Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Bangladesh wants to secure more trade benefits from China as a least developed country (LDC) instead of signing a free trade agreement with the Asian economic giant, according to commerce ministry officials.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US grew 16.09 per cent year-on-year to $637 million in January amid the US-China trade war.

Major Western clothing retailers said they are yet to cut back on their work orders from Bangladesh for the coronavirus outbreak in Europe and the US -- where most of the country’s apparel products are headed -- in a reassuring development for the sector that rakes in 84 per cent of the exports receipts and employs about 4 million.

The import of Thai products is growing in Bangladesh on the back of higher demand and good quality in a country where the consumer class is fast-expanding.

Bangladesh will benefit from the fallout of the coronavirus as most of the globally renowned companies are planning to shift work orders from China to other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, according to a new survey.

Prices of yarn marked a sharp rise in the domestic market over the last one month as the coronavirus fear has triggered panic buying, according to industry insiders.

Export earnings in February edged down 1.80 per cent year-on-year to $3.32 billion mainly because of a slowdown in apparel shipment, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Just after the Independence War of 1971, Bangladesh had to put up a fresh fight to get rid of the scars that the nine-month battle left on its economy.

When misfortune strikes, it comes in waves, it is often said. And this perfectly sums up Tipu Munshi’s brief tenure as the commerce minister thus far.

Rowshan Ali had everything going for him: a small sweater factory he set up in Demra on the outskirts of Dhaka in 2011 was raking in $2 million in export receipts every year.

Many multinational clothing brands, which source billions of dollars of garment items from Bangladesh, have recently expressed their willingness to open their outlets in the country with a burgeoning economy.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, the platform of more than 190 mostly Europe-based retailers formed after the Rana Plaza building collapse, is finally leaving the country this May.

Bangladesh’s apparel shipments to the US, its main export destination, edged up in the first 11 months of 2019 -- a heartening development given the inclement condition on the export front.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday cut the right of 84 garment factories to duty-free import of fabrics due to poor compliance and safety standards.

Export earnings fell 5.84 percent year-on-year to $19.3 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year mainly because of lower shipment of apparel items.

Debonair Group is set to establish a recycling facility to turn discarded plastic into yarn and fibres for manufacturing jackets, paddings and quilts, keeping in tune with rising global demand for manmade fibres and growing environmental awareness.

A tale of two halves sums up best how the garment sector, Bangladesh’s main export earner, fared in 2019.

Bangladesh is lagging behind its global peers due to lack of investment and adequate government support to set up mills to produce manmade fibres (MMFs), which are gaining popularity worldwide as biodegradable raw material for apparel manufacturing.

The garment sector is facing a double whammy as more and more factories are closing at a time when apparel shipments are falling.

Bangladesh needs to look beyond traditional regional trading blocs in order to widen business opportunities and avoid squeezing of preferential trade benefit once the country becomes a developing nation, the country’s top business leader said.