Bangladesh seeks foreign investment in denim industry

A top Bangladeshi official has urged foreign denim manufacturers to invest in the country’s denim sector which has enough opportunities in the face of rising demand.

Gowher Rizvi , International Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister, made the statement while inaugurating a two-day Denim and Jeans.com Bangladesh show in Dhaka. The expo displays jeans and denim products along with fabrics to local and foreign jeans manufacturers.

“Bangladesh has become a global player in manufacturing RMG products and there is no reason that it cannot be the number one manufacturer in the world,” Gowher said.

He said Bangladesh could become the world’s largest supplier of clothing products because China was shifting its business from clothing to high-end industry

The adviser added: “Bangladesh has made lots of investment in power and infrastructure. So you (foreign investors) can come up with your investment here in manufacturing industry.”

“Bangladesh now exports denim products of $2 billion annually. The figure will increase and we want to raise our 2021 RMG export target.”

Gowher was backed by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Acting President Humayun Rashid who said Bangladesh should be considered as a place of investment, not a source of import only.

“It is high time to invest in Bangladesh’s denim industry as the country is increasingly becoming a lucrative place of sourcing denim products,” he said, claiming that by 2021 Bangladesh’s denim export will reach $7 billion.

Envoy Textile Assistant General Manager (Marketing) Rizwanul Karim said the expo was a platform to inform the global consumers as well as the buyers about the capacity of Bangladesh Denim industry.

Square Denim deputy manager Muhammad Zakir Hossain said since the denim industry was an emerging sub-sector of the RMG industry, the government should offer special policy support on import chemicals needed to produce denim.

He said since the manpower was available in the country, investment could produce good returns.

“Considering the rise of demand, we are going to increase production capacity to 2 million yards from existing 1.5m yards per month, Zakir said.

India’s Nandan Denim is also a participant at the expo. The company’s Director, DK Jain said, “Bangladesh is highly potential country for us as it supplies products to the European and United States market. Bangladesh is a good source of garment products, even India imports from Bangladesh.”