Bangladeshi apparels woo Japan

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Sonia H Moni
Apparel exporters' dream to make in-road into Japanese market received a big boost after two leading Tokyo firms said they would place major orders next year, an industry leader said Friday.
Marubeni Corporation, one of the top ten Japanese conglomerates, said it would buy apparel worth US$100 million while officials of Shimamura, the second largest textile retailer in Japan, have confirmed that they would also place a multi-million dollar order.
President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque said the orders reflect growing Japanese confidence in Bangladeshi garments -- one of a very few things to cheer about during global recession.
The orders have come as Bangladeshi apparel exports were hit by the biggest quarterly drop in a decade, with global recession drying up orders from traditional markets in North America and Europe.
"Marubeni Corporation e-mailed us on Thursday and said it would buy Bangladeshi apparels worth $100 million in 2010," Hoque said. "It's a very good news for us as it shows that our apparels have wooed top Japanese firms."
The BKMEA president said Marubeni has been buying Bangladeshi products in a limited scale in the last six months. The new order is the biggest being placed by any Japanese company.
The Marubeni order alone is twice the amount Bangladeshi garment manufacturers exported to Japan, the world's second largest economy, in the 2008-9 financial year.
The country shipped garments worth $12.3 billion last year, with the US and European Union accounting for more than 90 per cent of the purchase, and Japan making up 0.005 per cent.
Japan is the world's fourth largest textile market and imports apparel worth over $10 billion a year, with bulk of the shipment coming from South-east Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
In recent years, Tokyo firms have diversified their import markets, as Chinese products have become costlier exerting pressure on the recession-hit Japanese consumers.
Hoque led three delegations to Japan since late last year, hoping to convert Japanese buyers who had negative impression about Bangladeshi products.
"They used to think that we don't produce apparel as goods as China. But since last year, it dawned on them that our products can match those of China and plus they are 20 percent cheaper," he said.
Thanks to intensive BKMEA marketing campaign, things have started to change since the fifth Knitexpo in 2008 when a handful of Japanese companies visited the largest Bangladeshi knitwear exposition and were wowed by standards here.
In the sixth edition of the knitexpo held last month, more than 50 Japanese retailers and textile manufacturers turned up, with some of them engaging in serious joint venture talks with their Bangladeshi counterparts while others placing orders for a range of items.
The BKMEA president said Bangladesh has finally gained serious attention of Japanese companies, which are very nagging about quality and labour standards of factories.
The president of top Japanese retailer Shimamura last week led a six-member team to Bangladesh and visited two factories in Savar to place large-scale orders.
"They are impressed with our quality and they have confirmed to buy a huge amount of products from us," he said.
Shimamura Co Ltd has 1500 showrooms in Japan and they import $2.0 billion apparel products mainly from South-East Asia.
Hoque added that another top Japanese conglomerate, Mitsui Co, has shown eagerness to buy Bangladeshi goods and asked for the facts and figures of apparel sector here.