B’desh garment exports to India to rise this fiscal

Pepped up by the duty-free access given to its garment items,

Bangladesh’s garment exports to India are likely to touch $0.5 billion and its overall export volume to India is estimated to grow by almost two-fold to $1 billion by the end of current fiscal, the Indo-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry said. Speaking on the sidelines of a Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar (BCIM) Business Forum meet held in Kolkata, Chamber President Abdul Matlub Ahmad informed the media that during the last fiscal that ended on June 30, 2011, Bangladesh exported around $500 million worth of goods to India, with an insignificant share of garment items.

However, with India granting duty-free entry to 46 Bangladeshi textile and garment items in September 2011, their exports to India are growing and are likely to double by close of the current fiscal. Ahmad, who also heads the Nitol-Niloy Group as Chairman, is establishing two 100-acre Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Bangladesh – a garment SEZ in Kishoregunj near Dhaka, and a multi-product SEZ at Chattak in Sylhet.

He revealed that the two industrial zones are mainly aimed at attracting Indian apparel manufacturers, and are receiving positive response for the same. Indian apparel producers now have an opportunity to team up with Bangladeshi firms and make Bangladesh their new low-cost production base, he added. He also said that the joint-venture firms can ship their products duty-free to India and many other countries, from their Bangladeshi production base.