Sufficient security measures in RMG sector sought
August 16, 2008
A seven-member team from BGMEA called on Home Adviser, Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin at his office in Dhaka yesterday.
The team, led by BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury, informed the adviser that sporadic incidents of violence were taking place in large garment factories in different areas, which might take a serious turn any time.
The BGMEA chief said at the meeting the industry leaders demanded security measures from the government so that order and smooth running of the factories can be maintained, adding that the leaders also requested the adviser to convene a special meeting with commerce and labour advisers to ensure security in garment factories.
“Unrest still prevails in the garment sector which we don’t want to see flaring up during the month of Ramadan,” The BGMEA president told The Daily Star.
Leaders of the apex body of the garment factory owners also expressed their concern to the adviser over the continual violence and unrest in the industry.
Compliance pays off for RMG exporter
August 16, 2008
Neelanjana Khan walks up the aisles in the huge factory hall in Gazipur, carefully peering at the faces of men and women who are busy cutting and sewing denim cloth for children’s and men’s blue jeans. She is looking for child workers. “I check if anyone looks younger than 18″, she explains.
The 3500 workers factory, Columbia Apparels Ltd, claims not to employ underage employees. But Neelanjana doesn’t just believe what she is told. She verifies. And if in doubt she asks for proof.
As she turns around the corner to climb to the fourth floor, a security guard pounds his left foot on the ground and salutes. The power of Neelanjana Khan can make a company owner jitter. She is working as a compliance auditor for Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), one of the biggest buyers in Bangladesh.
The Swedish company sells its cheap but chic clothing in 28 countries and runs flagship stores on world famous shopping streets such as Fifth Avenue in New York. It employs more than 60,000 people worldwide and accounted last year revenues of 80.1 billion Swedish Crowns (Tk 85161 cr).
On the fourth floor the auditor inspects the medical unit where she finds a female worker resting on a bed. Although trying a smile, her face shows her pain because she squeezed her hand in a machine. Dr. Ayeesha Tabassuma, Chief Medical Consultant, takes care of her. Posters on the wall use pictures to give step by step instructions about health precautions such as the use of protection masks at work, of mosquito nets at night and the advantage of proper food. “There are lots of cheap vegetables on the market, but the people eat just rice and ruti and suffer,” the doctor says.
The auditor asks for the medical files. Last month, 839 workers visited the clinic, 15 accidents occurred. A nod. The accident rate is okay and consists of only minor cases such as needle bites or small cuts. “A high number of accidents is an alarming signal indicating that safety installations do not work properly or are not consistently used”, Neelanjana Khan says. This kind of findings would be mentioned in the audit report that gives a company an accurate time frame to install prevention measures.
Are there enough fire extinguishers? Emergency lights on staircases? Smoke detectors? Filtered drinking water? Okay temperatures in working rooms? Steel mesh gloves used at cutting machines? Complaint boxes? First aid kits and a sufficient number of trained staff? A full audit of a company contains more than 300 items, takes up to six days and is usually conducted every second year.
Neelanjana Khan’s work is vital for H&M. Forced or child labor, breach of minimal wages, of safety or environmental requirements bear a significant reputation risk for a global clothing company. Consumers in western countries are sensitive to the issues, and revelations of poor practice have prompted several consumer boycotts of certain labels in the past. That is why the US clothing company GAP immediately canceled a contract with an Indian supplier after media reported child labour in its factory some months ago.
Many big western clothing companies introduced minimum standards for suppliers. H&M published its first Code of Conduct ten years ago and subsequently began conducting factory audits. Whoever doesn’t match the requirements cannot become a supplier or loses a contract. During 2007 H&M stopped cooperation with eight suppliers in Bangladesh due to non-compliance with the Code of Conduct.
The company sees the code not only as a strict demand but also as a tool that encourages its suppliers to improve conditions in many areas. “Everyone benefits from development and good conditions in the factories: The employees, the suppliers, as well as us as a buyer”, says Sofie Nordstrom, the company’s information coordinator Asia .
H&M employs eight COC compliance auditors in Bangladesh. In 2007, the company carried out over 370 audits in the country, two thirds of them were unannounced. “Upon arrival we often go right away up to the workers in order to find unaltered everyday’s conditions”, Khan says.
Permanent mistrust? “No, it’s not like police and thief, we rather work as a team, H&M also shares its experience with us”, replies Munir Ahmed, Director of M&J Group, which owns Columbia Apparels Ltd.
He wouldn’t call the Code of Conduct a burden: “It pays off. If the factory is clean and properly equipped and the workers are healthy and motivated, our quality improves and our work becomes more efficient”, he says, adding that the fluctuation rate sunk to some five percent. According to him skilled workers who are tuned with the factory and know the requirements of the main customers H&M and GAP stay with the company, what’s also increasing productivity.
Value added services boost the business as well. Thanks to compliance with new waste water requirements M&J-Group now gets orders for different kinds of denim washing to supply the different kind of prewashed jeans which have become fashionable over the years. “By improving our quality we get higher margin orders and were able to take a good chunk from Turkey”, Ahmed says.
Independent research confirms that a company can improve productivity if it fixes reasonable working hours, provides adequate working space with ample light, suitable temperature and clean, silent break facilities and if it pays attention to safety or provides medical benefits. One of the major issues for garment workers though is still timely and accurate wages.
Back in November, two days before Eid-ul-Azha, workers of a nearby garment factory protested on the streets against underpayment and delayed salary. Apparently the new minimum salary for unskilled garment workers, raised by the Government of Bangladesh from Tk 930 to Tk 1662.50 in October 2006, is not met everywhere. Concrete data is not available, but industry sources estimate that up to 30 percent of the workers are paid below the minimum.
“We exceed this requirement and pay untrained helpers at least Tk 1870”, claims Munir Ahmed. Neelanjana Khan double checks that statement. She goes through the salary sheets of the last six months, piled up for her on a big table in a meeting room together with time records, worker’s personal files, leave registers, medical facts, environmental certificates and internal policies summing. And she singles out some workers for a private talk without management to verify and double check the provided information. A full audit requires at least twenty worker interviews.
“We cannot guarantee that there are no flaws anywhere in the supply chain”, says Sofie Nordstrom, “but H&M is committed to taking responsibility for our products, for the people making them as well as for the environment, and if problems are found we do our best to solve them.”
Outsourcing in garment industry undermines compliance: US officials
August 16, 2008
US officials have expressed concerns about the practice of outsourcing by Bangladeshi apparel makers, saying it (outsourcing) sometimes undermines compliance issues.
However, local garment manufacturers said they outsource jobs only from members of BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) and BKMEA (Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association), who are compliant with US buyers’ requirements.
A team of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials recently inspected around two dozens readymade garment factories in Dhaka and Chittagong and found these units outsource their products from other factories.
CBP is one of the Department of Homeland Security’s largest and most complex components, with a responsibility for securing and facilitating trade and travel while enforcing hundreds of US regulations, including immigration and drug laws.
When asked, a leading garment manufacturer said many Bangladeshi garment factories need to outsource their jobs as an individual they have limitations to complete big buying orders.
“We sometimes receive orders from a single buyer which cannot be completed at our own facility within the set time limit. For this reason we need to outsource,” he added.
The team after visiting the factories identified that as per the US rules the manufacturers must mention the details about the manufacturing facility of the company. But in case of outsourcing the exporters do not mention the facility, the team added.
The US team will send written suggestions and other opinions soon to the Bangladesh government.
The team meanwhile verbally informed the matter to the Export Promotion Bureau during the visit and asked the officials to ensure proper compliance at those units.
The US officials observed despite the fact that big manufacturers have satisfactory compliance practice their outsourcing partners do not have adequate facilities.
When contacted, EBP Vice Chairman Sahab Ullah said it is a common practice in Bangladesh that manufacturers outsource when they receive orders beyond their capacity.
He said the EPB officials told the US team that the compliance is fully maintained at outsourcing destinations.
“We assured them that if any factory is found non-compliant, measures will be taken to make it compliant,” Sahab Ullah added.
Garment leaders want food rationing for workers
August 16, 2008
Garment manufacturers and exporters yesterday demanded Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam introduce a food rationing system for garment workers to calm labour unrest in the country’s most important export sector.
The call from the Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) came after the industry has been rocked in recent weeks by a renewed wave of industrial disputes that many believe have been sparked by the rocketing price of essential foods and oil.
Some economists estimate that just the cost of rice accounts for 60 per cent of the salary of a garment worker in Dhaka receiving the minimum wage in the sector.
The BGMEA leaders made their demand in a meeting with the finance adviser at his Secretariat office. BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury (Parvez) led the team in the meeting.
After the meeting, Parvez said the recent labour unrest at the city’s Mirpur area was not prompted by a failure to implement the minimum wage, but rather by the price hike of the essential commodities in the local markets.
This meant workers could hardly afford to buy basic essentials, he said.
Recently the BGMEA claimed that more than 95 percent of garment factories have been paying their workers in line with the minimum wage board at Tk 1662 per month.
“The government should introduce the rationing system such as subsidising the workers’ foodstuffs. The sector is the largest employment generator, as well as the largest export earner,” Parvez said.
Last year garments accounted for 75 percent of the country’s export earnings.
When asked how the rationing system would work, he said this had not yet been fixed as the initiative was still at the primary stage.
However last night the idea received the support of some workers leaders. Nazma Akter, President of Sammilito Garment Workers’ Federation, welcomed the BGMEA move.
“But, the ration should go to the workers’ welfare, not for the welfare of others,” she told The Daily Star.
Thanking the move of the BGMEA, Nazma urged the finance adviser to implement the proposed rationing system for the garment workers as early as possible.
Parvez quoted Azizul Islam as saying that he assured the BGMEA leaders that welfare programmes would be introduced for the workers.
Talking to The Daily Star, economist and a professor of the Department of Economics of the University of Dhaka, MM Akash said the move is good as it could be made successful.
He said a garment worker paid 60 percent of his total salary buying rice.
“The prices of commodities did not remain at the level at which the minimum wage was based. So essential commodities could be supplied to the workers at a cheaper price,” he said.
During the discussion meeting with the finance adviser the BGMEA also demanded a reduction in bank interest rates and the rehabilitation of the sick garment industries.
Parvez said at present, the local garment factory owners can hardly make a profit after paying 17 percent bank interest rate whereas in the competing countries including India and China the bank interest rates range between 3 and 4 percent.
First batch of 60 skilled RMG workers fly to Russia in 3 months
August 16, 2008
The first batch of a group of 60 skilled garment workers that has been chosen by a local overseas recruiter for a Russian employer now awaits its flight to that country sometime in the next 3 months.
Mojibul Hoque, managing director (MD) of Mother Overseas, the Bangladeshi recruiting agency approved by the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, said his company has already selected the workers through an interview for the Russian company Visozstoy.
“I am hopeful that the selected workers might be sent to Russia within the next three months as all documents in this connection have already been sent to the Bangladesh Embassy in Moscow and the company concerned after completion of all procedures,” Hoque said.
He said all the 60 workers have been selected as sewing machine operators and they will be paid US$600 per month as remuneration.
The workers will also enjoy other benefits like travel allowance and medical treatment from their Russian employer.
The Mother Overseas MD claimed that the government fixed Tk 1,35,000 was taken from each worker as service charge.
“Many more orders for sending skilled ready-made garment (RMG) workers from Bangladesh may be received soon as Russia is going to be one of the major destinations for Bangladeshi skilled workers as well as RMG products,” Hoque hoped.
However, he linked the win of such a big deal of hiring Bangladeshi RMG workers to the performance of the workers already tipped as sewing machine operator.
Besides sending the RMG workers to Russia, Mother Overseas will also send 150 skilled construction workers, Haque also told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, another recruiting agency Unique Eastern also received an order from Russia recently to send 50 skilled construction workers.
When asked, Abdul Matin Chowdhury, secretary to the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, confirmed about the government nod to Mother Overseas to send 60 skilled RMG workers to Russia.
Although garment industry leaders have previously complained of a shortage of skilled labour in Bangladesh, they welcomed yesterday the Russian initiative as a proof of the strong development and international competitiveness of the local garment sector.
Matin Chowdhury said that a ministry delegation recently attended a forum on employment in Russia where the intention of hiring skilled manpower from Bangladesh was expressed.
Official statistics says more than 2.5 million skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers, 80 per cent of which are female, are now engaged in nearly 4500 woven, 1700 knitwear and 1300 ntextile sectors.
Market operators said remittances from expatriate Bangladeshis could exceed US$10 billion in 2008 as more and more local skilled and semi-skilled workers are going abroad for jobs.
RMG workers suffer health hazards for use of synthetic materials in factories
August 16, 2008
The violence triggered closing of more than 60 garment factories in the area.
The agitating workers also blockaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway for over two hours and vandalized three vehicles, causing panic and a severe traffic jam.
At least 20 people were injured as police clubbed the mob of agitators to restore order in the area.
Meanwhile in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), two garment factories — Softex Sweater Factory and Feather Light — were shut down for various other reasons. Softex was closed due to labour unrest while Feather Light for insufficient work order, said sources.
In a late development, angry workers set fire to a factory of Meem Garments in Gazipur around 8:30pm yesterday damaging a huge quantity of fabrics and yarns.
Five units of fire fighters from Tongi and Gazipur rushed to the spot and put out the blaze around 11:00pm.
Both fire service and police officials confirmed that angry workers set fire to the factory at one stage of their protest demanding payment of overdue wages and Eid bonuses.
Workers of two other nearby factories also ransacked the factories they work in.
Meanwhile, workers of Meditex Sweater Factory in Konabari area under Gazipur Sadar upazila abstained from work yesterday, and workers of Euro Fashion Ltd at Masterbari under Sripur upazila staged a sit-in in front of the factory, both in demand for pay hikes.
According to eyewitness accounts, in Ashulia over 300 workers of Polonia Garments Ltd gathered in front of the factory premises for their overdue salaries at around 11:00am yesterday, the day that had been previously fixed by the factory authorities for the disbursement of salaries.
The unpaid workers became furious and started to ransack the factory as they found the main gate of the factory locked.
The situation turned worse when over 1,000 workers, armed with bamboo sticks and stones, from neighbouring factories joined Polonia workers and attacked other factories on the Dhaka-Tangail highway. Windowpanes, doors and furniture of the factories were damaged in the attack.
The factories that came under attack are Polonia Garments Ltd, Sed Fashion Ltd, Eastern Link Creation Ltd, Rivas Composit Ltd, Envoy Fashion, Scan Desk Ltd, Setara Group Ltd, Nodh Tex, Design Dreams Ltd, Universe Garments Ltd, Isa Fashion Ltd, Pall Mall Garments, Five Brother Ltd, and GBS Garments.
The shopping centres vandalised by the mob are Samir Plaza, Helen Plaza, Nigar Plaza, and Noor Jahan Mansion.
Panic gripped stranded passengers and vehicle owners on the highway when the workers started vandalising vehicles.
Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia police station, told The Daily Star that the workers became angry as they did not receive their overdue salaries on time. “The authorities however paid off the salaries in the afternoon,” said the OC adding that no case was filed and no one was arrested.
Owners of the affected garment factories yesterday denied the allegation of non-payment to the workers and reiterated that a section of hooligan outsiders in the guise of workers ransacked their factories.
Owner of Envoy Fashion Ltd, Salam Murshedy, also a leader of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said his factory was ransacked by a section of hooligan outsiders who were masquerading as workers. “The workers did not attack my factory,” Murshedy said.
He said suddenly a group of outsiders tried to enter his factory, but the workers of the factory obstructed them.
The outsiders then threw stones and broke glass panes and other furniture, he added. Similarly, the outsiders ransacked other nearby factories, he said.
Murshedy said he will continue production in his factory today, as the damage to the factory is has not been severe.
“At least 5,000 workers are employed in my factory producing 45,000 apparel items a day. So, I cannot stop production as I pay the workers regularly,” he said.
Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, a platform of garment factory workers, said the workers agitation broke out for a pay hike in the wake of higher prices of essential commodities.
She said although the majority of owners pay salaries under the current wage structure, the minimum wage of Tk 1,662.50 a month is too little to maintain livelihoods. “So, it needs to be increased through negotiations, but not by damaging factories,” she added.
She said the government should also come forward to settle the issue of low salaries of the workers. “The workers, owners and government officials may sit together again for a solution,” she said.
BGMEA President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez said the nature of the attack indicates that the rampage was carried out by outsiders, not by real workers.
“Only the compliant factories were ransacked. The factories those were attacked are all good in payment and in corporate culture,” he said.
Apparel industry faces new challenge of TAKA appreciation
August 16, 2008
If the appreciation of taka continues for long, it may weaken the recent rebound in apparel exports, exporters said.
They said that dollar fell by over 4.0 per cent to an average of Tk 67 (depending on the terms of exports) at present, compared to Tk 70 plus they negotiated at the end of 2006.
The new challenge emerged after the exporters survived increased production cost around 10-15 per cent due to rise in prices of fuel and of other inputs.
Moreover, many of them are still struggling with how the wages for the workers can be increased from the already marginalised profits to at least support the price of rice that almost doubled in last one year.
“It will be extremely difficult to maintain the export growth if dollar falls further, even by only one taka,” said President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque.
The main export sector suffered a negative growth in the first half of 2007-08 due to political unrest and anti-corruption drive, but recovered in the second half with gradual improvement in political situation and a weakening taka against dollar.
During July-May period of 2007-08, knitwear exports registered 21 per cent growth to $4.9 billion US dollars over the same period in the previous fiscal, while woven garments grew 11 per cent to $4.6 billion. The overall export growth was recorded at 16 per cent to $9.6 billion.
The productivity and efficiency of the industry, supported by absence of strikes and hartals as well as improved port efficiency, helped attain the growth, Mr Hoque said.
Despite negative signals like slowdown in consumption in the major export destinations, he said the prospect for export growth was still bright with Chinese production becoming expensive. He was expecting a shift of orders from China to countries like Bangladesh.
Mr Hoque, however, raised concerns about negative aspects like disruption in supply of gas and electricity to tap the potentials.
“Expansion of production capacity is being affected seriously for lack of uninterrupted gas and electricity supply,” he said adding, “It’s not possible to maintain export growth without increasing production capacity.”
Exports record 15pc growth last fiscal
August 16, 2008
The country’s export in fiscal 2007-08 recorded more than 15 per cent growth over that of previous fiscal, a senior official said Sunday.
According to the provisional statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh fetched over $14.01 billion through export in fiscal 2007-08.
The official, however, said the export earning fell short of target by nearly 3.50 per cent.
In the first 11 months of the last fiscal, the country’s export was worth $12.63 billion.
The commerce ministry termed the country’s export performance in the last fiscal as impressive.
“We are happy with the export growth. It’s an impressive performance,” Feroz Ahmed, secretary of the commerce, said, when sought his comments on export performance.
Analysts said the country’s export earning could not reach the target because of slump of developed economies.
The government set the export target at $14.50 billion in last fiscal, which is an increase of 19.07 per cent over that of the previous fiscal.
The commerce secretary said: “We are happy with the performance as it’s a huge comeback after negative growth in the first quarter.”
In the first quarter of 2007-08, export earning fell 5.37 per cent over that of the same time last fiscal, due largely to sharp fall in garment export as a result of labour unrest and political turmoil in late 2006.
After the negative growth in the first quarter, the country’s export posted 4.42.5 per cent and 5.37 per cent growth respectively in the second and third quarter.
Two days’ weekend is really a problem
August 16, 2008
VIEWS expressed by Air Commodore M Zakiul Islam may be right from his own thought-perspective, but his article did not reflect the issues raised by the members of the business community. If Mr. Rahman goes to his office on Friday and if he is a businessman, who trades internationally, it hardly matters, whether his counterpart in London or New York is asleep or not. He can pass on his decision and communicate the same through e-mail. The man who is sleeping, say Mr. Tom, at the other part of the globe, is not an issue to him. Mr. Tom can get up at his usual time and receive the e-mail of Mr. Rahman on Friday and pass his decision, direction, suggestion to the concerned people easily. If he thinks to release the payment or pass the L/C to Mr. Rahman, Mr. Tom can pass the direction to his bank or concerned person on the same Friday.
So, Mr. Rahman can receive the payment or L/c on Sunday(or Monday, if the bank is not faster).If Saturday would have been a working day, it could be even earlier. Upon receiving payment or L/C, Mr. Rahman can pay his outstanding bills, buy new items for export or so. In case of L/C, he can open back-to-back L/C on Sunday (if within Bangladesh) or Monday (if outside Bangladesh).
On the otherhand, if Mr. Rahman enjoys holiday on Friday & Saturday, he can pass his message to Mr. Tom not before Sunday, but Mr. Tom can see it only on his Monday morning, by the time local counterpart might pack up for the day. So, he can receive reply or payment or L/C by Wednesday (if he his lucky, may be by Tuesday). If we enjoy holidays on Friday & Saturday, Mr. Rahman would be the victim. A period of two days is a major factor in international trading. The traders in Europe and the USA may not wait for couple of days, as there is a lot of many competitors in their own country and counterparts around the world. Unless Bangladesh makes some lucrative offer, they can hardly wait for.
The impact of loss of two days, is hardly imaginable for the persons, who are not in international trade or private business.
Let us see if Mr. Rahman does RMG business, what can be the effect! He needs to ship out one consignment by next Sunday (as the USA-bound vessel’s cut-off time falls on Monday), but he noticed his trims(button/decorative flower etc.) just reached at Zia International Airport (ZIA) on Wednesday from Hong Kong. He can not release the consignment in a day (in many parts of the world, it is possible in a day). Now he has been trapped and had to wait madly for two days weekend to finish. By Sunday afternoon, he may be fortunate to receive the air cargo from ZIA, but an unfortunate fellow to save the consignment. Now Mr. Rahman has to air book the cargo PREPAID to the USA. What he earned in last six months, will be drained to pay the AIR Freight.
Again he is a victim of two days weekend.
What can happen, if Mr. Rahman enjoys Friday & Saturday weekend! Mr. Tom sent some urgent query, on Thursday, to quote prices of some garment-style immediately, but Mr. Rahman has gone to his village home to enjoy weekend, since all nation is on the grip of weekend fever, what can he does! Mr. Tom sent same query to his overseas vendors. He has no time to wait for Mr. Rahman, who will come and join at his office on Sunday. He got favourable price offer from Mr. Dong of Vietnam on Friday and placed order to him. Mr. Rahman misses the train. Time and tide wait for none. Mr. Rahman can cry only, but policy-makers hardly acknowledge it. If we could control the time and tide, we could turn it around, but Bangladesh is a poor nation, hardly its voice makes any impact in international arena.
Customers has many destinations, Bangladesh is one them only. We can not control the world trade of our exportables. We have a little share only. If we are to enjoy two-days’ lavish weekend, no one can save us from drowning. They can enjoy two-days’ weekend, whose blessings give us bread and butter! Unfortunately we are at the receiving end only, someone else is on the command.
The members of the business community are looking for an administration, which is progressive and farsighted and which can mobilise and put the nation on a faster track of the 21st century, to ease the differences from front runners, if necessary to squeeze weekend to a single day, to get a competitive edge.
The writer can be reached at e-mail: khanfloret@gmail.com
US tops list of Bangladeshi goods importers
August 16, 2008
The United States (US) topped the list of countries importing Bangladeshi commodities with its import volume hitting US$ 3,216 million in the fiscal 2007-2008, reports BSS.
According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics, Bangladesh’s export earnings from July to May of the fiscal year were US $ 12,638.86 million, while the US imports stood at US$ 3,216 million or 25.58 per cent.
Of the importing countries, the US was followed by Germany with 15.65 per cent, the UK with 9.84 per cent, France 6.77 per cent and Italy 4.02 per cent.
Besides, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran, Japan, Singapore, India, China and Pakistan imported substantial quantities of goods from Bangladesh.
Out of the total exports to the US during the last fiscal, readymade garments fetched the highest US$ 2,169.77 million. The other important export items were knitwear (US$ 716 million), shrimp (US$ 128.65 million), cap (US$ 50.12 million) and home textiles (US$ 8.47 million).
The major items imported by Germany from Bangladesh included knitwear (US$ 1131.29 million), woven garments (US$ 744.68 million) and shrimp (US$ 20.67 million).
The UK’s imports from Bangladesh were dominated by woven garments with US$ 412.38 million. Other major items were knitwear [US$ 557.17 million), home textiles (US$ 88.19 million), shrimp (US$ 38.46 million) and bicycles (US$ 28.24 million).
The goods imported by France included knitwear, woven garments and home textiles. Of other items, Italy imported knitwear, woven garments and hides and skin.
The major Bangladeshi commodities imported by Belgium and the Netherlands included knitwear, woven garments, shrimp and jute yarn.
Iran’s imports from Bangladesh included jute yarn and hessian while Japan and Singapore imported hides and skin, and shrimp.
The major items imported by India, China and Pakistan were chemical fertilizers, raw jute, shrimp, hides and skin, and tea.