That Bangladesh is the second largest readymade apparel exporter in the world and the highest forex earner from the sector with 80 per cent of the country's total is quite swaggering. But in a world of changing taste and expediency induced by post-Covid incomplete turnaround made worse by Ukraine war, there is no room for complacency when competitors are on the lookout for seizing the slightest opportunity to elbow out rivals. The ambivalence here is that its strength can be its weakness or vulnerability on missteps. There is a real danger of depending on a single sector and that too on a few selected products of it. The country can ill afford such non-diversification of industrial products ---be it in a single sector or in the industrial and manufacturing sectors as a whole. Now that the readymade garment (RMG) sector has proven its worth beyond doubt, it is quite logical to explore first how its range and scope can be extended well beyond the present level.
For sustainability of any industry, particularly when it concerns sartorial choices, the number one condition is to stay alert to the trend. Well, the more creative among the suppliers can prove themselves trend-setters. The problem with Bangladesh RMG has been its preoccupation with low-end products. Only recently has it made some sorties into high-end territories of fashionable apparel. A report carried in this newspaper on Sunday last has exposed the constraint of the industry. Only 10 apparel items out of its current 30 are responsible for garnering 68 per cent of the 80 per cent RMG income of the country's total. The other 20 items of the package contribute to the rest 32 per cent. Now the good news is that 30 more items with potential for much higher income have been identified lately. Already the tentative beginning shows that if exploited well, these emerging RMG items can boost the country's export desirably.
What are the emerging products that show so much prospect? Woven overcoats, car-coats, caps, cloaks and anoraks are at the top of these items. In the past three years, the export of the 30 emerging articles has grown remarkably from $2.08 billion in 2020 to $2.69 billion in 2021 and last year it rose to $4.29 which is a jump of 59.25 per cent higher on its previous year's export. Clearly, it is time the country came out of its cotton-based and knitted T-shirts and trousers and went for alternative products from man-made fibre (MMF) as well. Such items are enjoying high demands in both the American and European markets.
So diversification within the highest earning sector can make it better off in the future, particularly when China is off-leading many of the production lines and also its political relations with Western nations are growing somewhat tense. On this count, the RMG will have an encouraging influence on other manufacturing sectors as well. The leather and pharmaceutical sectors are prime candidates for making their forays. Bangladesh has to keep its diversification option clear in the context of its large population on a small land. The greater its diversification basket becomes the better for its future.
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