The scheduled visit of a Russian business delegation, including representatives from the textile and garment industry, to Bangladesh in December this year has raised hope for the country’s readymade garment (RMG) industry, which is currently exploring new markets.
Mr. Mohammed Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, First Vice President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told fibre2fashion, “The Russian business delegates are expected to visit Bangladesh during the mid-December this year – a result of continuous market exploration initiative of BGMEA and BKMEA (Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association).”
Explaining the country’s opportunity to explore new export market, Mr. Chowdhury says, “Russia is one of the biggest economy in the world and exploring a new market is not a choice for Bangladesh, but it is a must.”
“Russian market could be a vital source of growth of RMG sector for the next few years. Last year, Russia imported US$ 6.7 billion worth of garments from Bangladesh,” he informs.
According to the BGMEA First Vice President, Russia is the 12th largest apparel importer in the world and Bangladesh, as the second largest garment exporting country, has a clear prospect there.
Commenting on developing the trade relation with Russia, he opines, “Bangladesh Government is interacting with the business leaders of Russia for better market access and we are leading trade delegations, attending fairs and seminars to develop good trade relation with them.”
“We have been attending fairs in Russia on a regular basis and recently a big team of apparel exporters from Bangladesh visited Russia,” he adds.
Mr. Chowdhury says, “Market diversification is a critical aspect to our market sustainability and to avoid the risk of high market concentration, we are focusing on non-traditional markets, i.e. markets other than Europe, Canada and the US.”
“Over the last three years, exports to non-traditional markets played a significant role in the development of Bangladeshi RMG sector,” he adds.
He informs, “In the fiscal year 2008-2009, the RMG export to non-traditional markets were only 6.88 percent which grew up to 12.10 percent in the fiscal year 2011-2012.”
“Countries like India, Japan, China, South Korea, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile are increasingly buying more Bangladeshi RMG products,” he quickly adds.
