বাংলাদেশের তৈরি পোশাক রপ্তানি হুমকির মুখে পড়তে পারে

ড্যান ডব্লিউ মজীনা

বেশ কিছু কারণে আগামী দিনে মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে বাংলাদেশের তৈরি পোশাক রপ্তানি হুমকির মুখে পড়তে পারে বলে আশঙ্কা প্রকাশ করেছেন ঢাকায় নিযুক্ত মার্কিন রাষ্ট্রদূত ড্যান ডব্লিউ মজীনা।

আজ বুধবার বাংলাদেশ তৈরি পোশাক প্রস্তুতকারক ও রপ্তানিকারক সমিতি (বিজিএমইএ) আয়োজিত এক বৈঠকে মার্কিন রাষ্ট্রদূত এমন আভাস দেন। তাঁর সৌজন্যে বিজিএমইএর নিজস্ব কার্যালয়ে বৈঠকটির আয়োজন করা হয়।

কী কারণে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে তৈরি পোশাক রপ্তানি হুমকির মুখে পড়তে পারে, সে বিষয়ে সুনির্দিষ্ট কয়েকটি ঘটনার কথা উল্লেখ করেন মার্কিন রাষ্ট্রদূত। তিনি বলেন, শ্রমিক নেতা আমিনুল হত্যা বাংলাদেশে খুব একটা আলোড়ন সৃষ্টি না করলেও যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের শ্রমিক অধিকার নিয়ে কাজ করা সংগঠনগুলো এ বিষয়ে আন্দোলন করছে। মার্কিন কংগ্রেসের অনেক সদস্য এ ব্যাপারে মার্কিন পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রীর কাছে চিঠি দিয়েছেন। বিষয়টি বাংলাদেশে শ্রমিক অধিকারের ক্ষেত্রে নেতিবাচক উদাহরণ হিসেবে চিহ্নিত হচ্ছে। এ ছাড়া সাম্প্রতিক সফরে মার্কিন পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী আমিনুলের নাম উচ্চারণ করে এ হত্যাকাণ্ডের বিষয়ে এ দেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, পররাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী ও বিরোধীদলীয় নেত্রীর সঙ্গে কথা বলেছেন।

রাষ্ট্রদূত বলেন, মার্কিন সরকার-সমর্থিত সলিডারিটি সেন্টার (এএফএল-সিআইও) বাংলাদেশের জিএপি সুবিধা বাতিলের আবেদন করেছে। যদিও এটি এখনো নির্ধারিত হয়নি। এই সুবিধা বাতিল হলে এ দেশের তৈরি পোশাক খাত সরাসরি ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হবে না। তবে বাংলাদেশ শ্রম-বান্ধব নয়—এমন বার্তা যুক্তরাষ্ট্রজুড়ে ছড়িয়ে পড়বে।

মার্কিন রাষ্ট্রদূত আরও বলেন, যুক্তরাষ্ট্র-বাংলাদেশ বাণিজ্য ও বিনিয়োগ-সহযোগিতা ফোরাম চুক্তি (টিকফা) সম্পাদনে দেরি হওয়ার বাংলাদেশ আন্তর্জাতিক শ্রম-সংক্রান্ত বাধ্যবাধকতা পালন থেকে সরে এসেছে—এমনভাবেই বিষয়টিকে দেখছে ওয়াশিংটন।

মজীনা আরও বলেন, জীবনযাত্রার ব্যয়ের সঙ্গে মিলিয়ে বেতন না বাড়ায় এবং আমিনুল ইসলামের মৃত্যু ও অন্যান্য শ্রমিকের হয়রানির ফলে তৈরি পোশাক-কারখানায় শ্রমিক অসন্তোষ দেখা দিচ্ছে। এই হতাশা বেপরোয়া কর্মকাণ্ডে রূপ নিতে পারে। এ ধরনের বিশৃঙ্খলা বাংলাদেশি লেবেলের ব্যাপারে ক্রেতারা অস্বাচ্ছন্দ্য বোধ করতে পারেন।

বৈঠকে বিজিএমইএর সভাপতি শফিউল ইসলাম মহিউদ্দিনসহ পরিচালনা পর্ষদের সদস্যরা উপস্থিত ছিলেন।

দৈনিক প্রথম আলো, ০৬-০৬-২০১২

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Yunus, Abed talk garment exports with Hillary, seek free access to US

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures during a talk onstage with students and civil society representatives, organised by the US Embassy at International School Dhaka in the capital yesterday. Photo: SK Enamul Haq

Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and BRAC Chairperson Sir Fazle Hasan Abed yesterday urged US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to allow Bangladeshi garments duty-free access to the US market to help create local jobs, especially for women.

They met Hillary at a breakfast meeting at the US ambassador's residence in Gulshan, Dhaka.

If Bangladesh's garment exports get duty-free access to the US, it would give an impetus to women empowerment in Bangladesh, Yunus said.

"We already have major changes in women's empowerment. If we get the access, several millions of women will get jobs. You (the US) will have to consider it from this aspect," Yunus told reporters after the meeting.

The demand for such access to the US market, the single largest export destination of Bangladeshi products, is a much-hyped issue as Bangladesh, despite being a least developed country, pays high tariff for the access.

Bangladesh, the largest maker of apparel after China and a key garments supplier to Wal-Mart Stores and Tommy Hilfiger, pays an average 15.3 percent duty on its US exports.

Ninety-seven percent Bangladeshi goods have duty-free access to the US market, but the list does not include garments, the main export item of the country, which employs three million people, majority of them women.

Bangladesh pays the US more than $600 million in duty per year, which is almost equivalent to the annual aid the country gets from the US.

Last year, Bangladesh exported goods worth $4.59 billion to the US and imported goods worth $1.09 billion, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh.

Dr Yunus, the Grameen Bank founder, said the special trade treatment is not a business topic only.

“We are talking about business, but the most important thing is that it (duty-free access) will create more employment opportunities,” he said.

“This should be considered from the point that it will make women more independent,” he added.

"She has paid special attention to our demand for the duty-free access of Bangladeshi products. She has not given any immediate assurance, but said that she would consider it," Yunus said, referring to Hillary.

From the impression of the US secretary of state, it appears that Bangladesh has a possibility of getting the duty-free access, said Sir Abed.

The comments from Prof Yunus and Sir Abed came just a week after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the US to allow such access to boost trade relations between the two countries.

"Bangladeshi products get a duty- and quota-free access to the European Union and many other developed countries. India has also provided us with the privilege for our garments products. So why not the US?" the prime minister questioned, during a meeting in Habiganj on April 30.

"The US is a big country and a big market…It is our people's demand for a duty-free access to the US," said Hasina.

The US offers the benefit to all the least developed countries except Bangladesh, she pointed out. "I don't know why."

The Grameen Bank founder said the issue of microcredit, its future and what other countries are doing about the financial tool were also discussed at the meeting.

"She wanted to know about the condition of Grameen Bank. I have explained the issue to her," Yunus said without elaborating.

Prof Yunus also briefed Hillary on the advancements that took place among the poor women and their children in Bangladesh since her last visit to the country.

He also briefed her on the progress made by Grameen Bank and the problems the bank is facing currently.

Dr Yunus also updated Hillary on the 54 independent companies he set up, which the government plans to bring under the control of Grameen Bank.

Yunus said he mentioned the electricity crisis as a major problem for the country and they have sought support from the US in establishing a regional energy network with Nepal and Myanmar.

Bangladesh is desperately trying to meet its growing energy demand and is seeking to forge partnerships with neighbouring countries to import electricity.

Source: The Daily Star, Monday, May 7, 2012

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Trade, defence, cooperation top agenda

File Photo: Hillary Clinton

The USA is likely to push for a framework for defence cooperation between Dhaka and Washington during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's May 5-6 visit to Bangladesh.

It will press for signing the much-talked-about Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) and strategic partnership deals with Bangladesh.

Dhaka, however, wants to proceed with caution in respect of signing any deal with Washington, and it is not ready to ink any deal with Washington during Clinton's 24-hour visit.

Duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi apparel to the US market and deportation of Lt Col AM Rashed Chowdhury, condemned killer in Bangabandhu murder case, will figure prominently in the talks between the two sides.

Washington may offer stronger cooperation and partnership in gas exploration, and in power and energy sectors.

As part of her three-nation tour (Bangladesh, India and China), Clinton is expected to arrive in Dhaka at 4:00pm on May 5 and hold meetings with government high-ups, opposition leaders and civil society representatives to discuss US-Bangladesh cooperation in political, economic and security matters.

According to the draft programme schedule, on her arrival, she will first hold talks with her Bangladesh counterpart Dipu Moni at the foreign ministry. They will discuss political, security and economic cooperation between the two nations. The talks will be followed by a joint press conference.

Clinton will later call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discuss a wide range of bilateral issues. The foreign minister will host a dinner in honour of the US Secretary of State.

On May 6, she will hold a meeting with the Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia, Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and civil society representatives. She is expected to leave Dhaka for Kolkata at about 3:30pm.

They said the top US diplomat would discuss with Dipu Moni the issue of the death of Aminul Islam, a leader of Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, who was picked up and tortured to death allegedly by law enforcers.

International rights bodies strongly condemned the incident and demanded proper probe into his death.

Four US officials yesterday met high-ups at the foreign ministry and discussed issues relating to Clinton's upcoming visit.

Sources said Clinton's meeting with Khaleda will feature many issues including political repression and harassment, disappearance of political leaders, violation of human rights, the caretaker government and the next general election.

Diplomatic sources said her upcoming visit is very crucial and has a special significance in strengthening ties between the two nations.

They said the US that is still unhappy with Prof Yunus' removal from Grameen Bank wants partnership with Bangladesh as it has special strategic importance to the USA in the present global and regional circumstances.

Officials at the foreign and the commerce ministries said Dhaka is yet to decide on signing the Ticfa agreement. It is still scrutinising the deal to figure out its future implications.

The Ticfa promises to protect investments, remove obstacles in bilateral trade and create a forum for discussing issues relating to trade and investment.

Although both the sides reached an understanding over the key issues laid down in the trade deal, Dhaka is yet to complete formalities to ink the agreement.

Similarly, no decision has been made about signing a “strategic partnership” or defence deal with Washington at this moment.

However, senior government officials said there wouldn't be any big problem in completing all procedures to sign an agreement if both the governments wish so.

“In the past, we had completed procedures overnight. So, the possibility of signing agreements during Hillary Clinton's visit cannot be ruled out,” said a government high-up.

Dhaka has proposed forming a joint commission to create a regular forum to discuss issues regarding security cooperation, said government officials.

Diplomatic sources said Washington wants more engagement with Dhaka in the area of security cooperation. The US believes that Bangladesh's role is vital to maintaining security in the Bay of Bengal. Besides, it considers Bangladesh as an active partner in regional counterterrorism efforts, they said.

They said USA's desire to enhance military engagement with Bangladesh is evident in the recent visits by US high-ups, including Andrew J Shapiro, US assistant secretary of state of Political-Military Affairs, and the first-ever Bangladesh-US Dialogue on Security Issues held in Dhaka on April 19.

On April 24, Shapiro said at the Carnegie Endowment Roundtable in Washington, DC that defence ties between the USA and Bangladesh are one of the most robust in South Asia.

“Bangladesh is a key player in maintaining security in the Bay of Bengal. They are an active partner in regional counterterrorism efforts and we are working to enhance their ability to respond to natural disasters,” he said.

“Our cooperation with Bangladesh is a prime example of how US security assistance can play a critically important role in our diplomatic engagement,” Shapiro said at the roundtable.

Diplomatic sources said the USA wants a “strategic partnership” deal with Bangladesh to create a regular forum to discuss issues like counterterrorism, food security, climate change and energy. But it is yet to put forward a formal proposal for signing such an agreement, they said.

Foreign ministry officials said the commerce ministry had sent the Ticfa draft to the Prime Minister's Office for its opinion.

They said the ministry was of the opinion that the government should do an in-depth scrutiny of the Ticfa to know about its future implications and impacts.

“We [the foreign ministry) are not in favour of inking any deal hurriedly. But there are people in the government for signing agreements on trade and defence cooperation without delay to improve Bangladesh-US ties that suffered serious setbacks in recent times,” said a senior government official asking not to be named.

On December 1, last year, Dan Mozena, US ambassador in Dhaka, said at a press conference, “Washington wants to sign the trade agreement, which is moving forward, to create a forum for discussing full range of issues relating to trade and investment.”

News: The Daily Star, Tue, 01/05/2012

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Bangladesh: The Next Hot Spot in Apparel Sourcing?

Lower costs are an advantage for the country’s ready-made-garment industry, but challenges remain.

In 2010, China dominated European and US markets for ready-made garments, accounting for about 40 percent of the import volume in each region. A recent McKinsey survey, however, found that 86 percent of the chief purchasing officers in leading apparel companies in Europe and the United States planned to decrease levels of sourcing in China over the next five years because of declining profit margins and capacity constraints.

Although Western buyers are evaluating a considerable number of sourcing options in the Far East and Southeast Asia, many chief purchasing officers said in the survey that they view Bangladesh as the next hot spot (exhibit). Indeed, our study of the country’s ready-made-garment industry identified solid apparel-sourcing opportunities there—but also some hurdles.

With about $15 billion in exports in 2010, ready-made garments are the country’s most important industrial sector; they represent 13 percent and more than 75 percent of GDP and total exports, respectively. McKinsey forecasts export-value growth of 7 to 9 percent annually within the next ten years, so the market will double by 2015 and nearly triple by 2020.

Our survey of chief purchasing officers found that European and US companies that focus on the apparel market’s value segment plan to expand the share of their sourcing from Bangladesh to 25 to 30 percent by 2020, from an average of 20 percent now. Midmarket brands, which generate about 13 percent of their sourcing value in Bangladesh, plan to increase that share to 20 to 25 percent over the same period. While growth in current product categories will drive some of the increase, 63 percent of the chief purchasing officers said that they want to expand into more fashionable or sophisticated items, such as formal wear and outerwear.

In our study, all the respondents identified attractive prices as the most important reason for purchasing in Bangladesh. They also said that price levels there will remain highly competitive in the future, since they expect significant efficiency increases to offset rising wage costs. Half of the respondents mentioned capacity as the second-biggest advantage of Bangladesh’s ready-made-garment industry. With 5,000 factories employing about 3.6 million workers (of a total workforce of 74.0 million), Bangladesh is clearly ahead of other Southeast Asian suppliers in this respect. It also offers satisfactory levels of quality, especially in value and entry-level midmarket products.

Five challenges

While Bangladesh presents some distinct advantages for sourcing, our study identified five challenges for apparel companies seeking to do more business there.

Infrastructure

Transportation bottlenecks create inefficient lead times for garments and delay deliveries to customers. This issue will become even more important in the future, since buyers want to source more fashionable products with shorter lead times.
Energy supply is a concern, too—90 percent of the more than 100 local suppliers we interviewed rate it as poor or very poor. The government has prioritized improvement in this area and started to upgrade power systems over the last two years, however.

Compliance

Nongovernmental and other organizations monitor Bangladesh for labor and social-compliance issues. While most European and US chief purchasing officers said in the survey that standards have somewhat or strongly improved over the past five years, they noted that suppliers vary greatly in their degree of compliance. Environmental compliance is just beginning to get attention.

Suppliers’ performance and the skilled workforce

Our study found that the suppliers’ productivity must improve not only to mitigate the impact of rising wages but also to close gaps with other sourcing countries and to satisfy new customer requirements for more sophisticated products. Two other concerns are a lack of investment in new machinery and technologies and the insufficient size of the skilled workforce, particularly in middle management.

Raw materials

Bangladesh lacks a noteworthy supply of natural or artificial fibers, and its dependence on imports creates sourcing risks and lengthens lead times. Compounding the problem is the volatility of raw-material prices over the past few years. The development of a local sector would improve lead times.

Economic and political stability

About half of the chief purchasing officers interviewed stated that they would reduce levels of sourcing in Bangladesh if its political stability decreased. The survey found that political unrest, strikes, and the ease of doing business are top of mind for respondents.

Realizing the potential

The three main stakeholders—the government, suppliers, and buyers—must work together to realize the potential of Bangladesh’s ready-made-garment market. The government’s top three priorities for investment are infrastructure, education, and trade support.

What can European and US buyers do to secure Bangladesh as a sourcing powerhouse? At the highest level, they should review their approach from a full value chain perspective; for example, to increase the supply chain’s efficiency and transparency, they ought to expand their support for lean operations and electronic data exchange. Buyers should also build closer and long-term relationships with suppliers and, if necessary, rethink pricing negotiations with them. The most developed suppliers are choosing their customers more carefully and even breaking off ties with long-established ones.

Buyers must also improve their own operational execution. Their long response times, the complexity of internal procedures involving the merchandising and sourcing functions, and a high number of last-minute changes slow down the overall process. In addition, buyers must actively pursue compliance efforts.

The full report, Bangladesh’s ready-made garments landscape: The challenge of growth (PDF), is available on the McKinsey & Company Web site.

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Sleeping Bag Exports Hit a Snag

Image (C): http://www.northpoleltd.com 

The growth of the nascent sleeping bags sub-sector is set to face difficulties as the item was taken off the list of duty-free exports to the US in December last year, said industry insiders.

Bangladesh is now paying an average 12 percent duty to export sleeping bags to the US where the country enjoyed a duty-free benefit previously, they added.

The sleeping bag manufacturing industry in Bangladesh is still new. Only three companies make the item and employ more than 12,000 workers, mainly inside the export processing zones in Chittagong.

The sleeping bag makers have shifted to Bangladesh from China, mainly for higher costs of production and a shortage of workers in 2008 and 2009 in the world's second largest economy.

Investors from the US, Korea and China have shifted their production units to Bangladesh to produce the item at competitive prices.

Shahnewaz Karim, manager (shipping) of Chittagong-based Northpole BD Ltd, said the latest US decision would hamper normal growth of the sector.

“We used to receive a lot of orders from the US previously, but not now. This year we received fewer orders from the country than last year,” he said, adding that they are now exporting the item to Canada at zero duty.

Bangladesh has already informed these concerns to the US authorities through the Bangladesh embassy in Washington, Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hussain said.

“But I am not hopeful of regaining the duty facility for sleeping bags export as any renewal depends on reviews by the US government. Nothing can be said until the next review," he said.

Sleeping bags made in Bangladesh were removed from the generalised system of preferences on December 29 in response to a petition by US-based Exxel Outdoors, a sleeping bag-maker.

The US government included sleeping bags under the tariff benefit in September last year, only to be excluded from the list in late December.

The issue first came to the spotlight when Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama lodged an objection in December 2010, demanding a ban on the duty-free import of sleeping bags.

Sessions argued that sleeping bags should be a subject to tariff, like other textiles, because the item competes with American manufacturers. The US trade programme allows about 4,800 products from 131 countries to be imported duty-free.

News: 

The Daily Star, Sun, 05/02/2012

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Clothing Prices to rise 10 pct starting in Spring in the USA

NEW YORK - The era of falling clothing prices is ending.

Clothing prices have dropped for a decade as tame inflation and cheap overseas labor helped hold down costs. Retailers and clothing makers cut frills and experimented with fabric blends to cut prices during the recession.

But as the world economy recovers and demand for goods rises, a surge in labor and raw materials costs is squeezing retailers and manufacturers who have run out of ways to pare costs.

Cotton has more than doubled in price over the past year, hitting all-time highs. The price of other synthetic fabrics has jumped roughly 50 percent as demand for alternatives and blends has risen.

Clothing prices are expected to rise about 10 percent in coming months, with the biggest increases coming in the second half of the year, said Burt Flickinger III president of Strategic Resource Group.

Brooks Brothers' wrinkle-free men's dress shirts now cost $88, up from $79.50. Levi Strauss & Co., Wrangler jeans maker VF Corp., J.C. Penney Co., Nike and designer shoe seller Steve Madden also plan increases.

More specifics on price increases are expected when clothing retailers such as J.C. Penney Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. report financial results this month.

"All of our brands, every single brand, will take some price increases," said Eric Wiseman, chairman and CEO of VF Corp., whose brands include The North Face, Nautica, Wrangler and Lee. Cotton accounts for half the production cost of jeans, which make up about one-third of VF's sales, he told investors in November.

Higher costs also will affect how clothes are made. Clothing makers are blending more synthetic fabrics like rayon and designing jeans with fewer beads and other embellishments. Shoppers also will have fewer color choices.

Original article has published on www.cnbc.com, to read the full article please follow the link below -

Full story...

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Bangladesh now 3rd largest RMG exporter to USA

Bangladesh has taken the third position in exporting apparel and clothing accessories to the US market beating its competitors-Indonesia and Mexico in the recent months.

Until August 2010, the country was ranked fifth, trailing behind China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico.

In September, the country exported apparel products worth $358 million, overtaking Mexico with $325 million in garment exports, said Bangladesh Embassy in Washington in a statement on Thursday. In October 2010, Bangladesh overtook another competitor Indonesia- $374 million from Bangladesh compared to $365 million from Indonesia. Now only China and Vietnam lie ahead of Bangladesh as far as RMG export to USA is concerned.

According to the analysis of the Commerce Wing of Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC, Bangladesh exported about $1.44 billion worth of RMG products to USA during July-October 2010 period, registering growth of 20.37% compared to the same period of 2009. Pertinent to mention that the comparable growth rates of China was 21.15%, of Vietnam was 17.26%, of Indonesia was 16.17%, of Mexico was 3.495% and of India was 13.25%.

If the same growth trend continues, the country will overtake Vietnam in the near future, said the embassy statement, calling for concerted efforts from all stakeholders and asking them to avoid labour related problems in the RMG sector.

In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the country's overseas apparel sales grew by 36.36 percent compared with the same period last fiscal year.

Knitwear exports were up by 36.56 percent to $3.6 billion, while exports of woven garments grew by 35.83 percent to $2.89 billion.

The RMG sector, which employs over 30 lakh workers, mostly women, has targeted to reach $20 billion export volume by the next three years from over $12 billion in the last fiscal year.

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Bangladesh's export to USA sees robust growth in July

Export earnings from USA, the largest market for Bangladeshi goods, registered a robust growth in July this year totaling US$ 446.61 million, which is 24.57 per cent of the country's total export income for the month, reports UNB.

The export earnings from USA in July this year are also 38.10 per cent higher than the corresponding month of the last fiscal. The export earnings from USA in July 2009 were $323.40 million.

Latest statistics, provided by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), show that of the total July export of $446.61 million, ready-made garment (RMG) items including knitwear accounted for $410.71 million with 36.99 per cent growth.

The major items exported to USA in July 2010 were woven garment $291.88 million, knitwear $118.83 million, frozen shrimp $11.03 million, cap $2.27 million and home textile $5.36 million.

Meanwhile, the export earnings from USA witnessed a declining trend in the last fiscal -- almost 8.9 per cent in 2009-10 from fiscal 2008-09.

The most noticeable cause for this is the declining trend for RMG exports from Bangladesh to USA which was affected badly by the global recession.

According to the EPB statistics, the country's export earnings from USA in the last fiscal totaled $3.14 billion, a 7.74 per cent fall over $3.4 billion registered in 2008-09.

The last fiscal (2009-10) marked the end of an up-and-down decade for Bangladesh's exports to USA. From a high of $2.5 billion in fiscal 2000-01, exports had fallen to under $2 billion by 2003-04.

That was followed by four years of consecutive growth, as Bangladesh made the best of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA), which governed world trade in textiles and garment from 1974 to 2004.

Exports rose steadily to cross the $3.0 billion mark in 2005-06, and peaked at nearly $3.6 billion in the fiscal 2007-08. Then the country' s export earnings fell for two consecutive years in fiscal 2008-09 and fiscal 2009-10.

-FE, Mon, 15/11/2010

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