook in relation to Bangladesh’s second-largest source of external financial resources, namely official development assistance flows.

Over time, inward foreign direct investment flows have climbed up in absolute terms, but since the early 2000s, they have represented not more than 4 per cent of gross fixed capital formation.

The UN body said in the context of LDC graduation, it is all the more important that phasing out of LDC-specific international support measures does not disrupt the promising trajectory on which Bangladesh has embarked and called for strengthening domestic resource mobilisation, bolstering investments in climate-resilient and digital infrastructures, sustaining investments in human capital, supporting technological upgradation, continuing fostering rural development and adopting a proactive industrial policy framework.

Considering the ramifications, the President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has reportedly sought 10 years as the transition period for Bangladesh as the domestic economy, employment and export were severely affected by the pandemic.

Going by the observations made by the UNCTAD, some hassles while transiting to the big league of the developing nations seem unavoidable and, Bangladesh would perhaps do well to prepare in advance to face the challenges that might appear in the days to come.

Challenges seem to be coming and in waves for the Bangladesh garment makers, of late. After a rather forgettable 2020, which was marked by all sorts of issues that one could conceive of — export debacle, order cancellations, factory closures, etc. — increase in freight charges emerged as a major pain point for the industry and now the rising cost of raw materials is making lives more difficult for the garment manufacturers.

It may be mentioned here that the sudden and sharp increase in freight charges lately due to the adverse effects of Covid-19 on the global shipping sector, which witnessed all

major mainline operators increasing freight rates citing acute shortage of empty containers following a surge in demand for imports, has pushed cost for importers and exporters for the garment makers, who are forced to deal with the supply chain disruptions.

“As most of our raw materials are imported, the freight charge hike will increase the import cost. The export cost will also be raised for the same reason,” said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Chairman of the standing committee on port and shipping of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA),

rAw MATErIAl prICEs BurnIng

hOlEs In pOCkETsIncrease in prices of raw materials has made life difficult for

Bangladesh garment makers, who are battling it out on different fronts already due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and now they have this burning

issue to deal with but the big question is HOW?

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adding the hike in freight rates would impact the country’s garment exports.

The impact on the export costs will be felt in the next season when buyers will have to adjust the additional freight charges with the prices of their next order, underlined BGMEA First Vice-President MA Salam, who criticised the rising trend of freight charges and went on to add that it’s not only the shipping industry but every business sector that has had to deal with the fallouts of the Coronavirus pandemic.

So, even as the BGMEA has asked its members to inform the trade body about realisation of additional charges by freight forwarders and shipping lines on import and export consignments so that it may take effective measures with the support of the NBR and port authorities to put a stop to the imposition of any unauthorised charges, in what is seen as an effort to deal with the situation effectively, garment makers are now made to combat with yet another burning issue- that of rising raw material prices

On an average, the prices of raw

materials such as fabrics, yarns, cotton and packaging materials, edged up 5 to 10 per cent in the last few months, according to industry people.

“Every week, the prices of materials are rising,” maintained SM Khaled, Managing Director of Snowtex Group interacting with the media even as many in the industry underlined buyers’ nominated suppliers have also been asking for higher prices with each new lot while regular suppliers in China are frequently changing their prices as well.

Further, production capacity in China, considered the global manufacturing hub for raw materials, is also lower than the pre-Coronavirus days, claimed industry insiders.

Adding to the issue is the fact that Chinese New Year holidays are just round the corner (in February), and garment manufacturers are ordering raw materials in advance to avoid last minute hassles and also to side-step the eventuality of having to halt production in want of raw materials later on.

“The prices of apparel raw materials went up at a time when the exporters are facing several challenges such as price cuts by the global buyers, fewer work orders than capacity and work orders cancellations,” lamented Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Owner of Fatullah Apparels.

Right now, the manufacturers are under pressure from buyers to accept orders at lower prices.

“In this context, the prices of raw materials going up has left us with one too many survival challenges,” he added even as Monsoor Ahmed, Secretary of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) on his part added that in the last

three months, the price of cotton went up by 8-10 cent per pound, which impacted the prices of yarn.

A rise in international cotton prices has had a ripple effect on local yarn, affecting garment shipments, especially of knitwear. According to reports, the widely consumed 30-carded yarn is now selling for US$3.60 to US$3.75 per kilogramme whereas it was US$2.60 to US$2.80 two months ago, according to knitwear manufacturers and suppliers even as between July last year and January this year, international cotton prices went up by nearly 28.60 per cent.

In July, New York futures market was trading every pound of it in the range of 63 cents to 63.30 cents. However, recently it has been ranging between 79 cents and 80.25 cents per pound.

Reportedly, cotton prices have gone up in international markets mainly for increased imports by China, the largest consumer worldwide, because of a recovery trending among businesses there. Moreover, China and Pakistan, despite themselves being major producers,

“The prices of apparel raw materials went up at a time when the exporters are facing several challenges such as price cuts by the global buyers, fewer work orders than capacity and work orders cancellations.”

- Fazlee Shamim Ehsan

“As most of our raw materials are imported, the freight charge hike will increase the import cost. The export cost will also be raised for the same reason.”

- Nasir Uddin Chowdhury

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have increased their import targets because of high prices prevailing in China and lower production in Pakistan.

This year, China has targeted to import additional 5 lakh bales to take the total to 1,000 lakh bales to tame its local market while Pakistan aims to import additional 4 lakh bales, according to data from a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.

According to Md Fazlul Hoque (Managing Director of Plummy Fashions Limited), yarn prices have increased by more than 40 per cent in a span of only two months.

So, as all international benchmark prices of cotton have increased over the past month with the largest increase in prices in China, this has not augured well for Bangladesh, which exports mainly five items namely T-shirts, sweaters, trousers, jackets and shirts, which together constitute more than 70 per cent of the orders.

The basic raw material of these five items is cotton and Bangladesh does not produce any cotton that could be used in apparel manufacturing, said a garment exporter, adding thus an increase in the cotton price will contribute to rise in the production cost.

Unfortunately, we have seen in the past years that though the production costs have increased manifold for different reasons, many buyers did not increase the prices. So, ultimately the manufacturers have to bear the brunt, which should not be the case, maintained the concerned garment exporter.

Thus, going by the present turn of events, if there is no change in the current scenario, garment exporters have no options but to bear the increased cost of raw materials, till things go back to normal again.

Bangladesh is expected to join the big league of developing nations soon. However, post the least developed country (LDC) graduation, the country is likely to lose around US $ 7.0 billion worth of export earnings annually, a Government report estimates. The report said Bangladesh could lose the export market, especially in the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, Japan, India and China.

These are the projections that were reportedly made at the newly framed Perspective Plan 2021-2041 (PP2041).The state-run General Economics Division (GED) prepared

the vision paper where Bangladesh wants to be a developed nation by 2041.

Based on the simulation results from the global dynamic general equilibrium model, the plan said: “The loss of preferences in the markets of EU, Canada, Australia, Japan, India and China in 2024 might lead to an annual reduction in the total export of Bangladesh by 11 per cent or equivalent to around US $ 7.0 billion given the current projection of export growth.”

The vision paper further said that although the graduation as non-LDC would improve the Bangladesh’s

sIgnIfICAnCE Of AsEAn fOr BAnglADEsh

ASEAN has become a vital market for Bangladesh due to its immense size and more so keeping in mind Bangladesh’s upcoming LDC

graduation, which would shorn the country of the current trade privileges that it enjoys. As per estimates, post the LDC graduation, Bangladesh is

likely to lose around US$ 7.0 billion worth of export earnings annually.

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adverse implications in terms of export loss that Bangladesh might suffer after the LDC graduation. Their observations are not without reasons! As per reports, in 2016, the combined size of the GDP of the ASEAN nations rose to US$4,034 billion from US$2,373 billion in 2007, and the trade bloc is now set to become the world’s fourth-largest by 2030.Also, if experts are to be believed, Bangladesh’s export volume can reach up to US$1.2 billion within four years from the present US$60 million to ASEAN countries if technical and non-tariff barriers are addressed.

According to Dr. Selim Raihan, Professor of Economics Department of Dhaka University, Bangladesh stands to gain significantly through integration with the South East Asian countries which will allow Dhaka to focus on export-oriented manufacturing strategy and encourage export diversification even as the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Dr. Rubana Huq stated by 2030, ASEAN as a bloc would be the fourth largest economy in the world and to enter that market, Bangladesh should negotiate signing an free trade agreement (FTA) with a Rules of Origin clause favourable to the ASEAN.

Our trade will grow significantly if we join the ASEAN, reportedly underlined Dr. Rubana while addressing an event organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), and went on to add that in Bangladesh’s context, joining the ASEAN would be greatly beneficial also from the perspective that a number of its member nations have turned into good destinations for raw materials sent to and from the country.

image and rating for attracting foreign direct investments, there will be a number of risk factors while adding that Dhaka would lose its preferential trade benefits in the EU market — according to the country’s Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh earned US$18.70 billion, 51 per cent of total US$36.6 billion earnings, making shipment of goods and services to the European markets in the fiscal year, 2019-20 — the largest business destination of the local garment and textile products.

In light of the developments, experts have suggested strong action plans and policy reforms for tackling the losses and protecting the export growth. And going by latest reports, Bangladesh seems to have already started parleys pertaining to trade agreements with a host of individual countries as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, which is a regional inter-governmental organisation comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia.

The ASEAN bloc in particular, experts maintain, holds a lot of promise towards minimising the

Hence, keeping the prospects in mind, Bangladesh has formally initiated negotiations with the ASEAN to sign a FTA to enjoy greater market access in the bloc after graduating from the LDC grouping.“I signed the negotiation letter today and sent it to the Foreign Ministry to open formal negotiations with the ASEAN headquarters, so that we can sign an FTA with this major trade bloc,”underlined Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin, interacting with the media, recently while underlining the reasons why Bangladesh wants FTA with the ASEAN.First, because the ASEAN is a big market where Bangladesh can do well, second is to safeguard the duty privilege after graduation and third, if Bangladesh can sign an FTA with the ASEAN, it does not need to sign any bilateral agreement with any of the 10 member countries of the bloc.“Otherwise, we have to sign either a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) or FTA with the ASEAN member countries like Indonesia or Malaysia so that we can exploit the business opportunities of this major trading bloc,” explained the Commerce Secretary while adding that

“I signed the negotiation letter today and sent it to the Foreign Ministry to open formal negotiations with the ASEAN headquarters, so that we can sign an FTA with this major trade bloc.”

- Md Jafar Uddin

“ASEAN as a bloc would be the fourth largest economy in the world and to enter that market, Bangladesh should negotiate signing an FTA with a Rules of Origin clause favourable to the ASEAN.”

- Dr. Rubana Huq

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Bangladesh has been a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum since 2006, which is expected to play to its advantage during the negotiations.

According to a study titled Bangladesh: A Story of a Phoenix, ASEAN has a huge consumer base of 642 million people and a burgeoning middle-class with newfound spending capabilities, which further added that booming cities in the ASEAN member countries account for more than 65 per cent of the region’s collective GDP, while a further 90 million people will be added to the market by 2030 when there will be 163 million households of ‘consuming’ class even as the region’s total expenditure on clothing and footwear totalled US $ 51.2 billion in 2017.

Its digital economy generated US $ 150 billion in revenue every year and will add an estimated US $ 1 trillion to the regional GDP in the next 10 years, the study maintained while adding the ASEAN currently has 200 million digital consumers and 230 million online customers, but this is expected to expand by an average annual growth of 7.3 per cent to reach US $ 721.7 billion in 2022.

Understandably so, the importance of ASEAN as a market has become very vital for Bangladesh considering its immense size and future prospects while also taking into consideration the fact that South East Asian nations are also an important source of raw materials for Bangladesh’s garment sector and other industries.

Hence, even if Bangladesh is said to be negotiating with 11 other countries and trade blocs like Australia, Japan, China and Canada for PTAs, ASEAN holds a significant position for Bangladesh for sure and the country would do good to ink a trade deal with it soon.

Thanks to Covid-19, Bangladesh garment industry is going through some very trying times, which has once again brought the focus back on issues like efficiency increase and raising productivity so as to maintain business sustainability.

Given the current circumstance, all the stakeholders — whether NGOs, traders’ bodies or the Government — are working on various aspects to

help the industry enhance productivity in garment factories and upgrade technologies to increase efficiencies.

Recently, the Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) and the University of Southern Denmark rolled out a project in Bangladesh to train factory workers and mid-level managers as part of efforts to help the garment industry raise productivity.

sTAkEhOlDErs ChIp In TO hElp

InDusTry fIghT COvID ChAllEngEs ThrOugh

prODuCTIvITy InCrEAsE AnD TECh

upgrADEStakeholders join hands to help the industry face the Coronavirus

challenges through technology upgradation, efficiency and productivity increase. One such initiative is NIPOSH.

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same module, as per Mohammad Monowar Hossain.

Sarwar Morshed, a Professor on Industrial and Production Engineering at AUST and the project leader, said the outcome of the piloting in more than 50 factories was very strong. “Initially, 15 per cent improvement in productivity is possible easily, and it can be elevated up to 30 per cent by the adoption of lean manufacturing and OSH programme,” said Sarwar while Peter Hasle, a Professor on Global Sustainable Production at the University of Southern Denmark, said in the garment industry, there are some challenges that have impacted the value chain.

“The Covid-19 has also created challenges,” said Peter, adding, “Increasing productivity by 25 per cent by next five years in the factories with almost no investment is possible.”

The adoption of the NIPOSH will help the reduction of production cost per piece significantly, and this would make the factories competitive, Peter said while blaming poor housekeeping and inappropriately designed layout and workplaces for lower productivity and quality problems.

It will not require heavy investment; it will require motivating the workers and engagement of the workers and top management, Peter claimed.

Meanwhile, Winnie Estrup Petersen, Ambassador of Denmark in Bangladesh, said the global pandemic had created additional pressure on the garment sector. “This project will help in creating decent work. Although this is a small project, it will help many people,” she said.

Sales of apparels reportedly dropped around 60 per cent because of the fall in demand for garment items

The project, Network to Integrate Productivity and Occupational Safety and Health Improvement (NIPOSH), financed by the Danish Government will be implemented in collaboration with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

“The launch of this very initiative is the first stepping stone to our pledge to the industry to move it from a basic producer to a mature manufacturer and a strategic partner of global apparel brands,”stated BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq at the virtual inauguration of the project, adding, “The improvement in productivity is important to be more competitive in the global apparel business.”

As per the Senior Deputy Secretary of the BGMEA, Mohammad Monowar Hossain, each participating factory will be charged US$200 a year for implementing the project through training of workers, mid-level and top managers. However, to be a part of the same, garment factories will have to apply, subsequent to which the BGMEA will select 30 factories.

Once the project comes to an end, the association will run it with the

fuelled by income loss caused by the fallouts of the Coronavirus pandemic. Against this backdrop and for the sake of remaining competitive in the global apparel business, the enhancement of productivity has become even more critical by maintaining occupational health and safety (OHS), industry people said.

“We have done excellent in terms of environmental sustainability and labour standards as well. Unfortunately, Bangladesh has always been lagging in the area of productivity and innovation,” the BGMEA President underlined while adding that every year, the cost of production is increasing.

The minimum wage has been revised several times, said Dr. Rubana adding but factories have somehow not been able to enhance productivity and this is one of the major impediments for the sustenance of the industry.

“Apart from productivity improvement, the industry also requires to focus on building the capacity of product development as historically, we are just copying the designs provided by brands. As a result, we always have the lower

“The Covid-19 has also created challenges... Increasing productivity by 25 per cent by the next five years in the factories with almost no investment is possible.”

- Peter Hasle

“This project will help in creating decent work. Although this is a small project, it will help many people...”

- Winnie Estrup Petersen

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hand while negotiating prices,” she said, adding although the local industry has become big enough to claim the second place in the world in terms of exports, it has not matured enough to move up the supply chain. Besides, we are to face the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. The industry needs to adopt digital sampling method, 3D prototyping, circular economy and sustainability, the BGMEA President underlined.Meanwhile, in a separate development in this regard, aamra Resources Limited (ARL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BGMEA regarding collaboration on BGMEA Innovation Lab, which will, reportedly, be a first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art, centre of excellence for research and innovation of garments technologies in Bangladesh.

The MoU signing was conducted in BGMEA office at Gulshan, Dhaka, on 14 December 2020, as part of which Lectra and aamra will work as partners to establish BGMEA Innovation Centre which will be a showcase of digitalisation and integration of industry 4.0 in the textiles sector.“By coming forward for this BGMEA Innovation Lab, aamra has done BGMEA and the entire nation a huge service. To be innovative and adaptive in these changing times is a must; interoperability is a key requirement. Together we hope to set up the best possible centre for excellence and innovation,” reportedly, stated Dr. Rubana even as the country’s central bank, the Bangladesh Bank is, reportedly, forming a Taka 1,000 crore fund to provide cheap loans to export-oriented industries to upgrade technologies that they currently use.The eligible industries are of 32 types, all falling under top-priority and special development sectors. They include readymade garment factories making high-value additions in production, apart from pharmaceuticals, software and IT-enabled services, jute goods and footwear and leather goods.The fund will run under a refinancing scheme, meaning banks will first give out the loans before being reimbursed by the central bank. The interest rate will range between 5 per cent and 6 per cent and will, reportedly, help make the export-oriented industries more vibrant in keeping with global trends.The transformation can be brought about in 11 types of existing industrial production-related operations to replace outdated technologies with the latest ones such that industrial production gains momentum. Replacement of outdated machinery, adoption of

technology for renewable energy and upgradation of machinery used in business operations and waste management will get priority.Interested banks and non-bank financial institutions will have to sign a participation agreement with the central bank and they can then avail the fund at one percentage point less than the bank rate that happens to prevail at that time.Subsequently, banks will be allowed to charge borrowers a maximum three percentage points higher than the rate at which they avail the fund and the tenures would range from three years to 10 years even as the interest rate for a borrower will depend on the time within which it makes the repayment. It is 5 per cent for less than five years, 5.5 per cent for between five years and less than eight years, and 6 per cent for eight years to 10 years. Further, clients will also enjoy a maximum of one year’s grace period before they start paying the instalments.Given, the kind of efforts being put in by the stakeholders, it is just a matter of time before the industry is able to realise its goal of increasing efficiency and productivity, keeping with the need of the changing times.

“The launch of this very initiative is the first stepping stone to our pledge to the industry to move it from a basic producer to a mature manufacturer...”

- Dr. Rubana Huq

bAnGlAdesh bAnk is forminG A tAKA 1,000 CRoRe fund to provide CheAp loAns to export oriented industries to upGrAde teChnoloGies thAt they Currently use.

the eligiBle inDUStRieS ARe of 32 typeS All fAllinG under top-pRioRity And speCiAl development seCtors

they inClude RMg fACtoRieS MAKing high-vAlUe Additions in produCtion, phArmACeutiCAls, softwAre And itenABleD SeRviCeS, jute Goods And footweAr And leAther Goods.

manufacturing



Woven segment far from recovery, claim reports

Bangladesh’s earnings from merchandise exports fell 4.99 per cent year-on-year to US $ 3.43 billion in January even as January’s receipts were 9.58 per cent lower than the monthly target of US $ 3.80 billion.

This is as per the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.

Reports underlined that this (January) is the second consecutive month of export contraction even as woven segment was yet to make a recovery, in terms of exports, they maintained. According to reports, from that of US $ 9.44 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year, export earnings of woven garments fell by 10.85 per cent to US $ 8.41 billion in July-January of Fy ’21 even as earnings

from knitwear exports in the first seven months of Fy ’21 increased by 3.84 per cent to US $ 9.98 billion from what was US $ 9.62 billion in the same period of Fy ’20. According to media reports, which cited the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Dr. Rubana Huq, knitwear exports managed to achieve growth due to continued need for clothing for home use, who further went on to add that things may remain challenging for the apparel industry at least till the third quarter of this calendar year 2021 and that it was difficult to forecast the future of export on the backdrop of the current

volatile situation. Meanwhile, earnings from home textiles, reportedly, increased by 44.34 per cent to US $ 638.96 million in the seven months of Fy ’21 from what was US $ 442.67 million in the same period of Fy ’20 even as earnings from leather and leather goods in July-January of Fy ’21 fell by 5.78 per cent to US $ 526.58 million from that of US $ 558.9

LC opening: BTMA for withdrawal of bond licence requirement

To encourage export of local textiles, the Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA) has called upon the Government to eliminate the central bank’s (Bangladesh Bank) provision of mandatory bonded warehouse licence to open back-to-back letters of credit (LCs).

According to media reports, Mohammad Ali Khokon, the BTMA President in January this year wrote to the Governor of the central bank, seeking withdrawal of Section III of the guidelines (Foreign Exchange Transaction Guidelines), as per which ‘only recognised export-oriented industrial

units operating under bonded warehouse system will be allowed the back-to-back LC facility’ even as according to the industry people many small and medium mills in Bangladesh were exporting locally produced fabrics and

yarn but were not getting the facility of back-to-back LCs due to Bangladesh Bank’s Foreign Exchange Transaction Guidelines.

So, for the expansion of the local industry and to boost exports, the BTMA called

for waiving or relaxing the rules for the textile mills as it underlined that Section III of the Bangladesh Bank’s Foreign Exchange Transaction Guidelines obstructed opening of back-to-back LCs for the textiles mills which have no bond licence and went on to add that the textile manufacturers were reluctant to obtain bond licences as they received duty benefits for importing raw materials as per the Government’s decision even as the cumbersome procedure to obtain and maintain bond licences also discourages the textile mills owners from doing so, the BTMA letter, reportedly, stated.

million in the same period of the previous fiscal year while earnings from leather-footwear exports in the seven months of Fy ’21 fell by 1.08 per cent to US $ 329.53 million from US $ 333.14 million whilst other leather products fetched US $ 133.49 million from that of US $ 148.05 million with a 9.83 per cent negative growth in the period.

manufacturing// neWS


As retailers cut orders, factories struggle to survive: Reports

Digital membership not mandatory for voting in BGMEA election

The hopes of recovery of the global apparel industry in 2021, which have had a rather difficult 2020, are punctured by new wave of the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and patchy national vaccine rollouts with major retailers in USA and Europe sitting on excess inventories and cutting back on new (Spring) orders having major implications on readymade garment factories in Bangladesh.

According to a Reuters report, which cited McKinsey, the value of unsold clothing globally, in stores and warehouses, ranges from US $

The decision by the apex garment makers’ body, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to make digital membership mandatory for voting in the 2021-2023 term election is said to have been done away with in face of a section of the trade body members opposing the move.

According to media reports which cited sources from within the BGMEA, a group of influential members opposed the provision — the BGMEA election board in its schedule earlier included a provision for attesting voter nomination letter and taxpayer identification number by lien banks as a result of which a member

168 to US $ 192 billion (€140-160 billion), which is more than double the normal levels.

we are operating at 25 per cent of capacity, reportedly, underlined Miran Ali, a Director of the BGMEA who also represents the Star Network (an alliance of manufacturers in six Asian countries) speaking to the Reuters even as apparel exporter Shahidullah Azim, whose clients include North American and European retailers, on his part, reportedly, said that there are no orders for March though orders usually arrive three months in advance.

The pre-Christmas lockdowns in most parts of Europe followed by another clampdown in January 2021 have hit garment makers in Bangladesh hard even as 50

who was not engaged in the export business could not vote in the elections — and demanded reinstatement of voting powers for all members who had paid the subscription fees and were in possession of updated trade licences, income tax certificates

besides calling for doing away with mandatory digital membership for voting (in the upcoming election) as they maintained that considering the time constraint, making biometric identity cards for all members, before the election, would not be possible.


factories surveyed by the BGMEA, reportedly, maintained that they had received 30 per cent lesser orders than usual this season.

Speaking to the media, BGMEA Senior Vice-President Faruque Hassan, who is, reportedly, also contesting the upcoming BGMEA polls (and is also the panel leader of Sammilita Parishad), maintained that many members of the apparel makers’ body had opposed the decision of making digital membership cards mandatory for voting considering the time constraint.

Before election, all the members will not be able to include themselves in the biometric database as some of the factory owners are staying overseas, reportedly, stated Faruque while underlining that the work to make a digital database of members started a week ago.





BGMEA signs agreement with HSBC

Businesses dissatisfied with time, cost incurred on documentary and border compliance for international trade

The apex garment makers’ body in Bangladesh, BGMEA, recently signed an agreement with the HSBC, as part of which HSBC will, reportedly, sponsor BGMEA to help export Bangladesh’s culture and heritage so as to explore newer opportunities in the global markets.

The CEO of HSBC Bangladesh, Mahbub ur Rahman and BGMEA President, Dr. Rubana Huq — the BGMEA recently launched ‘Go Human, Go Green’, with seven pledges to make a difference to the livelihood of garment workers, community and environment and one of

Notwithstanding the improvements, businesses in Bangladesh are yet to be fully content with the time needed and expenses incurred for documentary and border compliance to carry out global trade, as per reports.

them is the pledge to export Bangladesh’s culture, under which the garment makers’ body (BGMEA) aims to explore the opportunity of exporting Bangladeshi apparel by linking Bangladesh’s rich culture

The National Committee for Monitoring and Implementation of Doing Business Reforms (NCMID), in its latest meeting headed by Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam, reportedly, maintained that

it did not get any positive response from the businesses on the improvements made even as the Customs houses of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the port authorities have, reportedly, informed the NCMID that they had reduced the time and cost involved in compliance at the customs houses and ports for completion of export and import activities.

The committee as such has recommended various measures, including introduction of a monitoring system after giving clearance and granting of permission for submission and processing

and heritage with fashion — represented and signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Underlining that Bangladesh was treated as a low-cost and large volume-manufacturing destination, the BGMEA


President, reportedly, said that this narrative should be changed and Bangladesh should move towards high fashion and valued products, which present the country’s culture and heritage.

“In materialising the target and dreams, we initiated a programme where three renowned fashion designers will work on three themes (such as products based on Jamadani, sports or activewear based on our royal Bengal tiger and the third on our traditional dresses and traditions like the Pohela Boishakh),” reportedly, maintained Dr. Rubana.

of documents before arrival of ships at ports and to ensure expedition of the export and import process while it also, reportedly, suggested that the customs and port authorities need to raise awareness amongst the stakeholders, including Exporters Association of Bangladesh, importers associations and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), on the progresses made, as positive feedback from them is needed for visible improvement in the Ease of Doing Business index of the world Bank.



LDC transition: B’desh set to ratify ILO’s minimum age convention for duty-free EU access

Back-to-back LCs: Allegations of banks ‘delaying’ payments to local textile manufacturers

Virtual meeting of cotton associations held

In what is seen as an effort to secure duty-free market access to the European Union (EU) — a major export destination including readymade garments — post the LDC graduation, Bangladesh has initiated a move to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) minimum age convention for admission into employment.

This was underlined in a recent media report, which stated that Labour and Employment Ministry is set to prepare an action plan — the plan would, reportedly, focus on the ratification of the convention, fulfilment of other requirements to the EU and forced labour protocol — with

The Bangladesh Textiles Mills Association (BTMA) has written to the Governor of the country’s central bank, Bangladesh Bank (BB), Fazle Kabir, stating local yarn and fabric manufacturers have had to incur financial losses due to unusual delays made by the banks in paying buyers on what they termed the ‘premise of lame excuses’, and called upon the BB Governor to intervene and resolve the issue, as per media reports.

The BTMA move follows on the back of allegations that banks were holding up payments to local textile manufacturers against purchase of raw materials by apparel makers under back-to-back letters of credit.

Underlining that the spinning, weaving and dyeing mills had been working as deemed exporters through supplying yarns and fabrics to the garment manufacturers, the BTMA letter, reportedly, stated that even if the garment manufacturers were procuring fabrics and yarns from both external and local sources under back-to-back letters of credit, banks have allegedly been deferring payments to the local suppliers for five to six months even if they are making payments to foreign suppliers just after submission of the Bill of Lading as per the conditions of LCs.

The Bangladesh Cotton Association (BCA), which is the national trade body of Cotton Growers, Cotton Agents, Cotton Traders, Cotton Ginners and Cotton Controllers (Inspection Companies) and an affiliated Association of

the International Cotton Association (ICA) based in Liverpool, in association with the Brazilian Cotton Shippers Association, Apex Brazil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Agency) and the Embassy of Brazil, recently organised a virtual meeting

cooperation from the ILO and the EU to proceed on the ratification.

As per KM Abdus Salam, the Labour and Employment Secretary, the action plan is set to be finalised by March which follows EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting in October 2019, in which

both parties agreed to prepare an action plan/roadmap to ratify the convention even as according to the EU conditions, Bangladesh should ratify and comply with the conventions related to minimum age for admission into employment to continue duty-free access after its graduation.

between the BCA and Brazilian Cotton Growers Association.

The said meeting discussed various opportunities, possibilities and obstacles with regard to the use of Brazilian cotton in the textile sector of Bangladesh.

The former President of the BCA Mohammad Ayub, officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Brazil, Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Brazil, the Ambassador of Brazil to Bangladesh, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh Shahriar Alam, amongst others, took part in the online meeting.

www.apparelresources.com manufacturing// neWS



BGMEA polls: ABM Shamsuddin to contest as Forum Panel Leader

Commerce Minister for signing of FTAs/PTAs to cope with post-LDC graduation scenario

Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has stressed on the need for signing preferential trade agreements (PTAs) or free trade agreements (FTAs) to cope with the post-graduation scenario even as Bangladesh is preparing to join the league of developing nations.

The Commerce Minister made this observation while addressing a workshop on Effective Partnership with the Private Sector for Sustainable Graduation — the Support to Sustainable Graduation Project of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the event — recently, while underlining that the country (Bangladesh)

ABM Shamsuddin, a former Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the Chairman of Hannan Group on 6 February, introduced the panel from which he would be contesting for the post of the president to the BGMEA’s biennial election scheduled to be held on 4 April.

According to media reports, at an event held at Hotel westin in capital city Dhaka, leaders of the platform of a section of the apparel exporters, Forum, announced the name of ABM Shamsuddin as the

panel leader. Addressing the introductory meeting — current BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq, Forum president and former BGMEA President Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Pervez, former BGMEA President Anisur Rahman Sinha, former Vice-President Benazir Ahmed and Director Khondaker Belayet Hossain, amongst others, spoke at the event— Shamsuddin, reportedly, underlined that consequent to troubles in some competing countries and thanks to Bangladesh’s production capacity, work orders for apparel would continue to grow in near

future. Shamsuddin, also reportedly, underlined that the first and foremost agenda of BGMEA would be to address price decline of products while also calling upon exporters to not show any weakness

Industrial Revolution and the LDC graduation, Tipu Munshi also, reportedly, called upon the private sector to enhance research and development capacity while Fatima yasmin, the ERD

which buyers could leverage on and went on to add despite the availability of Coronavirus vaccine in the country, this year (2021) will still be a challenging one for the industry.

Secretary, stated that the Government would prepare a smooth transition strategy (in consultation with the stakeholders, including the private sector) to not only cope with the graduation challenges but also grab the opportunities that might come up.

Taking part in the workshop, other speakers also highlighted how loss of LDC-specific supports is likely to create new dynamics in global trade and businesses even as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on his part, reportedly, maintained, “Likewise, we would be able to adjust very well with the upcoming dynamics.”

should start preparing for the gradual withdrawal of international supports as it is set to graduate from the group of least developed countries (LDCs).

Further, to cope with Fourth




Six sectors including leather and footwear declared free from child labour

As part of the Bangladesh Government’s initiative to eliminate child labour by 2025, six industrial sectors have been declared free from child labour recently.

The State Minister for Labour Monnujan Sufian, at a press conference recently maintained export-oriented leather and footwear along with silk, glass, ceramic and ship recycling are now child labour-free. The Minister said that the Government — the Government in November 2016 pledged to the international community to eliminate the worst-form of child labour by 2021 and child labour of all forms by 2025 — formed a national monitoring committee

in 2019 with the aim to declare different industrial sectors free from child labour gradually, keeping with the recommendations made by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and went on to add that the committee inspected a number of factories of the six sectors in different locations in November-December,

2020, after the trade bodies concerned claimed there was no child labour in the units of the concerned sectors. Subsequently, the DIFE inspected the factories and did not find any child labour even as before the declaration was made, the trade bodies promised no factory would appoint any child labour, Monnujan Sufian claimed.

Aarong’s new multi-brand outlet inauguratedThe renowned and the largest lifestyle retail chain in Bangladesh, Aarong, recently inaugurated its new multi-brand outlet in capital city Dhaka. According to media reports, the new Tejgaon-based outlet of Aarong, where customers will find

all of Aarong’s sub-brands, including Aarong Earth, HERSTORy by Aarong, TAAGA and TAAGA Man, replaces the iconic Aarong outlet in Gulshan area of the capital. Speaking to the media, Managing Director of BRAC social enterprises, Tamara

Hasan Abed invited the customers to the new outlet and underlined it is a ‘must visit place’. Inaugurated by the Managing Director and other BRAC and Aarong officials, the 35,000 square feet outlet on an expansive property, claimed reports adding it is unlike any other retail location seen before in the capital.

The new outlet of Aarong — Aarong is a social enterprise of BRAC and the largest non-government organisation in the world — will also soon feature a two-storey open air cafe and restaurant as well, as per reports.

Shasha Denims acquires 98% ownership of Italian firm’s local subsidiary

Shasha Denims has recently acquired another 18 per cent stake of EOS Textile Mills (an Italian company’s Bangladesh-based subsidiary) for Taka 21.79 crore, thereby taking Shasha’s ownership to 98 per cent.

According to media reports which cited Shasha Denims’ Managing Director, Shams Mahmud, the company (Shasha Denims) paid Taka 125 crore to acquire Berto Industria Tessile of Italy’s subsidiary, EOS Textile Mills, which, reportedly, manufactures woven discontinuous fabric for the high-end global market.

It is also one of the few factories globally to make moleskin fabric (a very technical fabric), as per Shams Mahmud.

Underlining that Shasha Denims will be making further expansions in the coming days, Shams Mahmud said, “…EOS is the largest Italian investment in Bangladesh and it is a matter of pride that a Bangladeshi company has acquired it,” adding that Bangladesh Bank (BB) and all other agencies played a very proactive role in ensuring this takeover.



A large number of garment workers are said to have lost their jobs during the Coronavirus pandemic. Though the exact number of retrenched workers remains widely debated, various accounts suggest the number of such workers to be rather significant.

If trade union leaders are to be believed, more than 2 lakh workers lost their jobs due to pandemic while a more recent study underlined that more than 3.57 lakh workers of Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) sector lost their jobs amidst the pandemic even as according to

continued to reduce their workforce later on as well, as they, reportedly, had to downsize their operations due to the current business situation.

Despite this, many garment workers, who are said to have left for their native places after being laid off, are now getting rehired. According to the President of Bangladesh Garment Workers Alliance Konabari Committee, Md. Ashrafuzzaman, most of the workers went back to their villages after the general holiday was announced in March 2020, who went on to add that three types of workers – pregnant workers, aged workers and those with less than one year of service – were laid off during the Covid-19 crisis.

Once things started to improve and factories resumed operations, the workers who had left for their villages returned to the industrial hubs and the good news is many are now being rehired as well but there is a catch. Some reports, which cited apparel workers, allege that even if the workers are being rehired, it is at lower wages.

“My salary is now Taka 10,000. I got the job because I had some experience. The salary is lower than before, but I had no other option. It is very hard to manage my family expenditures with this amount,” alleged a garment worker interacting with the media and, going by various reports, there are many such workers who apparently have had to compromise in terms of wages, to be rehired.

“Since there is enough supply of workers, the factory owners are taking the advantage by offering low wages,” alleged Secretary of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, Nahidul Islam Noyon, to the media, adding that from the perspective of workers’ rights, this is violation and unethical practice.

we hope the trade associations would take steps to stop such malpractice,” Nahidul said even as the President of Bangladesh National Garments Workers Employees League, Sirajul Islam Rony, while underlining that workers should be treated as per their experience for the sake of the apparel industry’s

ArE rETrEnChED wOrkErs BEIng hIrED AT lOwEr

wAgEs?

the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the number of workers who were laid off is, reportedly, about 70,000 while 101 knitwear factories that are said to be members of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), allegedly laid off another 25,000 workers.

Meanwhile, according to reports, which cited Industrial Police, about 10,000 apparel workers have lost their jobs in Gazipur during the pandemic even as allegations are abound that many factories

Some recent reports suggest many garment workers who lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus pandemic are being rehired but at lower

wages. The allegations gain currency even as many factories are said to be opting for downsizing their operations due to the current business

situation, thereby putting workers in a dilemma.

SuStainability


sustainability and productivity, said, “The factory owners are disregarding this. we talked to some of the owners, who said that they were suffering as the work orders were inadequate in comparison to capacity, while the cancellation during the pandemic left them in a fix.”

It may be mentioned here that garment makers have had to face largescale order cancellations in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic by the global brands and retailers, a large chunk of which has since been reinstated, as per reports. Nevertheless, exports failed to make much of headway. Bangladesh’s overall exports in 2020 fell by 14.57 per cent to US $ 33.60 billion from what was US $ 39.33 billion in the previous year even as garment export decreased by 16.94 per cent to US $ 27.47 billion from that of US $ 33.07 billion in 2019.

According to EPB data, out of the US $ 27.47 billion earnings from RMG in 2020, US $ 11.92 billion came in the January-June period and US $ 15.54 billion in the July-December period.

Garment exporters also had to deal with requests for discounts and extended payment terms even as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the west made things worse for the exporters so much so that in the July-December period of the financial year 2020-21, seven countries amongst Bangladesh’s top 10 export destinations recorded negative growth. As the economic activities took a hit subsequent to the outbreak of the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in the west, apparel exports to majority of the overseas destinations including France, USA, Spain and the United Kingdom witnessed negative growth in the same period, as per the EPB data.

Exports to the USA (the largest export destination for Bangladesh) in July-December of Fy ’21 declined by 2.56 per cent to US$ 2.90 billion from what was US$ 2.98 billion in the same period of Fy ’20 while exports to the United Kingdom (the third highest export destination for Bangladesh) declined by 4.15 per cent to US$ 1.77 billion in July-December of Fy

’21 from that of US $ 1.85 billion in the same period of Fy ’20. Exports to Spain in the said period fell by 8.84 per cent to US $ 1.11 billion, while exports to France in the first half of Fy ’21 went down by 3.97 per cent to US $ 875.54 million from US $ 911.74 million, and apparel exports to Japan in the July-December period of Fy ’21 reportedly declined by 15.88 per cent to US $ 445.18 million from that of US$ 529.23 million in the same period of Fy ’20 whereas garment exports to Italy in the period declined by 10.98 per cent to US $ 608.95 million even as exports to Canada also, reportedly, fell by 2.23 per cent to US $ 487.02 million.

The figures, as is seen, do not draw a very rosy picture of the current situation of the industry. However, as to the allegations of workers being rehired but at lower rates, both the factory owners and the BGMEA have denied such allegations.

“First of all, we do not have any idea about the credibility of such allegations and the magnitude of such incidents,” reportedly maintained the BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq.

“Secondly, factories are to operate within the legal perimeter and in no circumstances should violate laws, rules and regulations of the country,” she said adding, “we need to see if there are any instances of factories violating laws. while we have a fairly high attrition rate in the industry and workers switching jobs is a common phenomenon, factories are not required to check the last pay status by the former employers of the workers,” and went on to further add any intentional step to take advantage of the situation is never welcomed.

“we are against exploitation of any form. But such an allegation needs a reality check on the overall economic scenario, which has been heavily disrupted by the pandemic,” stated the BGMEA President.

So, going by the claims and counterclaims as put forth by the stakeholders, it would be hasty to say with certainty if workers are being rehired at lower wages, the answer to which perhaps would become clear only with time.

“Since there is enough supply of workers, the factory owners

are taking the advantage by offering low wages.”

- Nahidul Islam

According to BGMEA

Number of workers laid off is, reportedly, about 70,000

101 knitwear factories that are said to be members of BKMEA, allegedly laid off another 25,000 workers

“We need to see if there are any instances of

factories violating laws.”

- Dr Rubana Huq

SuStainability


of non-payment by buyers or their bankruptcy.”

The brands of course suffered, but the exporters suffered more, Dr. Rubana observed.

Under the mounting strain on businesses, the country’s garment makers, reportedly, urged the Government to suspend the annual increment of workers for the next two years. They (the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association-BKMEA) reportedly wrote to the State Minister for Labour and Employment in this regard recently even if it is a legal obligation for apparel exporters to hike basic wages of garment workers by 5 per cent annually.

As per the current minimum wage structure for garment workers set in September 2018, a worker is entitled the increment on their basic salary of Taka 8,000 a month. However, the BKMEA, a platform of 2,300-odd knitwear factories, has reportedly requested the Government to postpone the implementation of the 5 per cent annual wage hike for next two years.

“It has become very difficult to pay workers their wages regularly due to the pandemic,” reportedly, underlined BKMEA President AKM Salim Osman in the letter while emphasising that many countrieshave reduced wages and allowances in different sectors, and it was not realistic for the apparel sector to increase wages by 5 per cent as per the provision of the minimum wage.

“Meanwhile, it is not clear to any of us when the situation would be normal, while global buyers are not placing work orders as they are wary about the present situation,” the BKMEA, reportedly, maintained while adding that besides, the buyers were delaying the payment, which has now been extended from 180 to 200 days.

In the given context, we are requesting the Government to suspend the provision of 5 per cent yearly increment of the wage for apparel workers, the letter held.

Further, the BKMEA letter said the

CAllIng TO skIp wOrkErs’ rAIsE fOr

2 yEArs…

The year 2020 will not go down as a promising or illustrious one in the annals of Bangladesh’s apparel manufacturing history, but rather the opposite. Thanks to the pandemic, if the year was full of apprehensions and anxiety for the garment makers — the revenue from the apparel exports in the year witnessed a 16 per cent dip — who, reportedy, carried around US $ 1.96 billion back-to-back liabilities subsequent to buyers failing to pay them, it was not a memorable one for the workers either as some reports suggest that around one lakh workers in the sector lost their jobs as

the Coronavirus pandemic rendered the global business stagnant.

“It was a year of trepidation and angst. After having orders worth US$ 3.18 billion cancelled, waking up to daily nightmares of price discounts, deferral of shipment and payments and endless discussions became a part of our routine,” underlined the President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Dr. Rubana Huq, adding, “Eventually, after the brands reinstated 90 per cent of their orders, we still had to face the back-to-back liabilities of US$ 1.96 billion, which remained unpaid, because

A letter written by the BKMEA called upon the Government to suspend the 5 per cent annual increment of workers for next two years, which has

workers’ unions/labour bodies up in arms against it with the latter.

SuStainability


scope of employment has been also been squeezed with the pandemic hitting the global economy hard and measures like temporary closure, workers’ termination and cut in a certain percentage of wages were taken to cope with the situation, and cited example of India in this regard, which has, reportedly, suspended the implementation of its labour law in some labour-intensive provinces.

Meanwhile, even as the BKMEA has called upon the Government to stall the 5 per cent increment for two years, the BGMEA is said to have steered clear from joining the BKMEA in this even as its officials also declined to make any formal comment on it.

Considering the sensitivity of the issue and the stance of the workers’ bodies, one cannot really rule out workers’ dissent, if the same is implemented, feared many, more so when the labour leaders have already opposed and condemned the apparel factory owners’ proposal to suspend the legal provision of 5 per cent yearly increment for RMG workers for two years.

They have also threatened to wage tougher movements to protect the lawful rights of the workers and urged the Government not to grant any anti-labour proposals from the owners.

Bangladesh Trade Union Centre General Secretary Wajed-ul Islam Khan termed the RMG factory owners’ proposal of suspending the provision

of the 5per cent yearly hike in workers’ wage as ‘inhuman and unacceptable’ and added that the garment sector workers would not accept the attempt to deprive them of their lawful rights and the Government should also reject the factory owners’ proposal.

wajed-ul said that the RMG exporters had received stimulus from the Government amidst Covid-19 but many of the workers had not availed the benefit of the package.

“we strongly oppose and condemn the attempt of the factory owners to suspend the increment of RMG workers’ wages for the next two years,” maintained Towhidur Rahman, former Secretary General of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council and also the President of Bangladesh Garment Industry Workers Federation, who added if the Government granted the ‘immoral’ proposal of the factory owners, garment sector labour organisations would announce tougher movements to protect the interests of the workers.

The Government and factory owners will be responsible if any untoward situation takes place in the sector due to the unethical proposals made by the factory owners, Towhidur cautioned, demanding special incentive for the RMG workers while adding that the provision for the 5 per cent increment was included in the wage structure to adjust the yearly inflation and no conscientious person can propose to suspend the provision.

workers are the worst sufferers of Covid-19 and the proposal made by factory owners to hold the yearly increment for two years is absolutely an anti-labour bid, maintained IndustriALL Bangladesh Council Secretary General Babul Akhter on his part while adding that the county’s RMG workers deserved special incentive as they continued to work risking their lives amidst the Coronavirus outbreak.

The factory owners’ attempt to deprive the workers of their legal rights had proved that they were not worker-friendly anymore, Babul said.He said

that the factory owners always tried to benefit from any crisis and during Covid-19, they had obtained stimulus in the name of workers’ wages and were now trying to benefit through suspending the provision of the workers’ yearly increment.

“when the factory owners make hefty profits, they do not share it with the workers or give more than 5 per cent as increment. So, why are they now asking to suspend that provision?” asked Nazma Akter, President of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation even as another labour leader, Arifa Akhter, said, “It is inhuman, unjust and reprehensible. Using the Coronavirus situation as an excuse, garment industry owners are trying to suspend the provision of an annual salary increase for workers. But the owners have taken all kinds of benefits from the Government on the pretext of the novel Coronavirus crisis.”

“My question is why should the workers fall into such a bad situation; the garment industry owners’ demands are not justifiable in any way,” Arifa stated.

However, given how things are shaping up, stakeholders would do good to perhaps sit together to discuss and sort out things, rather than allowing those to snowball into any major issue that could impact the industry adversely.

“It has become very difficult to pay workers their wages regularly due to the

pandemic.”

- AKM Salim Osman

“ We strongly oppose and condemn the attempt of the

factory owners to suspend the increment of RMG workers’

wages for the next two years”

- Towhidur Rahman

SuStainability


informing that the national platform which plans to cover all garment manufacturing units would initially start with more than 1,600 garment factories by conducting programmes on workplace safety.

Dr. Rubana Huq (representative on the RSC board of Directors), the President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA); General Secretary of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, China Rahman and H&M’s representative on the board Roger Hubert amongst others are part of the RSC.

Roger Hubert maintained that brands would continue to honour supply chain responsibilities committed to Accord, while IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) Secretary General underlined that IBC with its affiliate entities and unions would work towards ensuring safe workplace while also making sure access to remedy to address safety concerns, then.

“Today the operations of the Bangladesh offices of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh have transitioned to the RSC, a permanent national organisation with equal representation from RMG manufacturers, global apparel companies and trade unions representing garment workers,” stated a press release even as Barrister Omar H Khan, an advocate of Bangladesh Supreme Court, through advertisements in different newspapers, on behalf of his client Accord maintained, “My client Stitching Bangladesh Accord Foundation is going to close all its activities in the country from 31 May,” adding, all Government and non-government organisations (NGOs) as well as individuals are requested to close formalities with the Accord.

It may be mentioned here that following the Rana Plaza building collapse on 23 April 2013 that killed more than 1,100 people most of whom were garment workers, the EU buyers and brands formed Accord to improve workplace safety over a period of five years that ended in May 2018.

sAfETy prOgrAMME IMplEMEnTATIOn:

rMg susTAInABIlITy COunCIl In fOCus

AgAIn!

Remediation exercises in the Bangladesh readymade garment industry, notwithstanding their successes, have never been free of controversies, which refuses to die even till date. If Accord and Alliance had been the much talked about topics in the industry once, these days it is the RMG Sustainability Council or RSC, which is in news.

The Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, established in 2013,was established in direct response to the Rana Plaza disaster, which worked towards making factories safer for the garment

workers. However, in 2019, a protracted legal conflict ended with an agreement to replace the Accord with a national RSC.

Subsequently, the RSC started its journey on 1st June 2020 as Bangladesh created a history after the newly formed home-grown entity took over responsibilities from the Accord, thereby writing a new chapter in factory remediation and workplace safety in the country’s apparel manufacturing sector.

The RSC, which comprises 18 Directors (six each from trade unions, industry and brands), issued a press communique

A war of words has broken out between entities pertaining to the ability of the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), which took over from the

Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, to carry out remediation.

SuStainability


The platform wanted an extension for another three years but the Government allowed it a transition period of only six months. Later in February 2019, the platform submitted a time-bound transition plan to the High Court seeking an extension period of 281 days. The court allowed the platform to continue operations up to May.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since.

But even as things were seemingly settling down slowly and steadily, the issue made a comeback recently, and rather strongly, after witness signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh publicly raised concerns as to its successor’s ability to meet the responsibilities.

Four witness signatories to the Accord - the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), International Labour Rights Forum/Global Labour Justice, Maquila Solidarity Network and Worker Rights Consortium - fear that progress towards factory safety in Bangladesh was at risk.

The issue witnessed group of international NGOs and the BGMEA run into a war of words after the CCC, reportedly, levelled charges that BGMEA made false claims and unsubstantiated commitments to Building Safety in Bangladesh.

On 22 December 2020, CCC, Maquila Solidarity Network, worker Rights Consortium, Global Labour Justice

and International Labour Rights Forum expressed their concern in a statement which, reportedly, stated that the BGMEA, a member of the RSC’s governing board, on 26 November had issued a response that contains false claims and unsubstantiated commitments about the RSC.

The BGMEA, however, termed the statement as false.

“As an association, the BGMEA cannot issue ‘false statement’ or can afford to have ‘unsubstantiated commitments’ to building safety in Bangladesh, especially when the industry belongs to us and the safety of the industry is key to our survival,” its President Dr. Rubana Huq said, adding, “Hence, there is no scope for any of us from within the industry to be passive about the level and standard of safety.”

The BGMEA “falsely claims that the RSC is founded on the core principle that its governance structure brings together all critical stakeholders in one single platform with equal voice and authority”, the NGOs said, and went on to object that the representatives of workers (global and local unions) make up only a third of the RSC board members.

Furthermore, the RSC’s board has refused to include a key group of critical stakeholders, labour rights NGOs, who have worked extensively to ensure the obligations of the Accord are being fully

executed and who have participated directly in the governance of the Accord in their capacity as non-voting witness signatories, they said.

“The RSC board has formed a committee for including the critical stakeholders in the advisory council already. This was adopted as a resolution during the last board meeting. Therefore, the claim that the board has refused to include any key group of critical stakeholders, labour rights NGOs is false,” the BGMEA clarified.

Meanwhile, the rights group said that the RSC lacks transparency as it did not display information about factory-specific remediation data, aggregate reports, nor minutes of its board meetings on the website even after six months of inception, in reply to which the BGMEA said that the RSC website was almost ready and it will mirror all the data and there will be no exception to that rule.

Sharing the minutes of board meetings was an issue that was agreed during an executive board meeting of the RSC only two weeks back. “Thus, this claim is also dated,” it added.

The RSC has committed to a boiler safety inspection programme that was first initiated as a pilot in 2018. But even after six months since the RSC began its operations, there is no indication that a boiler safety inspection programme has started, the NGOs said.

“This exposed the imminent risk of a boiler explosion,” they underlined.

The pilot programme for boiler safety has not been stopped, while the Government has inspection standards and engineers who are ready to engage with RSC on boiler inspections, underlined the BGMEA in response.

“Thus, that claim too is incorrect,” the BGMEA maintained.

Further, as per the NGOs, one of the most important commitments made in that Transition Agreement, which was the recruitment of an independent Chief Safety Officer (CSO), remained unfulfilled. “A CSO with the same independence, autonomy, authority and

“As an association, the BGMEA cannot issue ‘false

statement’ or can afford to have ‘unsubstantiated commitments’ to building

safety in Bangladesh...”

- Dr. Rubana Huq

“Today the operations of the Bangladesh offices of the

Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh have

transitioned to the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC).”

- Omar H Khan

SuStainability


reporting requirements as elaborated and practised by the Accord, is essential for the quality and credibility of the inspection programme,” the statement said.

The RSC has received a number of CSO applications that are being reviewed. A CSO for RSC should be in place by April 2021, according to the BGMEA.

In the meantime, the MD is acting as the interim CSO.

The NGOs are also alarmed by the BGMEA’s reference to carry out a so-called ‘deep dive’ pilot programme to improve the progress rates of factories. “while the witness signatories encourage the continued progress of remediation across all factories, it is critical that these efforts be carried out and approved in accordance with the Accord’s rigorous standards. Failing to do so or rushing the process of remediation places the safety of millions of workers at risk,” the NGOs observed even as the BGMEA President on her part reportedly said that programme was necessary to help the factories reach 100 per cent remediation level.

If a factory is offering inspection and is failing during final inspection, then the only way to help them is to look at their individual issues and offer specific remediation instead of general reference to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) or the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC).

The job of RSC is to ensure remediation and as an industry, the BGMEA remains committed to supporting RSC to the best of its ability, underlined the BGMEA chief while adding, “It is perhaps easy to point fingers and come up with random accusations, but it takes a lot to build, sustain an industry and provide employment to millions.”

So even as the war of words continue to rage, one can only hope things do not take a turn for the worse, which undoubtedly would not be in the interest of anyone.

whAT’s ThE lATEsT wITh Eu’s CAsh

suppOrT prOgrAMME fOr rETrEnChED

wOrkErs?

Some 4.1 million workers, mostly women, work in Bangladesh apparel industry, to produce garment items for global brands and retailers. However, the Coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on their lives.

As the virus spread, many top retail brands cancelled orders that were already in production. Many even asked for discounts or sought extended payment terms, to stretch the already beleaguered garment makers, to the limits. As per the estimation of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the pandemic had an immediate impact on 1,150 factories that reported US $ 3.18 billion worth of order cancellations even as export in 2020 decreased by 16.94 per cent to US $ 27.47 billion from that of US $ 33.07 billion in 2019.

According to EPB data, out of the US $ 27.47 billion earnings from RMG in 2020, US $ 11.92 billion came in the January-June period and US $ 15.54 billion in the July-December period.

If that was not all, prices of the top 20 apparel items, reportedly, declined in 2020 due to a fall in global demand. The items comprising 12 major knitted and eight woven items contributed more than 80 per cent of the total RMG export earnings last year.

According to the BGMEA, average prices of the knitted items in 2020 declined by 3.47 per cent compared to that in 2019, which include cotton-knitted T-shirt, both cotton and manmade fibre-knitted jersey and pullover, cotton-knitted trousers, cotton-knitted shirts and trousers, babies’ cotton-knitted garments even as BGMEA President Dr. Rubana

After a long wait, State Minister for Labour and Employment Monnujan Sufian inaugurated the EU’s cash support programme for retrenched workers. Beneficiaries will receive the funds directly through mobile financial services (MFS) or their bank accounts and any worker, including lactating mothers, who were employed in any

active member factory of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers

and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB)

and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BFLLFEA) up until February

are eligible for the grant.

SuStainability


Huq said exports of those items have gone down by 9.02 per cent in dollar value and 5.75 per cent by volume (in kilogramme).

This results in a unit value (price) decline by 3.47 per cent on an average, she explained while on the other hand, average prices of top eight woven items fell by 1.0 per cent the same year than the previous year’s rate.

Such an unprecedented situation had a very adverse bearing on the industry with many garment makers bowing out of business for good. Consequently, it led to factory closures and large-scale workers’ retrenchment.

Even though the Government initiated steps to combat the economic fallouts of the Covid-19 pandemic, as per Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), which released findings of its report earlier titled RMG Sector in

Covid-19 Crisis: Governance Challenges and Way Forward, around 42 per cent apparel workers in Bangladesh were deprived of the Government incentives to combat Covid-19’s economic fallouts.

Though the estimated salary and allowance of readymade garment workers in the period April-July was around Taka 12,692 crore, the incentive amount in the Government package was Taka 9,188 crore, 27.6 per cent less than the requirement, it said while adding that most incentives were given to the factory owners to deal with the business crisis.

Eighty-four per cent of the incentives was paid to address business interests of the owners, TIB found while there are also allegations that 21,000 workers in 64 factories, which took incentives, did not receive their salaries and allowances due to announcement of factory layoffs and dismissed workers, the report said.

The TIB report also mentioned no guidelines for sub-contract factories, which creates uncertainty on the salaries and allowances of about 1.5 million workers of 3,000 factories even as the large factories got priority in receiving incentive funds.

In such a scenario, the EU’s cash support programme came as a blessing for the retrenched workers.

After a long wait, the cash support programme, whose start would be backdated to September 2020, was inaugurated by the State Minister for Labour and Employment, Monnujan Sufian. The State Minister for Labour and Employment inaugurated the initiative to provide cash assistance to socially disadvantaged and vulnerable workers who lost their jobs on 22 December 2020.

She said the Government took the initiative to launch the social security

As per report titled RMG Sector in Covid-19 Crisis

Governance Challenges and Way Forward

Beneficiaries will receive funds directly through MFS

or their bank accounts

SuStainability


programme as part of a concerted effort by the Honourable Prime Minister to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to destitute workers in the Readymade Garments (RMG), Leather Goods and Footwear Industries in response to the global epidemic. She also went on to say that the total number of beneficiaries will increase in time.

As per the initiative, the workers who lost their jobs due to the Coronavirus fallout across three sectors, namely garments, leather and footwear, would finally receive Taka 3,000 per month as financial assistance. In the first phase, 1,794 people will get cash assistance of Taka 3,000 each month for a three-month period starting from September.

Considering the workers’ livelihoods, the EU, the largest export destination for Bangladeshi goods, announced € 113 million grant to pay three months of wages to one million workers laid off in export-oriented industries amidst the pandemic. However, there have been delays in implementing the same as the EU offered the grant to fight the Coronavirus pandemic related crisis over the non-payment of retrenched workers while the Government wanted to instead create a welfare fund with the grant as it reportedly felt there could be issues if the terminated workers were compensated with partial wages while on the other hand there were also apprehensions that factory owners will feel encouraged to go for more retrenchment once the money distribution begins.

Then there were issues related to beneficiary list as well. So, even as a list

was prepared with help from the sectors’ trade bodies, Sufian urged the workers to enlist their names through digital means in their respective factories for becoming eligible for the cash support.

According to the concerned Ministry, it submitted a list of 7,390 workers, of which 1,894 have been finalised, while selections are going on amongst the rest. “But in the meantime, the financial aid meant for workers that have been made redundant by the current situation will continue to remain idle,” Sufian said even as the Government aims to disburse Taka 3,000 per month for a three-month period to about 10 lakh

“Government took the initiative to launch social

security programme as part of a concerted effort by the Honourable PM to provide emergency humanitarian

assistance to destitute workers in the Readymade Garments (RMG), Leather

Goods and Footwear Industries in response to the

global epidemic.”

- Monnujan Sufian

workers over the next two fiscal years, according to a circular from the Labour and Employment Ministry.

Beneficiaries will receive the funds directly through mobile financial services (MFS) or their bank accounts and any worker, including lactating mothers, who were employed in any active member factory of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) and Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leather goods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BFLLFEA) up until February, are eligible for the grant.

The State Minister went on to say that the total number of beneficiaries will increase with time even as she expressed hopes that more international organisations would come forward and cooperate with the Government to provide support for workers in all sectors.

Reportedly, the Government might extend this service beyond its time limit for social safety net purposes if it is noticed that the workers could not return to their jobs and on the basis of the availability of funds from the Government exchequer and donor agencies, keeping in mind which, the Government also called for increased donations from donor agencies.

It may be mentioned here that many workers lost their jobs due to the two-month nationwide shutdown between 26 March and 30 May 2020 while others were laid-off for lack of work orders from international retailers and brands.

So, given the EU initiative, retrenched garment workers can now think of at least trying to effectively deal with the livelihood challenges, which was otherwise not possible in want of any financial aid.

EU, the largest export destination for Bangladeshi goods

Announced a € 113 million grant to pay three months of wages to one million workers laid off in export-oriented industries amid the pandemic.

SuStainability


Global Corporate Head QuarterDhaka (Bangladesh):7/A, Squibb Road, Kathaldia, BorodewraTongi, Gazipur-1711, BangladeshTel.: +880-2-9814952-4, Email: [email protected]

Bangladesh Regional OfficeDhaka (Bangladesh):House 13, 4th Floor, Road 10, Sector 06Uttara, Dhaka-1230, BangladeshTel.: +880-2-48954604-5, Email: [email protected]

Bangladesh Regional OfficeChottogram (Bangladesh):Nasirabad View, 4th Floor, Holding 1298/1459, 2 no. Gate, Masjid Lane, Jaman RoadEast Nasirabad, Chottogram-4000, BangladeshTel.: +88-03-1654101, Email: [email protected]

NEO Zipper Co., Ltd.14/F, Kam Fung Commercial BuildingNos. 2-4 Tin Lok Lane, WanchaiHongkongTel.: +852-2815-1238Email: [email protected]

Canada Representative Office:[email protected]

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NEO Hongkong Inc., Ltd.


V A L EN T I N O

Emerging from the past year and the impact it has had on the fashion industry as a whole, has made two distinct themes stand out, namely – comfort clothing and sustainability teamed with upcycling.

Tapping on the same, couture, for the first-time ever, is more wearable, more in-line with the emotions and mental states of the people today.

Hence, we see collections awash with real clothes made for real people.

Oversized silhouettes, hybrid numbers tapping on genderless fashion, formless shapes, immaculate tailoring, hoodies and floor grazing, airy forms dictate top trends for the future.

There is an overarching theme of optimism and hope hanging in the air throughout collections, which can be seen being depicted via surface manipulation and lattice work detailing as featured at Valentino; exquisite embroideries, custom, hand-painted lace, and renditions of scattered artificial blossoms at Chanel; renditions of 3D appliqué mushrooms signifying rebirth à la Rahul Mishra; and patchworked scraps made using various sizes and shapes, as seen at Ronald Van Der Kemp.

Below, we bring to you the standout collections and key trends emerging from the recently concluded Couture Spring 2021 collections. Read on to discover.

A direct answer to the pandemic that the world is currently resurfacing from, Valentino opted to present its latest collection on

the lines of casual couture.

If there’s one word thatPierpaolo Piccioli can use to describe the collection, it is ‘Temporal’—in the sense both of what it means to be living here, now, and of the quality of clothes that are hand-crafted - which will long outlive trends at any given day and age.

The narrative of the collection is the collection itself. No stories. Nothing figurative.

Piccioli aims to highlight effortlessness by working on surfaces in a way that brings forth the sheer workmanship of various crafts and techniques. Hoodies, sweaters, shirts, board shorts and camisoles were accentuated using foils for amazing lattice-worked coats and sculptural capes. A new kind of minimalism, not pointing towards the ’90s, but more towards a daring vibe embodied the collection.

Surface manipulation, voluminous details, lattice work, floor grazing capes, structural silhouettes and power suiting emerge as key concepts for the season.

For the first time ever, Valentino also showcased men in its couture offering – a slight nod towards genderless fashion that has now become mainstream. Trench coats for both men and women aimed to blur boundaries.

“To me, the essence of coutureis the ritual, the process, the care, the humanity. That’s what makes couture timeless, special,” Piccioli stated.

COUTURE HAS A NEW DEFINITIONCOMFORT COUTURE SPRING 2021

trendS in focuS// runWayS


F E N D I

C H A N E L

Tailored and structured silhouettes, floor-grazing capes, hybrid versions of half an evening gown and half a blazer or shirt — hint at Kim Jones’

menswear background at his debut at FENDI.

With a background that boasts of a Supreme collaboration for Louis Vuitton as well as years spent designing at Umbro, Jones’ strength definitely lies in street wear-inspired clothing, so foraying into womenswear couture, had to be interesting to say the least!

While he has tried his hand at womenswear in the past, the collection aimed to unveil what his first real idea of vision for women’s dressmaking looks like.

The collection demonstrated how Jones expresses himself in form and decoration. “The movement and freedom of things were quite interesting to me,” he said. Referencing what women around him are wearing currently, Jones’ wanted to inject a sense of reality into his presentation. “I have friends that just buy couture clothes, and they don’t buy big ball gowns. They buy real clothes, things that fit their bodies. So I want to create work that is reactive to the time we’re living in,” he explained.

Tapping on androgyny, Jones’ couture collection references Orlando, Virginia Woolf’s time-travelling tale of androgyny and fashion’s favourite lexicon for the study of genderless fashion.

Jones aimed to illustrate his Grand Tour from Rodmell to Rome- the ‘journey from Bloomsbury to Borghese’ interpreted Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant’s frescoes of Charleston in hand-beaded prints and the marbles of the Galleria Borghese in painted tailoring. Dresses evoked the wet drapery of its Bernini sculptures.

Tailoring was accompanied by floor-sweeping kingly capes, shapeless forms depicting highly textured layers topped off with a lace coat webbed from roses or a mound of marbled garments were key looks that stood out in the presentation. Jones’s juxtapositions culminated in split-personality dresses hybridised from half an evening gown and half a blazer or shirt.

If these details are anything to go by, this collection could very well serve as an indication of what the future of the house looks like.

Wedding bells ringing in the air — Chanel’s latest couture offering features a more bohemian

style—tilting towards a wedding or a family celebration in a village rather than at the Ritz!

One can easily spot Gabrielle Coco Chanel’s appropriations of menswear in the designs—à latweedy Oxford bags and waistcoats.

Embroidered cardigan jackets, lace jumpsuits, tweed coat dresses with a ruffled overskirt, sweaters or sleeveless vests worn with high-waist pants, skinny cardigan jackets and liquid satin shirts with full romantic ballet skirts, emerge as key pieces of the collection which exude a masculine/feminine side in its silhouettes. Ball gowns and skirts are paired with crisp white oversized boyfriend shirts, or singlets of crocheted chiffons.

Details point towards silver embroidery and lace, tweed, ruffles, flounces and petticoats.

The celebrated fashion house collaborated with Cécile Henri, Hurel, Montex, Emmanuelle Vernoux and Lesage, for its exquisite embroideries and also tapped Solstiss for custom, hand-painted lace, and Lemarié, for its renditions of scattered artificial blossoms.



R O NA L D V A N D ER K EM P

Inspired by Netflix nature documentaries, Rahul Mishra’s latest collection ‘The Dawn’, aims to shed light on how we utilise our

resources, which the designerhas tried to depict by using giant mushrooms sprouting out of a tree.

“Mushrooms create rebirth in a real sense, they are a masterpiece of engineering all on their own,” Rahul said of the theme.

The renditions of 3D appliqué mushrooms that feature throughout his latest collection took six months to embroider and Rahul worked counter current to his usual process, reverse-engineering patterns to let the fungi dictate shapes, working with fabric bases such as glass organza or tulle, and using different thread weights to make the work stand out.

Fortunately, owing to perhaps, the ‘Big Fat Indian Wedding’ standards, demand for couture and occasionwear has managed to keep Rahul’s 1,000-person-strong atelier busy despite the repercussions of the pandemic. “In today’s world, whether we like it or not, we live for occasions, even if they’re small. What people are realising now is that being together is what matters most,” he said.

Rahul feels that with so many artisans jobless right now, there is a need for a bigger change in couture, as compared to ready-to-wear. “Slowing down means I can support so many more people, but at the same time, embellishing five metres of fabric might take a month,” he explained.

Art meets fashion at Ronald Van Der Kemp’s couture showcase.

Making use of what’s available at hand and upcycling products has emerged as a new approach for many designers in the past year. Van der Kemp has also built his brand on the same concept, but with fewer recyclables coming in during the lockdowns, his challenge was to do with even less.

The inventive techniques that serve as proof of his past work come alive yet again in dresses pieced together from three distinct fabrics in a way that they look different depending on the angle one views them from; and it’s also obvious in the opening look’s ball skirt, which is patchworked from scraps of many sizes and shapes, including little rectangles made to look like pieces of tape affixing one material to another.

“Even from the lowest of the low, we can make something cool and interesting,” he said. Interestingly enough, Kemp calls his process ‘ethical Dada’, a description that has taken a new meaning since he started overpainting and collaging found canvases.

Working with a company that makes felt out of post-recycling leftovers, one of Kemp’s looks include a moulded corset made without seams and darts, paired with paint-splattered, ripped jeans dripping in handwoven chains.

“Even from the lowest of the low, we can make something cool and interesting.” Indeed!

RA HU L M I S H RA



2020 saw a massive shift take place within the industry with physical to digital formats taking the lead, sustainability coming to the fore and virtual fashion. In 2021, offline is here to stay and the trend of interaction of creative representatives of metropolises with the developing world will take the lead. Fashion will become the engine of not only the cultural, but also the economic component of developing countries.

A subsidiary of Apparel Resources, ASw Marketplace recently hosted a two-day digital conference on 16-17 December 2020, as its first major engagement activity to look out for. These two days featured informative sessions and talks delivered by well-known expert speakers from various domains in the fashion and retail industry, which shed light upon industry-oriented futuristic topics that

are set to have an impact in the days to come.

Erick Smet, Senior Trend Analyst at Trendwatching Amsterdam, spoke about ‘Future Consumer Influence on Retail in 2021’ at an exclusive Apparel Sourcing week trend session. Supported with various case study-based examples from the industry, he delivered 4 key trend themes that are shaping our future

as businesses as well as consumers.

In our second edition on the topic, Apparel Online India aims to forecast the trends that one can expect and work based on the examples shared by Trendwatching. Read on to discover!

(you can log onto our website – www.apparelresources.com to read the first edition of this topic).

2020 was such a year when life as we know came to a standstill. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had major implications on the global economy but also on our social lives by accelerating a generational shift which has, in its own way, also caused many businesses to pivot.

The pandemic brought certain human needs to the forefront, which further established a new consumer segment that has a strong focus on health and

The sudden sharp increase in demand for

contact-free interactions is converging with

advancements in robotics to enable a new breed of automated e-commerce

in real life.

kEy OppOrTunITIEs fOr BusInEssEs TO COnsIDEr In 2021

TO AppEAsE ThE fuTurE COnsuMEr

faShion buSineSS


reaches critical mass, millions will embrace new mind-sets, new priorities, new choices, and this will invert what has come before,” Erick stated in his talk.

If there is one thing that the pandemic has brought about, it is a need to pause and reconsider our actions as friends, family, citizens and humans. Fast fashion and over-consumption have been threatening forces in the world much before COVID-19 struck, the latter only serving to highlight an urgent need for us as creators as well as consumers, to re-evaluate our choices.

In 2020, people suddenly started shopping less, and though it has been a big blow to industries worldwide, it also serves as a perfect example to highlight just how less is required to live a happy, content life where basics take centre stage.

Brands need to tap on this and reassess what they are producing and why. Does it serve a need or is it just another addition on top of the huge pile of consumerism?

The volume of clothes being disposed of in landfills is staggering! The pandemic has heightened consumers’ awareness regarding the same which has directly impacted the way they consume and purchase, leading them to make mindful purchases.

The entire community of designers also needs to come together and acknowledge that sustainability (in all its forms) is the only way forward. Many businesses are already addressing the issue at hand by incorporating the use of natural fibres and recycled clothing, tapping on the skills of local craftsmen and manufacturers, preserving cultural codes and creating employment opportunities.

Looking at the immense popularity of social media across demographics, it comes as no surprise that social commerce is set to drive global expectations for consumption. The impact of these radically social brands will extend far beyond retail.

well-being, connection, convenience, peace of mind, entertainment, status, trust and fairness. This new kind of consumerism is set to impact industries across the spectrum.

coNtActLESS

Virtual clothing has been around for some time now, and the pandemic has only but helped accelerate a shift that has been long due. Today, virtual clothing is the way forward, with consumers more than ready to embrace the experience – digital does not require a huge amount of expense for production, travel, purchase and disposal of merchandise, all it requires is a few clicks and a stable working network connection.

Many businesses are addressing the issue of sustainability by

incorporating the use of natural fibres and recycled clothing, tapping on the skills of local craftsmen

and manufacturers, preserving cultural codes and creating employment

opportunities.

EXPErIENcESThe sudden sharp increase in demand for contact-free interactions is converging with advancements in robotics to enable a new breed of automated e-commerce in real life.

During the pandemic, businesses across the globe were forced to adapt to and adopt contactless experiences in a way that is both convenient for them and also for their consumers. Right from in-app ordering, contactless payments, QR codes, BOPIS to curb-side delivery and drive-thrus, processes were reimagined in an attempt to cater to 7 out of every 10 consumers that would prefer a shopping excursion that doesn’t require any human contact.

This experience is only set to amplify in the future and businesses need to look at simplifying every step of the customer’s journey.

Brands need to leverage the trend by providing faster checkout experiences, tying up with a range of digital payment options, scan and pay experiences and in-store pickups.

During the lockdowns and their subsequent easing out, it has been difficult for consumers to casually enter store and touch or try on products. This has led to many businesses looking at and developing digital clothing and virtual fitting options.

uNcoNSumEDDecades of unbridled consumerism wreaked havoc on our health, environment and society. Then COVID-19 came around and hit the pause button. while consumerism is sure to return, people will have a new perspective.

“In 2020, especially as awareness of damaging impacts of consumption

faShion buSineSS


Brands need to look beyond transactions and convenience and think about being more social in terms of how one can build communities. Consumers in Asia and beyond are bringing expectations for social, community-driven and entertaining experiences to every online commerce event.

younger consumers are like serial shoppers – they know their brands, follow them on social media and are always on the lookout for special collaborations and exclusive products. A brand needs to keep this in mind while developing its collections.

Although the pandemic had a devastating impact, there have been many positive lessons to be learnt and implemented. People are looking at their communities and are doing things in a different way. Brands are learning how to work with consumers through social networks to identify needs and respond to their demands.

Formats for presenting content on social networks will completely change; local brands can confidently focus on their target audience, thus in the future this will be a major step towards global recognition.

Owing to the digital format, many

local events have been transformed into international ones. Online media will work to develop their own niche in social networks, and thereby try to compete with independent industry experts who have already gathered a target audience around them.

Social platforms have helped in creating an ecosystem where it becomes easier for designers and brands to discover talent and collaborate with them on exclusive, limited edition collections that perform better in the market and are also a great way to reach out to and acquire a wider, more diverse audience.

and mental health boosters into everyday surroundings or real world objects because for many people in developed countries, 2020 was nothing short of a wake-up call that good health isn’t a given.

“Brands today are quickly jumping onto this new need. Consumers are busy anyways so they will love brands that make mental and physical wellness easy by embedding it into products and their surroundings.” Erick stated.

It isn’t just about physical health, according to McKinsey, the average life satisfaction in Europe, which has consistently led the world in well-being, fell to its lowest level since 1980 in April 2020.

It is also imperative to point out over here that, before the pandemic, APAC’s health tech ecosystem was already the second biggest in the world with US $ 6.3 billion in investment.

Brands need to be more sensitive not only in their approach, but also in the way they communicate their stories – their brand, their philosophy and taking into account their consumer – what affects them and how? Is it resonating with them in a positive way or is it triggering a negative experience for them?

Campaigns, communication and products need to be re-thought of and then packaged in a way that brings about a message of hope and positivity for the consumer.

Honest and sincere brand strategies will win.

Campaigns, communication and products need to be

re-thought of and then packaged in a way that brings about a message of hope and positivity

for the consumer.

BrANDcArEBrands are working towards making wellness a norm by embedding physical

faShion buSineSS


All Dhaka Denims products are made from 100 per

cent recycled and upcycled fabrics, which are treated with an antiviral chemical imported from Portugal,

before delivery. ”

Currently in her third year of majoring in Biology and Neuropsychology at the University of Toronto, Incia is extremely science-driven and has had the opportunity to directly learn from world renowned professionals having extensive knowledge on the current global crisis and the best ways to tackle the same. Together with her sister who is still in high school, these two youngsters are changing the way the world consumes fashion.

tHE oNSEtDuring the lockdown in late October last year, Incia found herself and Kiara discussing about the latest global fashion trends and thinking of sustainable designing practices- a progression that quickly led them to recognise the large untapped market in Dhaka for trendy and chic yet sustainable denim products.

“we started off by making denim/fabric masks, bucket hats and bags and posted

the fashion and textile industry is notoriously known to be one of the most polluting industries in the world, producing over 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, which translates to more emissions than air and maritime travel. This industry is extremely chemical-intensive due to the number of dyes and transfer agents that are constantly being used; water is often contaminated due to chemical treatments by increasing its natural pH, consequently increasing methane production and heat, and eventually contributing to global warming.

However, the textile industry remains the financial backbone of Bangladesh and keeping the same in mind, sister duo Incia and Kiara made up their minds to come up with a better way to go about things, thus giving birth to Dhaka Denims.

“My sister Kiara and I are fiercely passionate about the environment and have always looked for ways to be more sustainable.” Incia Petiwala, Co-founder and Creative Director of Dhaka Denims, told Apparel Online Bangladesh(AOB), in an exclusive interview. “As international students, we have had the opportunity to learn about the climate crisis and the part that textile waste plays in contributing towards it. we knew something had to be done.”

DHAKA DENIMSBANGLADESH’S YOUNGEST BRAND CREATING

PRODUCTS OUT OF 100% RECYCLED AND UPCYCLED MATERIALS

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Every single material that goes into the production of Dhaka Denims’ products is made out of fully recycled

and upcycled materials (including the zippers and buttons). The brand prides itself as being one of the

only brands in Bangladesh to exclusively sell recycled

accessories.

exclusively international schools gave us a unique perspective on what the fashion market in Dhaka was lacking, and how we could better cater to these markets in a sustainable manner,” Incia stated.

ProDuct ASSortmENt, PrIcING AND uSPThe product offering at Dhaka Denims comprises bucket hats, bags (purses, totes, slings, duffle bags, backpacks, pouches), masks, laptop cases, eye masks and hand woven belts. Each product category comes in different fabrics, customisable

them on Instagram and Facebook, and immediately gained traction and received overwhelmingly positive reviews,” Incia said.

Today, all Dhaka Denims products are made from 100 per cent recycled and upcycled fabrics, denims and materials and are treated with an antiviral chemical before delivery. Called Fresche 4850 by Aquitex, the chemical is a special blue check chemical which is directly imported from Portugal. Dhaka Denims’ mission is to stay stylish while being safe and sustainable.

Growing up, Incia and Kiara have had significant exposure to apparel and garments owing to their father being closely associated with the garment industry though, neither of them ever expected to get into the industry, despite their interest in fashion.

“I’ve held different corporate positions as an intern, though I think the majority of our relevant experience came from watching our father work and seeing how this industry operates through him. In addition, our family has been moving all our lives from India, to Bangladesh, to North America and even Thailand. This, coupled with our education in

options and prices. The starting price for bags is 400 Taka, hand-woven belts is 220 Taka, masks is 200 Taka, bucket hats is 350 Taka, laptop cases is 350 Taka and eye masks is 230 Taka.

Every single material that goes into the production of Dhaka Denims’ products is made out of fully recycled and upcycled materials (including the zippers and buttons being used). All products are hand-stitched and made in a manner that prevents waste as much as possible.

The main material that Dhaka Denims works with is the denim fabric, and almost all their products have some form of denim featured over them.

Dhaka Denims prides itself as being one of the only brands in Bangladesh to exclusively sell recycled accessories.

“we currently target the younger generation, aged 14 to 26 though we have had customers who are younger and older than that. In fact, recently we have been receiving multiple bulk orders from various corporations and NGOs who cater to a wider demographic than we do. So, we’re happy to know that all ages and demographics are able to enjoy our products!” Incia highlighted.

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BrAND PHILoSoPHy AND commItmENt “It would be relatively easy to just cut clothes we personally don’t need and buy some extra material to use just so we can meet our demand and customer preferences exactly. However, we don’t do that,” Incia elucidated.

At Dhaka Denims, each fabric that is used is fabric that the brand is certain will be of complete waste and will eventually end up in a landfill or be burnt like most textile waste. “This is because we made a commitment to ourselves and our buyers to engage and promote sustainable fashion. Of course, there are instances where some of the fabric or materials we work with are not traditionally appealing because of colour, pattern, etc., but that just pushes us to be more creative with them,” she added.

An ethical brand, Dhaka Denims prioritises integrity and safety over profits.

The brand is completely transparent about their practices and sourcing of raw material; and in addition, they treat all products with an antiviral chemical to ensure safety of customers and team.

The brand also frequently donates a portion of its sales to various organisations in Dhaka such as Thrive, and partners with youth NGOs that are focused on women’s rights, such as Dhaka Rise.

“Consumers are responding extremely positively to our products, and care about our mission. However, there is definitely a learning factor when it comes to how important sustainable fashion really is,” Incia stated. “Most of our customers purchase our products because of their aesthetic and look, and learn about our mission and why we do what we do after they contact us. Hence, we make it a point that our brand communication is always reflective of our mission.”

To emphasise the sustainability movement and in order to educate their

average consumer and social media followers, Dhaka Denims posts weekly facts about textile and garment waste globally and in Bangladesh.

tEcHNIQuES AND DEtAILSQuality is one thing that the brand does not compromise on. Each product is padded on the inside with soft silk and cotton in an effort to ensure safety for customer belongings besides adding a luxurious component to the product at no extra cost to the customer.

The outside of the product is where the Dhaka Denims team actually sets loose – it is what they call, their ‘creative canvas’.

“we are constantly experimenting with new designs, fabric and colours to showcase something the general public hasn’t seen before in a global context. For example, few of our most successful products have been our ‘tag bags’ where we used old clothing tags and receipts

“Today, every leading global brand is participating in

sustainable fashion, we’re just playing our small role

in order to be a part of this greater movement and to promote female

entrepreneurship.”

- Incia Petiwala Co-founder and Creative Director,

Dhaka Denims

Incia and Kiara Petiwala

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and made purses and totes out of them,” Incia pointed out.

Another bestselling collection from the brand has been their ‘Time Travel’ collection, where their ‘Flower Power’ bag immediately sold out. This bag was a small denim purse with recycled flower fabric that was put all over the edge of the bag. Both of these products were hand-stitched, and each individual piece took hours to make.

The brand’s creative technique and attention to detail to provide a clean stitched bag is what impresses most of their customers.

mANuFActurING AND SourcING“we initially created the materials we use to make our designs, ourselves by using our own clothing and asking friends and family for theirs. However, after realising the magnitude of waste that takes place in Bangladesh, we looked at sourcing our materials from elsewhere,” Incia explained.

Soon after launch, Dhaka Denims partnered with over seven tailoring shops based across Dhaka (around Gulshan and Banani), who agreed to give them their scrap material and waste fabric that would otherwise go to complete waste. The brand went on to partner with six textile and garment factories as well, who have agreed to give them their rejected fabrics and washed panels.

This effort not only prevents these fabrics from ending up being dumped in landfills, but also prevents heavy chemical contamination from factory fabrics that end up in rivers and oceans. For pure or coloured denim, factory fabrics work better because of the impressive quality and quantity that the brand receives.

For their ongoing collection, the brand replenishes its stock almost weekly owing to how quickly they sell out. For products such as their ‘2D Bags’, which are more complicated to make, they restock every month or so, whilst limited edition products are not restocked, though the brand always

opens such collections for pre-orders in order to have a fair idea about the demand size.

As of now, all Dhaka Denims products are manufactured entirely in-house from their unit situated in Baridhara, Dhaka. However, in the future, they plan to extend the outsourcing of certain products to local women through microfinancing.

“we would provide these women with the funds, resources and learning experience they need to create these products themselves, and then purchase their work,” Incia briefed, adding, “This would help our business by making it more efficient, but more importantly, it will empower these women by allowing them to earn for themselves and work at home while caring for their family at the same time.”

what initially started as a direct-to-consumer business where customers could purchase products directly on Facebook and Instagram, soon started gaining local traction with organisations reaching out in order to collaborate with the brand.

Most of these organisations belong to the NGO sector which purchase bulk orders. However, Dhaka Denims is in talks with a few more organisations and is open to cater to the corporate audience as well.

tHE ImPAct oF coVID-19 oN tHE INDuStryIt’s no surprise that the pandemic has not been kind to many large garment/textile manufacturers and global brands. with lockdowns implemented globally, and a looming economic crisis, shopping isn’t the priority.

Commenting on the same, Incia said, “Brands with quality products and strong ethics and values are prevailing. Leading brands like Zara and Primark have shown the world that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand. The consumer is becoming smarter every day, they recognise good quality, and don’t mind paying a premium for a more long lasting product to a company with a moral code.”

Let us keep this in mind as we proceed on designing for the world. For the wonders that these two young women are creating in order to champion sustainable and ethical fashion, is nothing short of inspiring.

what started out as a small team of two with Incia and her sister, has today expanded into a six member team owing to the immense response and success the brand has received in such a short span of time.

In terms of product categories, Dhaka Denims plans to expand into home products and soft furnishings categories such as quilts, table settings and pillow covers, all the while improving and modifying their existing products to the best of their abilities.

“we want to be known exclusively as a sustainable accessory brand; the clothing space is far too concentrated, and there is a huge market for the type of accessories that we sell. So we want to keep our focus on that,” Incia explained.

Dhaka Denims currently stocks its products for purchase in-house in Dhaka, as well as on the brand’s own Instagram and Facebook pages @dhakadenims; however potential partners can also contact them on: [email protected].

The brand’s official e-commerce website is due to launch soon, and Incia and Kiara are actively looking for locations where Dhaka Denims can launch its own pop up store.

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quality inspectors. However, now intelligent technology is available in the market that can solve these measurement problems.

AI-Driven measurement checking machine by yunjiZhihui, chinaLocated in Dongguan High-tech Development Zone in China, Dongguan YunjiZhihui Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech industrial intelligent equipment developer and technical service provider. The company recently launched its high-tech garment visual inspection and measurement machine equipped with the vision system, which has filled the gap of the visual inspection system in China’s garment manufacturing industry where domestic intensive labour is located.

The garment visual inspection machine uses computer-vision inspection system as the core technology, artificial intelligence (AI) as the engine, and the integration of automated hardware mechanisms. The machine adopts assembly line design as reference. The tested T-shirts are laid on the machine belt/bed, and the parts that are not covered can be detected.

Once the garment product enters the machine, the screen, after 6 seconds, automatically shows the message – Pass/Fail, with all measurements. It can quickly and accurately detect the size of various parts of clothing, T-shirt in particular, and can automatically identify and calculate errors. The machine can also automatically recognise product information and generate various quality reports required by the apparel factories.

For example, if a T-shirt passes through the machine, it automatically measures the 15 dimensions of the T-shirts in maximum 6 seconds which are – collar width, collar depth, left shoulder width, right shoulder width, left sleeve length, right sleeve length, left sleeve width, right sleeve width, chest width, waist width, T-shirt length, T-shirt width, sleeve length symmetry, shoulder width symmetry and cuff width symmetry.

The measurement capacity of the machine is 4,800 T-shirts in 480 minutes and it can adjust the speed if detection area increases.

fInAlly AI In MAnufACTurIng: gArMEnT MEAsurEMEnT InspECTIOn In A flAsh

The talks of digitalisation of apparel industry have been creating a buzz for quite some time now and the stakeholders are extending their support to digitalise those arduous supply chain processes which incur huge direct and indirect costs as well as take enormous time and a significant manpower. Garment measurement process is one such process which takes hundreds of man-hours to measure a huge number of garments in a factory on a daily basis, yet there is no certainty if the measurement is accurate and the passed garment won’t fail at receiver’s end!

The high chances of human errors linked with the traditional measurement process create mind-bending situation most often for the

Automatic quality inspection machine

tech management


This equipment is a complete set of clothing visual inspection solution, which greatly reduces labour costs and improves the automation level of clothing inspection. According to the company, the AI-driven equipment is suitable for large-scale clothing manufacturing enterprises.

While having a conversation with Apparel Online India, Sky Jia, General Manager of YunjiZhihui, said that the machine is capable of checking products having multi-colour and multi-clothes. “The system automatically identifies the colour/fabric of the tested product and adjusts the test parameters accordingly,” commented Wang.

The machine has a high detection accuracy as the detection data error of the measured garment

is controlled within ± 1mm, while manual measurement error goes as high as 5 mm. Also, the speed of the measurement is as low as 6 seconds per piece in the machine offered by YunjiZhihui. “The measurement detection accuracy in our machine is up to 99.5 per cent with a large range of customisable measurement

bed which can reach maximum at 900mm*900mm,” informed Jia.

Highlighting another key advantage of using this equipment, Wang said that the hardware capability and effectiveness is unbeatable. The product information can be obtained by intelligent identification barcode, QR code, RFID tag, etc. And, the factories are also able to print the unqualified information and mark the unqualified products automatically. Once marking of unqualified products happens, automatic sorting of qualified and unqualified products takes place.

As far as software capability of the machine is concerned, this includes three intelligent systems with powerful functions and changeable intelligence – an intelligent Al algorithm developed in-house; standard database management system which is in-built and flexible; and quality data analysis system for automatic analysis and summary of quality data as well as to generate relevant reports for production and quality data analysis.

the way forward for yunjiZhihui measurement technologyThe company’s R&D team is now extensively working to develop the function of defect detection which would be a breakthrough achievement. Also, the team is using its experience and technical know-how to replicate the same technology for other products than T-shirts as well.

Jia further shared, “As per a market survey done by us, we have developed the first product successfully used in clothing. I hope the product can serve more countries and more factories, but we haven’t sold overseas yet. We are also actively looking for overseas agents.”

Measurement capacity of the machine

Once the garment product enters the machine, the screen, after 6 seconds, automatically shows the

message – Pass/Fail, with all measurements.

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material, what is essential for the factories is to pay a serious attention to control and monitor these processes – production and quality in particular, in order to save direct and indirect costs. In this case, the software technology can be of great help.

Vaēso LIVE – Digital shopfloor execution system for apparel and footwear sector Asia has become the world’s manufacturing hub due to the availability of low-cost labour and the factory owners have built a shopfloor culture of ‘throwing’ more labour at quality issues or simply changing management when solutions are not readily found. Covid-19 has now amplified the demand for

better QUALITY and VALUE as most retailer-brand owners have seen their e-commerce sales increase by 200 per cent, 300 per cent or more. This will dramatically increase the Cost of Poor Quality for the apparel and footwear industry as consumers are much more discerning of poor quality products when they arrive at their homes versus simply asking for a replacement when they are trying on a product in a retail store. Thus, a massive paradigm shift in quality and the required product value has occurred in our industry because of Covid-19. Building a zero-defect culture where every artisan controls their quality before passing it on to the new workstations is the only means to meeting e-commerce’s demand for a logarithmic improvement in the quality of the products. “Retail-brand owners are looking to build much tighter partnerships with factories who understand this seismic shift and those who are able to transform themselves will see their market share increase dramatically. Those who do not, will most likely not survive,” told Amit Gupta, Regional Director, Impactiva regarding the organisation behind Vaēso digital manufacturing execution system.Vaēso has built a digital shopfloor system that places a digital device on each workstation so that each artisan/operator becomes responsible for their own quality. With the resulting dramatic improvement in

ThEsE ‘prOCEss OpTIMIsATIOn’ TEChnOlOgIEs CAn EArn

fACTOrIEs hIghEr prOfITs

Maintaining affordable prices to customers over an extended period of time has always been a goal and principal challenge for manufacturers in the apparel and textile industry. Post-COVID, as markets recover, the basic to mid-level price-point products are expected to remain in demand. But, with disrupted supplychains due to the disappearance of key material vendors, reduced manpower availability and potential inflation as the industry seeks limited supply, this challenge will be even harder.

So the question arises – how to address this challenge and find out solution? Since most of the processes in an apparel factory take place on the shopfloor, which constitutes the highest process costing after raw

Maintaining affordable prices

tech management


shopfloor quality (from 40 per cent ‘right the first time’ quality to +80 per cent, 90 per cent...), factories will see significant improvements in productivity and material waste reductions that will generate 4x to 12x return on the cost of shop floor digitalisation. Adding to this, Amit said that, as an industry, we need to decouple system discipline from having a few key leaders who are the only ones responsible for their execution. “We need to create a bottom-up culture where systems generate engagement of the entire shopfloor so that regardless of the personnel churn rate, process discipline drives a continuous improvement on a month-to-month basis,” asserted Amit.But, how does one achieve such bottom-up discipline and accountability, digitalisation? It is the fastest and lowest cost way of implementing and maintaining such best-in-class processes and procedures. How many times have factories implemented an important new process and/or procedure and 6 months later it is no longer being followed simply because of a lack of process discipline-ownership or

because a few key managers have departed? Digitalisation enforces process discipline via the raising of timely alerts and escalations if the designed processes are not being followed. Furthermore, for some

important processes, the software can be designed and configured to stop production if a procedure is not followed. In this way, digitalisation prevents undisciplined shopfloor teams from trying to ‘skip or game a process’.

As far as the core features of Vaēso LIVE Technology are concerned, it uses a cutting edge RFID-enabled technology which captures accurate data on shopfloor automatically eliminating any chance of human error. It then enables the artisans and supervisors of the shopfloor to take responsibility for using the data when manufacturing quality, cycle time and hourly output alerts are generated to take immediate corrective action. It helps to build a culture of accountability and responsibility where an entire Factory Team is engaged to produce defect-free products in the targeted daily output.

Vaēso LIVE also allows factories to provide real-time order status and WIP visibility to buyers eliminating the need to be answering constant requests for such status information. The ability to provide buyers with real-time visibility to the shopfloor data is a competitive game changer for factories.

case Study:Farida Shoes Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading exporters of footwear from India, has been using Vaēso LIVE for the past 14 weeks. The improvement in quality and productivity is impressive:

• Right the first time quality: +30 per cent

• Productivity: +30 per cent

• Reduced product and component recuts-replacements: -47 per cent

“I am sure that going digital is the present and future of the industry. At Farida, we are very happy that we started with Vaēso and are thus

Line TV monitor dashboard vaeso

“retail-brand owners are looking to build much tighter partnerships with factories

who understand this seismic shift and those who are able to transform themselves will see their market share increase

dramatically. those who do not, will most likely not survive.”

– Amit Gupta Regional Director, Impactiva

tech management


2 months ahead of the rest of the industry by having visibility of our manufacturing shopfloor and being able to share relevant real-time information with our customers. We believe Vaēso to be the bridge for our industry’s digital future,” commented Irshad Ahmed Mecca, Managing Director, Farida Shoes Pvt. Ltd.

textempo (uSA) – Promising shopfloor process digitisation and solution providerUS-based shopfloor technology expert TexTempo believes that the quality is probably the largest indirect cost area in a traditional apparel factory along with non-value-added activities, which create excess labour. Apart from this, the ‘lack of visibility’ within a factory premises also causes excessive costs for managing delivery and expediting. Greg Hathcox, Sr. Vice President of Sales, TexTempo told Apparel Online India, “I had a VP level manager tell me that he spent 25 per cent of his time searching for orders on the factory floor while operating a conventional factory,” adding, “We have 30+ years of experience in selling automation to apparel and other sewn products’ manufacturers. We work with manufacturers to help solve issues on their factory floors and prescribe the best solutions to fit their problem. Our long-term vision is to offer real-time visibility of all aspects of the factory floor and offer the tools to improve any part of the production process.”

Pointing out towards a major issue in the US apparel manufacturing industry where still a majority of the factories are operating to cater to small batch production system, Greg commented that the small batch production is usually one-piece flow. Shopfloor systems were originally used in bundle type operations

(mass production) where individual performance measurement was a key component. With one piece flow, companies are using cell/group/team configurations, where the individual performance is not tracked as closely.

This is where TexTempo is playing a crucial role to support small batch production with digitisation through its partner companies – IPE and FreePoint Technologies. IPE handles labour/WIP tracking and incentive payroll automation, while FreePoint offers machine utilisation

optimisation. The company wants to show manufacturers the full picture of labour/WIP/Machines so that they can focus on continuous improvement resources in the correct area. “Most companies we work with have told us that their factory floors are a ‘black hole’ as orders go in and they hope for the best and find out when the order is ready to ship,” shared Greg.

IPE comes in two modules – IP-RealTime and IP-Batch. IPE has changed the game with IP RealTime incentive payroll and shopfloor

IP realtime shop floor control

tech management


control solution. This simple and affordable to deploy and use solution, as says TexTempo, streamlines incentive and hourly payroll tasks, while giving factories better tools to manage the day-to-day operation of all their production activities. From issuance of the production order, to production data collection and gross payroll processing, IP RealTime streamlines plant-wide processes. Data collection is managed through standard Wi-Fi and off-the-shelf Android devices to keep it simple and affordable. Therefore, IP RealTime empowers supervisors and managers to quickly track order status, monitor individual and team productivity, resolve quality issues, manage off-standard events and better balance production lines.

On the other hand, IP-Batch solution helps manage operations, styles and cut orders. The printing of bar-coded bundle tickets, submitted on gum sheets makes data collection easy via a USB hand-held scanner. Pay Codes are defined to calculate both on standard and off standard pay, as well as make-up (daily or weekly), overtime premium, small bundle premium and shift differential pay. Each of these gross pay types can then be consolidated and transferred to a gross-to-net payroll system (ADP, PayChex, Performance Payroll or .csv file). The system can also be set-up to manage a single sewing plant or configured for central cutting/remote sewing. Furthermore, IP-Batch can be integrated with 3rd party ERP systems to eliminate double entry of data.

Automation of incentive payroll is something TexTempo feels is a real necessity in today’s time which can offer a productivity improvement of 20-30 per cent over traditional hourly based pay systems where average 7-12 minutes per day per employee get wasted. “The IP system is very user-friendly. The

company offers excellent customer support, and the product offering has better information available than any programme I have ever used,” Tom Dyer, Plant Manager, Visual Impulse Company – a US-based cut and sew company, which uses IP system offered by TexTempo.Therefore, the software solutions offered by TexTempo help apparel factories increase visibility by digitally tracking each order/bundle/unit in real time as it moves through the factory. It collects data on labour, WIP, machine utilisation and then this data measures the performance, which is then reported back through dashboards/reports allowing management to avoid mistakes and seize opportunities immediately.

Skylark Soft – one of the first shop floor digitisation solutions in Bangladesh Needless to say how big RMG manufacturing industry is in Bangladesh! However the country is not known to develop technology for the sector on its own but Skylark Soft has changed the equation with an indigenously developed shopfloor control technology – PROTRACKER.PROTRACKER is fully customisable and cloud-based real-time production tracking software for apparel industry that manages the entire production process – right from managing order details to production, shipping to invoicing which can be completely integrated with any other management software. The biggest issue a factory can face is the management of unstructured data within different departments which causes anomaly in long run, especially in a country like Bangladesh where manufacturing is undoubtedly strong but it still counts amongst those countries which work on low efficiency and productivity. PROTRACKER, which is the first ‘Made

in Bangladesh’ cloud-based software for production tracking, has solution for this prolonged challenge.

B M Shorif, CEO, Skylark Soft Limited, informed Apparel Online India, “Using PROTRACKER, factories can increase their productivity by around 15 per cent within months of implementation. We take only 1 month for implementing PROTRACKER successfully in a factory.”

Tracking of floor production depends on multiple factors and attributes. For apparel industry, production tracking starts with confirmed order quantity when fabric arrives based on PO quantity. Upon fabric arrival, the main workflow of the shopfloor production monitoring system starts and that’s where PROTRACKER operation too starts. A user collects all the necessary information like lay chart size grading

“we have implemented our solution in 20 factories in bangladesh right now and factories such as mondol Group, dekko Group, Gms

Composite knitting ind. ltd., padma textiles and so on are

our clients.”

– B M Shorif CEO, Skylark Soft Limited

tech management


and ratios to create bundle cards. A bundle card is a piece of paper which contains a specific barcode with significant amounts of data like buyer, style, size, cutting quantity, etc.

After this, the bundle card needs to be tied with a fabric cut panel as like the normal apparel process maintaining bundle quantity to cut panel quantity. When this is done, the software can specifically track these bundles by scanning in different sections. Meanwhile, all the reports for the cutting section are generated automatically because of the initial data and bundle card processing.

For embellishment style, specific bundles are sent to the print/embroidery factory for scanning. Users then send those bundles with scanned barcodes into the system where automatic invoice, as well as date-wise style in and out data reports, is generated.

When operation is finished, these specific bundles are received by another scanning point and a rejection comparison is prepared. If there is any rejection in panel system, the software makes a way to put rejection data for that specific bundle.

Upon receiving from print/embroidery, the factory’s bundles tend to be sent to the sewing line for input or sometimes put into a tag for next day input. For solid styles, which contain no embellishments, direct input into line is given while maintaining a line-wise invoice. Line supervisors create a digital signature for making the approval of those invoices.

Meanwhile, the IE and Planning teams put all the line data and style-wise SMV and efficiency data which prepares line-wise dashboard when bundles are inputted into line and sewing production starts.

When sewing operation is completed, the bundles are scanned into

the system after quality check. PROTRACKER system collects second to second production data and compares it with the given target to IE team and with given SMV, using AI and smart TV which represent all the floor and line activities by dashboard and graphs.

Line QC puts alterations and rejection data for specific items. When sewing production is completed, all finished bodies are sent to the washing factory if needed. When washing is completed garments are received and finally proceed with poly and packing as per packing list.

“The operator can put rejection quantity if he gets any rejection from print/embroidery/washing/sewing and all the final reports can be generated in PROTRACKER. There are two barcodes in the system: one is for original part and other one is for rejected work piece. When the user scans this particular portion or barcode, a popup will be there which will show how many rework and rejection pieces are there in the bundle,” said Shorif.

Currently, Bangladesh is the only country where PROTRACKER is making its space; however, Skylark is aggressively working to broaden its horizon. It has plans to work with

overseas manufacturing companies located in countries such as India, Vietnam and Indonesia. “We have implemented our solution in 20 factories in Bangladesh right now and factories such as Mondol Group, Dekko Group, GMS Composite Knitting Ind. Ltd., Padma Textiles and so on are our clients,” claimed Shorif optimistically.

case Study:

Saturn textile Limited: Increasing efficiency, saving manpower, reducing time and cost with ProtrAcKErSaturn Textile Limited is one of the top knitwear manufacturers based in Bangladesh and produces over 80 million pieces per annum. In the production lines, the company was facing low efficiency, more time was being consumed, cash flow was irregular and manpower utilisation was huge. To solve this challenge, Saturn Textile Limited deployed PROTRACKER to their production panel powered by Skylark Soft Limited.

Benefits and comparisonBy deploying PROTRACKER, Saturn Textile Limited got benefited rapidly. Before using PROTRACKER, the company had just 56 per cent production efficiency. But, currently they are producing their products by 68 per cent production efficiency. PROTRACKER helped to boost their efficiency by raising 12 per cent. On the other hand, the company successfully saved the cost of 27 people from a total of 1,796 manpower. “We have become more transparent in our reporting system. From our production panel, by gaining productivity, we are saving almost BDT 40 Lakh (US $ 47,184) in a month by only using PROTRACKER,” as per Saturn Textile Limited.

PROTRACKER is fully customisable and cloud-

based real-time production tracking software for the apparel industry

that manages the entire production process – right

from managing order details to production, shipping

to invoicing which can be completely integrated with

any other management software.

tech management


production in the USA especially in apparel sector where technology has become a go-to approach in the country. The Advanced Robotics

for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute in USA has started expediting focus areas identification process through its recent project calls across industries with an emphasis on the apparel industry. ARM Institute has selected eight new robotics technology projects aligned with the organisation’s mission to strengthen US manufacturing and empower workers. A total of US $ 7.5 million will be contributed across these eight projects. ARM plans to award US $ 2.9 million in project funding, and the participating organisations plan to contribute US $ 4.6 million in cost share.

‘rOBOTIC AssEMBly Of gArMEnTs’ pOssIBlE; ArM InsTITuTE (usA) unvEIls A

suCCEssful prOjECT DETAIl

The outputs from the funded technology project titled ‘Robotic Assembly of Garments’ created considerable impact by taking the first steps in revolutionising this trillion-dollar industry via a new robotic assembly process that stiffens garment pieces by laminating its fabric with water-soluble thermoplastic polymer.Covid-19 pandemic has reignited the debate in the USA on consolidation of domestic manufacturing and supply chains. A huge number of manufacturers and organisations are bracing up to support the collaborative efforts of the industry stakeholders to bring back

Despite being universally adopted throughout

traditional manufacturing, industrial robots have failed to find a place in garment sewing applications due to the robots’ difficulties in

handling limp textiles. This makes the global apparel

industry strongly dependent on manual labour.

tech management


Of all eight projects, the ones which are dedicated solely to apparel and textile manufacturing industry are – (1) ‘Bot Couture’: Robotic Assembly of Garments; (2) Automated Bottom Hemming Through Robotic Garment Manipulation and (3) Robotic Assistant for Repurposable Fabric Fusing Operations. Markedly, ARM Institute has also unveiled the approach followed in the first project ‘Bot Couture’: Robotic Assembly of Garments’ and its results.

Before we go deep in the details of the released projects, below are the brief descriptions of each selected project for garment and textile industry:

l ‘Bot Couture’: Robotic Assembly of Garments

Lead: Siemens Technology

Partners: Sewbo Inc., Bluewater Defense and University of California at Berkeley

Description: Most apparel manufacturing is done abroad, which leads to lengthy supply chains. This supply chain issue poses a significant risk, as seen when the US struggled to scale up production of apparels. This project team will leverage results from a previously funded ARM project to expand upon it by delivering a modular work-cell that can be configured to perform end-to-end automated assembly of garments which will be extended to PPEs, such as isolation gowns.

l Automated Bottom Hemming Through Robotic Garment Manipulation

Lead: Siemens Technology

Partners: University of Southern California, Henderson Sewing, Black Swan Textiles, United Sewing Automation

Description: This project team will focus on developing robotic capabilities to perform bottom hemming, the process of performing a circular stitch at the bottom of the T-shirt. This project will also build upon a previously funded ARM project, ultimately resulting in the use of a bimanual robot to pick up a garment from a stack, dynamically read just its shape and then insert it into an automatic bottom hemmer. In addition to the technology capabilities, the project team will focus on workforce development aspects to enable operators to easily operate and maintain the system.

l Robotic Assistant for Repurposable Fabric Fusing Operations

Lead: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Partners: Interface Technologies, Hickey Freeman

Description: The USA continues to lose apparel manufacturing to international suppliers who offer lower wage costs; however, the apparel industry is ripe for automation. Current processes see human workers touching each piece of fabric and manually picking and placing. This project team is working to

develop an end effector that can pick and place fabric and interlining piece parts and fabric bolts onto the fusing machine conveyor. The team plans to develop open source software modules that can program robots from multiple vendors and leverage collaborative robots that can be easily positioned.

Project Details of ‘Bot couture’: robotic Assembly of Garments’According to Suzy Teele, Head of Marketing and Communications, ARM Institute, despite being universally adopted throughout traditional manufacturing, industrial robots have failed to find a place in garment sewing applications due to the robots’ difficulties in handling limp textiles. This makes the global apparel industry strongly dependent on manual labour.

“The outputs from the funded technology project titled ‘Robotic Assembly of Garments’ created considerable impact by taking the first steps in revolutionising this trillion-dollar industry via a new robotic assembly process that stiffens garment pieces by laminating its fabric with water-soluble thermoplastic polymer,” says Suzy.

This flexible robotic system was developed to handle and assemble fabric pieces into garments. Traditional sewing machines were controlled via Robot Operating System (ROS) to achieve synchronised operation with the robot. The polymer utilised in the process can be easily removed through washing and can be recycled for multiple process cycles. The technology was successfully demonstrated at Bluewater Defense production facility and is being

The outputs from the funded technology project

titled ‘Robotic Assembly of Garments’ created

considerable impact via a new robotic assembly

process that stiffens garment pieces by laminating its

fabric with water soluble thermoplastic polymer.

tech management


further matured for more complex sewing operations.

Approach Followed:Several core robotic technologies were developed in this project to enable flexible and robust garment assembly. The team identified ‘Robotic sewing of pocket flaps for military uniform pants’ as the use case to demonstrate the core technologies. Once the use case was finalised, the team identified and developed various robotic skills (pose estimation, bending, welding, stitching) required for the task. These skills were developed in ROS in a modular and extensible fashion so that they can be utilised for different scenarios.

The robot operation was orchestrated with other machine stations (sewing station, welding station and folding stations) to ensure smooth and synchronised operation. Fabric pieces were laminated and treated by Sewbo with the treatment process optimised to ensure the desired stiffness.

UC Berkeley developed simulation models to support the various process steps. After developing and validating the core robotic technologies, the Siemens team integrated and validated the system operation before conducting the final demonstration at Bluewater Defense facility in Puerto Rico.

results Achieved:The team developed a novel system and method for using robotic systems to accomplish sewing operations including folding, joining and stitching fabrics. In the demonstration, this system was

successfully able to sew the pocket flaps for military uniform pants. The project served as a critical first step in proving the viability of this technology. The system is capable of producing parts that satisfy the Bluewater Defense quality requirements. While the robotic system currently has a higher cycle time than human operators, it has the potential to lead to greater automation and shorter cycles with further development.

Next Steps:Siemens, Bluewater Defense and Sewbo are working on further development to fully mature and optimise this technology. Several ongoing ARM projects build upon the IP generated in this project, extending its applicability to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) production in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and more advanced garment assembly. This project demonstrated impressive technological gains and will result in meaningful impact to the project partners and the entire ARM community.

The system is capable of producing parts that satisfy

the Bluewater Defense quality requirements. While the

robotic system currently has a higher cycle time than human operators, it has the potential to lead to greater automation

and shorter cycles with further development.

tech management


16.34%

Value falls Volume falls

12.18%

Percentage change in Bangladesh’s top product category export (Trousers) to USA

US APPAREL IMPORTS (January to December 2020)

2020 data is out! USA declines 23.46 per cent in apparel import value

Global Apparel Imports by the US (January to December 2020)

Change in Quantity

Change in Value

Chan

ge in

Qua

ntity

Chan

ge in

Val

ueChange in UVR

16.37%

23.46% Wool 36.59% Wool 38.59%

Silk & Veg 0.04% Silk & Veg 11.64%

Cotton 16.81% Cotton 23%

MMF 16.23% MMF 23.09%8.47%

(Average UVR in the review period was US $ 2.77 as against US $ 3.03 in the same period last year)

(The information has been extracted from US custom site and further analysed.)

UVR change in apparel imported by USA (2-year comparison)

Value-wise share to USA by top 5 apparel exporters

Month-wise USA apparel import trend

T-SHIRTS

Volume (-22.81%)

Value (-24.53)

Volume (-15.11%)

Value (-20.58%)

Volume (-26.75%)

Value (-32.59%)

TRoUSeRS LAdIeS dReSSeS

Jan.- Dec. 2020 US $ 2.77

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0(Value in US billion $)

Jan.- Dec. 2019

Vietnam

Bangladesh8.16%

India

China23.64%

Indonesia5.47%

US $ 3.03

Percentage change in top 3 product categories imported by USA

Jan. 20 6.75Feb. 20 5.91Mar. 20 5.18Apr. 20 3.41May 20 2.65Jun. 20 3.97Jul. 20 6Aug. 20 6.56Sep. 20 6.64Oct. 20 6.92Nov. 20 5.28Dec. 20 4.83

4.71%

USA imported US $ 64.07 billion worth of apparels in 2020, contracting by US $ 17.60 billion from 2019. This sharp shrinkage in values affected partner countries of USA. As far as volume-wise import of USA is concerned, China, Indonesia and India fell in double-digits, while Vietnam and Bangladesh declined in single-digits.

Particularly in December ’20, as data shows, volume-wise decline of USA apparel import was not too much as it reduced by just 1.40 per cent on Y-o-Y basis. However, value-wise decline was significant as import sunk 16 per cent to value US $ 4.83 billion in the last month of 2020.

19.62%

Cambodia surpassed Indonesia and India to climb to the 4th spot after China, Vietnam and Bangladesh from 6th rank in 2019 tally of top shippers of apparels to USA.

China Vietnam Bangladesh Cambodia Indonesia India

1

4

2

5

3

6

trade StatiSticS


Total apparel exports to the US by 5 major manufacturing destinations (January to December 2020)

Item-wise quantity increase/decrease in apparel imports by the US: Jan.-dec. 2020 (Qty in doz, legwear in dpr, babieswear in kg)

Item-wise value increase/decrease in apparel imports by the US: Jan.-Dec. 2020 (Value in US mn $)

APPAReL TYPeTotal Imports by USA

exports to USA

China India Bangladesh Vietnam Indonesia

2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change

Babies Wear 115824085 100576937 -13.16 48,293,436 31,715,831 -34.33 11,680,024 10,903,671 -6.65 11,091,935 12,536,597 13.02 12,412,017 12,487,316 0.61 2,694,795 2,087,821 -22.52

Foundation Garments 51226769 43302362 -15.47 26,753,175 21,336,395 -20.25 1,038,120 571,888 -44.91 3,857,792 4,706,723 22.01 4,799,850 5,137,521 7.04 3,716,628 2,636,964 -29.05

Jackets & Blazers 55085779 39113864 -28.99 27,158,018 15,965,265 -41.21 832,372 584,795 -29.74 3,827,952 3,482,658 -9.02 10,420,869 9,225,460 -11.47 2,575,296 2,278,798 -11.51

Ladies Blouses 45859174 32147904 -29.90 16,001,388 9,068,506 -43.33 7,414,755 5,051,160 -31.88 2,087,896 2,017,888 -3.35 8,630,005 6,779,838 -21.44 6,010,488 4,010,068 -33.28

Ladies dresses 53239188 39000091 -26.75 24,569,942 15,734,677 -35.96 4,605,882 3,626,686 -21.26 1,377,278 1,503,871 9.19 11,082,912 8,994,593 -18.84 4,030,474 3,027,449 -24.89

Ladies Skirts 12483471 9313590 -25.39 5,469,384 3,689,476 -32.54 654,049 453,187 -30.71 1,060,035 1,012,832 -4.45 2,568,592 2,056,729 -19.93 733,533 569,450 -22.37

Legwear 377784074 348219242 -7.83 262,243,562 248,040,944 -5.42 6,774,490 4,075,003 -39.85 0 0 #dIV/0! 8,292,144 11,970,867 44.36 825,244 583,273 -29.32

Men's Shirts 39218497 25294355 -35.50 6,321,929 2,996,705 -52.60 3,431,184 2,051,434 -40.21 11,416,753 8,391,046 -26.50 4,822,009 3,613,704 -25.06 3,133,927 2,093,319 -33.20

Nightwear 56662412 56105217 -0.98 33,322,602 27,406,664 -17.75 2,927,890 3,214,030 9.77 2,302,212 2,499,940 8.59 5,926,875 7,946,835 34.08 915,416 1,038,477 13.44

Suits / ensembles 11155832 5523963 -50.48 5,919,160 2,906,934 -50.89 655,143 243,812 -62.78 196,240 240,186 22.39 1,667,651 807,297 -51.59 476,425 196,684 -58.72

Sweaters 18836328 14374639 -23.69 14,488,966 9,733,795 -32.82 70,158 35,177 -49.86 1,408,671 1,356,772 -3.68 656,578 747,054 13.78 403,101 433,799 7.62

Trousers 288563463 244953615 -15.11 73,450,612 53,757,973 -26.81 5,930,953 4,286,177 -27.73 44,283,469 38,890,602 -12.18 54,025,529 52,529,110 -2.77 17,628,745 15,434,036 -12.45

T-Shirts 576090148 444673880 -22.81 95,858,924 69,541,370 -27.45 26,100,472 19,457,632 -25.45 25,256,785 24,433,486 -3.26 81,318,579 69,239,954 -14.85 25,358,969 20,709,803 -18.33

Undergarments 244718336 206773147 -15.51 47,976,729 37,414,106 -22.02 16,622,604 14,461,708 -13.00 24,445,064 24,650,494 0.84 44,938,187 42,909,463 -4.51 2,026,172 1,800,630 -11.13

APPAReL TYPeTotal Imports by USA

exports to USA

China India Bangladesh Vietnam Indonesia

2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change 2019 2020 % Change

Babies Wear 2,256.34 1,878.31 -16.75 840.50 461.30 -45.12 265.74 248.33 -6.55 206.64 203.67 -1.44 260.51 279.52 7.30 81.71 60.86 -25.52

Foundation Garments 2,260.03 1,935.05 -14.38 847.58 634.41 -25.15 70.86 33.64 -52.52 88.84 115.76 30.30 320.08 359.44 12.30 168.75 136.64 -19.03

Jackets & Blazers 8,253.44 5,619.33 -31.92 3,378.21 1,638.00 -51.51 135.10 106.95 -20.83 486.42 435.15 -10.54 1824.60 1648.88 -9.63 425.46 360.21 -15.34

Ladies Blouses 3,111.36 2,071.86 -33.41 956.25 469.71 -50.88 580.38 397.19 -31.57 119.11 113.77 -4.48 473.45 372.13 -21.40 437.04 288.25 -34.04

Ladies dresses 4,491.91 3,028.05 -32.59 1,828.93 991.43 -45.79 469.05 366.92 -21.77 57.03 67.45 18.28 768.71 618.21 -19.58 341.77 254.31 -25.59

Ladies Skirts 805.02 551.22 -31.53 298.36 164.91 -44.73 53.58 39.98 -25.38 47.60 38.46 -19.20 147.29 118.23 -19.73 47.91 36.91 -22.96

Legwear 2,149.19 1,792.88 -16.58 1,333.89 1,121.54 -15.92 32.19 30.36 -5.71 - - #dIV/0! 43.22 57.29 32.56 5.27 4.08 -22.46

Men's Shirts 3,294.40 2,088.43 -36.61 504.64 207.36 -58.91 254.84 170.95 -32.92 654.56 485.45 -25.84 439.38 334.46 -23.88 274.31 179.48 -34.57

Nightwear 2,445.12 2,259.49 -7.59 1,342.30 945.11 -29.59 128.39 138.72 8.05 81.05 85.56 5.57 294.61 382.38 29.79 59.97 66.66 11.15

Suits / ensembles 1,226.25 622.49 -49.24 284.28 116.33 -59.08 80.60 38.40 -52.36 14.31 13.15 -8.12 181.47 90.95 -49.88 83.64 33.68 -59.73

Sweaters 1,877.59 1,288.06 -31.40 1,354.28 779.70 -42.43 6.03 2.92 -51.52 97.26 88.81 -8.69 63.32 83.30 31.55 32.92 37.63 14.32

Trousers 18,599.89 14,772.33 -20.58 3,630.56 2,104.40 -42.04 426.53 294.10 -31.05 2,682.91 2,244.44 -16.34 3507.79 3386.71 -3.45 982.95 827.33 -15.83

T-Shirts 22,035.61 16,630.50 -24.53 4061.463 2,313.50 -43.04 1044.526 734.51 -29.68 735.15 682.39 -7.18 3706.49 3165.78 -14.59 1125.76 945.56 -16.01

Undergarments 3,718.06 2,968.96 -20.15 789.77 550.37 -30.31 311.34 255.13 -18.05 271.84 265.28 -2.41 573.79 569.06 -0.82 53.06 49.68 -6.36

overall apparel imported by USA was worth US $ 64.07 billion in the said period with (-) 23.46% downfall (Y-o-Y)

Volume-wise export to USA ( Qty in mn SME)

Value-wise export to USA ( Value in US mn $ )

Indonesia 3514.98922.12-20.09%-18.34%

India 3020.08904.74-25.58%-19.12%

Bangladesh 5229.161889.64 -11.73%-5.98%

Vietnam 12570.083787.71-7.25%-4.05%

China 15154.798466.41-39.16%-23.38%

trade StatiSticS


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Apparel Imports of Canada down by 14.2 per cent in 2020The country imported US $ 8.67 billion worth of garments in the pandemic-hit year down from US $ 10.10 billion in 2019. Knitted clothing constituted US $ 4.37 billion in total Canadian apparel imports, declining 18.03 per cent in 2020 from 2019; while the fall registered by woven clothing segment was 9.89 per cent valuing US $ 4.30 billion. As data shows, the fall in import of woven clothing was less than the fall noted in knitted category which is somehow surprising as the other major apparel markets in the world have experienced a rise in demand in knitted clothing, especially in the second half of the year, owing to pandemic which led to world’s population working remotely or opting for work from home system.

Japan concludes 2020 with 16.15 per cent decline in its apparel import valuesJapan concluded 2020 with a fall of 11.20 per cent and 16.15 per cent in its apparel import quantity and value respectively. The values of Japanese apparel import was 2556.52 billion yen (US $ 24.43 billion) in 2020 as compared to 3049.08 billion yen (US $ 29.14 billion) in 2019. In terms of weight, Japanese apparel import declined to 5.75 billion in 2020 as against 6.47 billion kg in 2019. Though the import kept declining all through the year, there was a slight positivity in December on M-o-M basis.

14.20%

16.15%

Canada Imports

Japan Imports

The knitted apparel reported (-) 18.03 per cent downfall during the review period, whereas the woven segment plunged by (-) 9.89 per cent in value terms.

Japanese apparel imports decreased by (-) 16.15 per cent in values and (-) 11.20 per cent in quantity in 2020.

29.90%

21.61%

India Exports

India Exports

The value of Indian knitted apparel exports tumbled by (-) 26.80 per cent. On the other hand, export value of woven segment plunged by (-) 33.06 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.

In 2020, Indian RMG exports to the Japanese market tumbled by (-) 16.49 per cent in volumes and (-) 21.61 per cent in values.

21.63 %

13.30 %

B’Desh Exports

B’Desh Exports

Bangladesh registered downfall in knitted garment exports to Canada by (-) 19 per cent, while woven garment exports decelerated by (-) 23.80 per cent.

Bangladesh also felt the heat and declined by (-) 13.30 per cent in its value-wise exports to Japan and (-) 13.44 per cent in volume terms.

Canada Apparel Imports (Jan. to Dec. 2020 )

Japan Apparel Imports (Jan. to Dec. 2020 )

9.54%

10.37%

Vietnam Exports

Vietnam Exports

Knitted garment exports from Vietnam to Canada declined by (-) 5.79 per cent, while export of woven garments took a dip of (-) 13.34 per cent.

Vietnam tumbled in volume-wise exports by (-) 6.73 per cent, while values dropped by (-) 10.37 per cent on Y-o-Y basis.

trade StatiSticS



InTErTEk BAnglADEsh, BExIMCO AnnOunCE OpEnIng Of

ppE CEnTEr Of ExCEllEnCE

Intertek Bangladesh (Intertek Group Plc is a British multinational assurance, inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London, England) and the Bangladesh Export Import Company Limited (BEXIMCO) on 10 February 2021, announced the opening of the PPE Center of Excellence (COE) at BEXIMCO HEALTH, PPE Industrial Park, Dhaka. The US $ 100-millionpark is an advanced fully-vertical PPE manufacturing facility.

Ambassador of the USA to Bangladesh, Earl R. Miller opened the PPE Industrial Park along with Advisor to the Prime Minister-

Bangladesh for Investment & Private Sector, Salman F Rahman, Group Director & Chief Executive Officer of BEXIMCO Syed Naved Husain and other senior officials from Intertek and BEXIMCO.

It’s worth mentioning here that BEXIMCO, a diversified private-sector group in Bangladesh, and one of South Asia’s largest vertically integrated textile and garment companies, established the PPE Industrial Park to produce personal safety equipment with a vision to become one of the major players in PPE manufacturing globally.

“BEXIMCO has steadily contributed to Bangladesh’s

meteoric rise as a manufacturing hub in

South Asia. I am delighted with this new development

in our relationship with Intertek since it will place

Bangladesh...”

- Syed Naved Husain

Intertek Bangladesh now offers PPE Products Testing to ensure Total Quality Assurance with unmatched expertise

reSource centre


The new COE will allow Intertek — Intertek has partnered with the Government of Bangladesh, the World Health Organisation (WHO), Directorate General Drug Administration (DGDA) and private manufacturers alike, assuring all products from raw materials to finished items, allowing these organisations to supply high-quality and regulation-compliant products to the local and global market — to provide systemic end-to-end solutions in this sector to all customers across the PPE ecosystem in Bangladesh.It may be mentioned here that even as South Asia is emerging as the new global centre for PPE manufacturing, the need for PPE products to meet all safety, hygiene and quality assurance standards prior to export and local consumption has been increasingly becoming critical. To further the strategic partnership with BEXIMCO, a 12,000 ft² COE has been set up at the PPE industrial park that is capable of testing a wide range of PPE products to meet stringent

international industry standards, maintained a press release issued by Intertek which added that the COE provides services ensuring that all PPE products tested in the facility comply with European, American and other international standards, all under one roof apart from significantly enhancing the delivery of Intertek’s Total Quality Assurance (TQA) customer promise and streamlining the superior customer service.“As a purpose-led company, Intertek’s mission is to make the world a better and safer place by bringing in quality, safety and sustainability to life. That is why we are extending our partnership with BEXIMCO by establishing a new state-of-the-art center of excellence to ensure its vital PPE products are able to meet the highest risk-based quality assurance standards,” maintained the CEO of Intertek André Lacroix, commenting on the agreement, adding, “The Covid-19 pandemic has seen global demand for PPE rise significantly, along with the need for end-to-end testing and certification solutions for protective clothing and other PPE equipment. With BEXIMCO becoming a key player in the manufacturing of PPE globally, I am confident the next stage in our partnership will help make the world an ever-safer, ever-better place in these challenging times.”Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion, CEO BEXIMCO, Syed Naved Husain, on his part said, “BEXIMCO has steadily contributed to Bangladesh’s meteoric rise as a manufacturing hub in South Asia. I am delighted with this new development in our relationship with Intertek since it will place Bangladesh on the world’s PPE manufacturing map,” and went on to add, “The Quality Assurance capabilities of Intertek will help to further this cause by helping us to meet the most stringent regulatory standards and further cement our relationship. The new facility will

help manufacturers, buyers, retailers, brands and governments by bringing together all of our services under one roof encompassing European, American and other global regulatory standards. This should help us realise our vision of seeing Bangladesh as the largest manufacturer and exporter of PPE products.”It may be mentioned here that a total quality assurance provider to industries worldwide through its global network of state-of-the-art facilities, Intertek, for more than two decades, has helped Bangladesh industry to ensure the quality, quantity and safety of their products, processes and systems, supporting clients involved with textiles and garments, leather and footwear, food, petroleum, petrochemicals, agricultural products, pre-shipment inspection under contract with the Government, industrial technical services, high-end engineering projects, Government projects and international systems certifications. The new PPE COE adds another milestone to this existing partnership.

“The new COE will allow Intertek — Intertek

has partnered with the Government of Bangladesh,

the World Health Organisation (WHO), Directorate General Drug Administration (DGDA) and private manufacturers alike, assuring all products

from raw materials to finished items, allowing

these organisations to supply high quality and regulation-compliant products to the

local and global market — to provide systemic end to-end solutions in this sector to all

customers across the PPE ecosystem in Bangladesh”

“As a purpose-led company, Intertek’s mission is to make the world a better and safer place by bringing in quality,

safety and sustainability to life. That is why we are extending our partnership

with BEXIMCO by establishing a new state-of-the-art center

of excellence to ensure its vital PPE products are able to meet the highest risk based quality

assurance standards.”

- André Lacroix

reSource centre




Documents

AOB-March-2021_Web.pdf - Apparel Resources