The Garment Industry of Bangladesh

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH

Introduction:

The garment industry has played a pioneering role in the development of industrial sector of Bangladesh. Though it took a rather late start i.e., in 1976 but it soon established its reputation in the world market within a short span of time. Resultantly garment is now one of the main export items of the country. Besides, enriching the country's economy it has played a very important role in alleviating unemployment. At present there are more than two thousand one hundred garment factories in the country employing more than 12 lack labors. 85 percent of the labor force is women.

Once Sri-Lanka was leader in this field in South Asia and India was its competitor. After a bloody civil war resulting in the quick demise of the garments industry of Sri-Lanka and India, the international buyers and investors diverted their attention towards Bangladesh. As a result the garments industry of Bangladesh expanded with unprecedented success. During the financial year 1993-94 Bangladesh earned 6199.8 cores Taka.

Contribution in the national economy

The role of the RMG sector in our national economy can hardly be over-emphasized. There has been a steady development in our RMG export field during at least the last decade and a half but in the last few years it has been unique. The export of RMG recorded an average growth of 21.53% since 1994-95, which grew to 76.05% by the year 1999.The table, is given bellow elaborates the growth.

Development of the Export of RMG Sector

YEAR Export of RMG (in Mln. US$) Total Export (in Mln. US$) Share of RMG's to Total Export

1993-94 1555.79 2533.90 61.40

1994-95 2228.35 3472.56 64.17

1995-96 2547.13 3882.42 65.61

1996-97 3001.25 4418.28 67.93

1997-98 3781.94 5161.20 73.28

1998-99 4019.98 5312.86 75.67

1999 2810.38 3695.46 76.05

Source: Bangladesh Export Statistics, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) (Compiled).

The table below helps to understand the situation more clearly.

Development of the Export (in Million Taka) of different Sectors from 1993 to 1999

Commodities 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99

Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount % Amount %

Woven 51 47.21 50.97 7360.53 52.85 7970.65 50.20 9529.18 50.65 12900.18 55.09 14320.80 56.18

Knit 1052.58 10.42 1577.37 11.32 2447.12 15.41 3250.11 17.28 4266.17 18.22 4967.67 19.49

Total RMG 6199.79 61.40 8937.9 64.17 10417.77 65.61 12779.29 67.93 17166.35 73.31 19288.47 75.67

Frozen Food 638.91 8.31 1225.93 8.80 1283.01 8.08 365.65 7.26 1333.13 5.69 1316.17 5.16

Tea 152.14 1.51 131.54 0.94 135.51 0.85 162.39 0.86 21 5.36 0.92 184.99 0.73

Raw Jute 227.23 2.25 318.74 2.29 371.12 2.34 495.29 2.63 488.94 2.09 344.14 1.35

Chemical Product 21 6.73 2.15 431.65 3.10 402.68 2.54 461.89 2.46 363.21 1.44 380.19 1.49

Leather 670.16 6.64 810.52 5.82 865.86 5.45 832.35 4.42 863.21 3.69 807.20 3.17

Jute 1130.89 11.20 1278.62 9.18 1345.29 8.47 1353.45 7.19 1276.82 5.45 1457.78 5.72

Grand Total 10097.59 100.00 13928.46 100.00 15879.09 100.00 18813.04 100.00 23416.37 100.00 25491.10 100.00

Source: Bangladesh Export Statistics, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) (Compiled).

Back in the 80s, a large number of private sector initiatives were taken in manufacturing sectors like the RMG industry. The RMG industry has enjoyed a meteoric rise from less than 50 factories in 1983 to over 3000 in 1999. In between this period, the level of employment has increased from some 10,000 to approximately 1.5 million today (see Table: 3); with its share of employment in the manufacturing industry increasing from a mere 2% to over 15%.A table is given bellow,

The number of the factories

Year 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999

No. of Factories 50 629 934 2268 3000

Source: Bangladesh Statistics,