Image crisis saps export potential in Malaysia

Malaysia can be a potential market for Bangladeshi merchandise, especially readymade garments (RMG), frozen foods and leather goods if measures are taken accordingly as people of the South-East Asian country are increasingly showing interest to buy these products.
According to non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) living in Malaysia, there is a huge prospect for Bangladeshi goods, which, they said, are cheap and good in quality, especially the apparels.
Malaysians are also interested in other Bangladeshi products, but the country has failed to seize the opportunity due to image crisis about the country, said Bangladeshi expatriates living in Kuala Lumpur.
By reversing bad image, the country's exports could be increased manifold within a couple of years, said Mazharul Islam, a Bangladesh businessman living in Kuala Lumpur, while talking to this correspondent.
To overcome the crisis and attract more Malaysian buyers, he urged the government for taking various proactive measures including image-building activities like holding seminars, symposiums, rallies, road shows, one-to-one business meetings and publication and publicity in favour of Bangladeshi RMG and other products.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh's exports to Malaysia made a significant jump over the last few years indicating emergence of a new and very potential export market, especially for the country's readymade garment (RMG) sector. The export increased by more than three times over the last three years.
As per EPB statistics, the country's merchandise shipment to Malaysia, also one of the country's  major sources of import, totalled US$135.646 million in the last fiscal (2013-14) marking a growth of 35.5 per cent. In the previous year (2012-13), the amount was US$100.112 million.
"Bangladeshi exporters are also showing their increasing interest to export merchandise, especially RMG products, to Malaysia. The trend will certainly help reduce the country's trade gap with Malaysia," said Md. Atiqul Islam, President of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
Despite rise in Bangladesh's exports to Malaysia, the bilateral trade between the two countries is still heavily tilted in favour of the latter.
In fiscal 2013-14, Bangladesh exported products worth $135.647 million to Malaysia, including $90 million RMG while Malaysia exported products worth about $2.041 billion to Bangladesh.
"There is an immense prospect of export of Bangladeshi light apparels to Malaysia, a country of tropical weather. The Malaysians usually wear lighter garments in which Bangladesh has already proved its competitiveness," said another entrepreneur Mamun Hossain, who runs a retail shop at Masjid India in central Kuala Lumpur.
"But we fail to utilise the opportunity due to crisis of image about our country," said Mr Mamun.
Bangladesh exports a wide range of goods, including apparels, agro-products, frozen food, leather and leather goods, raw jute and jute goods.
About 70-80 per cent of the exportables comprises  RMG products including knitwear and woven garments.
The country's garment exports fetched US$90 million from Malaysia in 2013-14 fiscal, which is 30 per cent higher as compared to the previous fiscal's exports worth over $69.19 million.
Bangladesh exported knitwear products to Malaysia worth about $52.2 million while woven garments earned $ 36.3 million in the last fiscal.
Among the South Asian countries, Bangladesh is the third largest exporter in Malaysia while India holds the first position, followed by Pakistan. "We could not prosper as most of the Malaysian people know Bangladesh as a poor and low-cost manpower exporting country which is a serious setback for the country's export growth," said Mazhar.
But the president of BGMEA, the apex body of the country's RMG sector exports of which rose manifold from $4.87 million in 2008-9 fiscal to $135 million in last fiscal (2013-14), expressed his optimism about retaining the growth trend.
He, however, urged the government to take necessary initiatives to introduce Bangladeshi products to the multi-cultural Muslim country.
Both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak Haque at a high level meeting in Kuala Lumpur last week agreed to enhance trade and commerce as the present rate of business is disproportionately imbalanced and in favour of Malaysia.
The Malaysian prime minister recognised the issue and indicated that initiatives would be taken to reduce the gap.
During the meeting, Hasina urged the Malaysian Prime Minister to widen the quota-and duty-free access of Bangladeshi goods, mainly pharmaceuticals, jute goods, cement and footwear.
As per a decision, a joint commission meeting will be held early next year to discuss ways to close trade gap between the two countries and to reach an agreement on free trade.
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