Bangladesh has surpassed Vietnam and regained its position as the second largest apparel exporter in the world by earning $35.80 billion in 2021.
In the same year, Vietnam, one of the main competitors of Bangladesh in the world trade of garment industry, exported $31.08 billion. As a result, Bangladesh's garment exports exceeded Vietnam's by $4.72 billion, according to the Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) data.
The world’s top apparel exporter is China. According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published data China’s apparel export earned $209.48 billion from January to November 2021, up 7.7 percent over the same time of previous year.
Although Bangladesh is going to get the recognition of the second position in garment export again, surpassing Vietnam, it will have to wait another four months to get the official recognition of the second position in exports.
Bangladesh will get the official recognition next June with the release of the next report of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The WTO publishes such reports in June each year on the analysis of export trade of member countries.
Earlier, in 2020, Vietnam went ahead by exporting more garments worth $1 billion than that of Bangladesh.
In that year, Bangladesh lost its status as the second largest garment exporter to Vietnam.
According to the WTO report, Bangladesh's garment exports to the world market in 2020 were $28 billion and Vietnam's garment exports were $29 billion.
Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Bangladesh Post, “It is good news for us. I want to give all credit to the resilient entrepreneurs and workers for the sharp growth, which helped to reclaim the second position from Vietnam.
Besides, we have taken several initiatives including upgrading the technology and product quality as well as capacity, he said, adding that we have got more orders from buyers which helped to gain more.
Fazle Shamim Ehsan, vice-president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said, “Our exports have increased as we have coped well with the Corona epidemic challenge. About $5 billion worth of goods are now being exported abroad. There are also several challenges to further increase this upward trend in exports. However, I believe that we can keep the lion's share of orders in the country with service and quality.
Entrepreneurs in the garment industry said that garment factories in Bangladesh were closed for 65 days due to Corona.
Due to this, export orders were also stopped, they said, adding that taking advantage of this opportunity, Vietnam surpassed Bangladesh and secured the second position in exports.
They mentioned the demand for Bangladeshi readymade garments is increasing in the world market again.
Experts said the country needs to improve in labour productivity, capital productivity and diversification.
It also needs to increase skills, move from low end to high end, increase value addition, increase product basket, and reduce lead time, they mentioned.
Mohiuddin Rubel, director of BGMEA, an association of garment industry owners and exporters, said that while there is a positive trend in the garment sector, there are still many challenges in the sector.
The market for various raw materials such as textiles, shipping costs, dyes and chemicals is very high, he said, adding that clothing prices are not rising in proportion to the rising cost of production.
“Meanwhile, to make the most of the opportunities, the most important thing is to increase the capacity by keeping the supply chain in order. If we can do this, Bangladesh's garment industry will lead in the world market in future,” he mentioned.
The country’s export earnings in 2021 stood at a record $44.22 billion with the highest-ever single month receipts in December.