Country's readymade garment industry faces a number of challenges in 2015, compliance with western consumer standards and fresh political fracas being among major ones, sector-insiders said.
Restoring the GSP facility on the US market and finding new export markets for the apparels are also daunting tasks for the entrepreneurs as the country's RMG export has long been banking on a few traditional markets.
"A number of challenges have been waiting in 2015 for apparel manufacturers. But political stability is main concern of the entrepreneurs," vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shahidullah Azim told the FE.
He said the manufacturing industry is running on poor infrastructure, shortage of gas and electricity. It's a matter of worry to the entrepreneurs in the main export sector.
The trade-body leader sees new market creation as a challenge to the exporters as the RMG sector has a target to fetch $50 billion from export by the end of 2021.
Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, former president of BGMEA, said for timely shipment political stability is very important as harlat or frequent general strike takes a toll on the apparel sector.
He noted that during political unrest they cannot utilize more than 30-35 per cent of production capacity of the export industry.
"When an international business partner comes here, they want to see friendly political environment as in times of strikes the exporters cannot make timely shipment of the apparels," he said.
The RMG businessman said they are now trying to expand export to some new markets, including South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Chile, China, India, South Korea, Mexico, Russia and Turkey.
He said creating new markets is a challenge but exporters want to take that but need government policy support for going to those countries.
The RMG sector received nearly 5 per cent export growth to $22.25 billion in January-November 2014 compared to the same period of 2013.
According to the BGMEA research cell, Bangladeshi clothing items fetched $22.25 billion in 11 months of 2014, which was $21.22 billion in the previous year.
The data also showed knitwear exports during the period stood at $11 billion with a rise of 6.723 per cent from the previous year's $10.4 billion. Woven products earned $11.15 billion, growing at 3.05 per cent, as the previous year's figure was $10.8 billion.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh, said the manufacturers have been facing pressure from international business partners to shift factories from shared buildings but scarcity of industrial land and its high price are main barriers.
"To ensure safe and decent working conditions, shifting factories from shared buildings is now a key demand of foreign partners," he said.
The association chief said restoring the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) facility in the USA the industry owners have been trying to address the compliance issue, but space shortages stand in the way.
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