Bangladesh Packaging and Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPAMEA) President Md. Shahriar has called for strengthening diplomatic efforts to maintain the trust of foreign buyers and counter negative propaganda, describing the current crisis in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry as temporary. He believes that Bangladesh's embassies and business wings abroad must play a more active role in addressing the concerns and misinformation being spread among foreign buyers regarding the garment industry.
Md. Shahriar emphasized that it is extremely important to present the country's true economic and social situation to buyers. In particular, it is essential to provide appropriate and timely responses to the false or negative information being spread about Bangladesh's garment industry from competing countries. The effective and coordinated role of diplomatic missions is most crucial at this moment to ensure buyers' confidence in Bangladesh's sourcing capability and reliability.
The BPAMEA President further told buyers that the owners of Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry are always committed to fulfilling their promises to buyers. In the past, no major problems have arisen in Bangladesh's garment industry, nor will they in the future. He firmly stated that the government and the owners in this sector are committed to upholding their promises, as a result of which Bangladesh will remain a long-term and reliable sourcing hub for them.
Currently, global instability, the energy crisis, and the resulting negative growth and declining orders in ready-made garment exports are directly impacting the accessories, trims, and packaging industries. Md. Shahriar noted that this situation of garment product orders in the global market is a cause for some concern. Typically, buyers finalize accessories and packaging even before garment orders are confirmed. However, currently, most buyers have some apprehension regarding Bangladesh, which is primarily a result of gas and electricity shortages and various negative news reports. This negative propaganda is reaching buyers from competing countries, and they are also verifying this information from their own embassies and business wings.
However, the BPAMEA President reassured buyers, stating that despite various political and social instabilities in Bangladesh since independence, the government has always provided special care and protection to the garment sector due to the widespread involvement of common people with this industry. For this reason, he believes that there have been no long-term problems in this sector in the past, nor will there be in the future.
Md. Shahriar explained the deep interrelationship between the garment industry and the accessories industry, stating that if problems arise in the garment industry, manufacturers of garment components are also directly affected. When orders decrease in garment factories, garment production declines, and the demand for various components including buttons, zippers, labels, and packaging also falls. As a result, the sales and income of component manufacturers decrease significantly, which negatively impacts the overall economy.
Furthermore, if garment factories face financial difficulties, payments to component suppliers may be delayed, creating severe cash flow problems for component manufacturers. On the other hand, despite continuously rising costs for raw materials, electricity, and labor, the pressure to supply products at low prices shrinks their profit margins. Therefore, the garment industry and the garment components industry are so interdependent that a crisis in the garment industry directly impacts the sales, income, production, and investment of component manufacturers.
Regarding the reasons for buyers shifting orders away from Bangladesh, Md. Shahriar stated that buyers who make order or policy decisions are primarily employees. The most important thing for them is to receive products on time and to avoid empty store shelves. If there are any problems with product supply from Bangladesh, their jobs could also be at risk. Therefore, they do not hesitate to source products from other countries, even at a higher price than Bangladesh, if necessary. The most concerning aspect is that they are not just temporarily shifting orders, but also developing new sourcing countries, which could pose a long-term risk for Bangladesh. Rapid and effective measures are essential to curb this trend.
