PERFORMANCE AND PROSPECT OF RMG IN BANGLADESH: RMG contributes 78.97% (up to September 2011) of total exports in Bangladesh.

Major products of apparels include knit and woven shirts, blouses, trousers, skirts, shorts, jackets, sweaters, sports wears and many more casual and fashion items. The sector currently employs approximately 4.5 million workers, mostly females from underprivileged social classes. Clothing, being the largest industrial sector, has been experiencing phenomenal growth for last decade as depicted in the This is largely due to the simple level of technology needed by the industry. Moreover, relatively inexpensive and easily available machineries, requirement of smaller premises, abundant supply of cheaper work force, low tariffs on imported machineries and, most significantly, benefits of reserved markets by MFA quota have spurred the growth of the garment industry. At present the country exports nearly 13 billion US$ per year to around 90 countries in the world which include USA, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Belgium. In fact, Bangladesh is the 2nd largest supplier of apparels in the US market. In order to export readymade garments, it is now almost mandatory for the exporters to disclose the quality parameters towards acceptance of the product as per the intended end use as decided by the Worlds leading brands. Knowledge in regulations pertaining to the area of flammability, care label and fiber products identification act are very important for export oriented garment trade, which is not only to satisfy the requirement of U.S. Federal Trade regulation but also to safeguard the interest of consumers. Performance evaluation of the garments is essential prior to shipment with a view to meet the specific requirement standards of the buyers. Working environment, wherein the garments are to be produced, is equally important to protect human rights and the code of conduct derives the basic objectives of social compliance issues. Thus, Bangladesh has a stiff challenge ahead to meet the demand of world market. The author during his pioneering work of setting up of an international laboratory i.e. MTL(now known as Bureau Veritas Consumer Product Services) inside the export processing zone in Dhaka, Bangladesh, had extensively glanced through the garment sector and in this paper he has made an attempt to highlight some of the essential international performance standards applicable to the export of RMG and the present quality status of export oriented apparels of Bangladesh. The code of conduct applicable to the workplace with particular reference to the creation of a better working environment in the apparel sector of Bangladesh has also been discussed by the author based on his practical experience in the social accountability.

YEAR

Export of rmg Total export of %of RMG's to export (in million us$) Bangladesh(in million US$)

198384 198485 198586 198687 198788 198889 198990 199091 199192 199293 199394 199495 199596 199697 199798 199899 199900 200001 200102 200203

31.57 116.2 131.48 298.67 433.92 471.09 624.16 866.82 1182.57 1445.02 1555.79 2228.35 2547.13 3001.25 3781.94 4019.98 4349.41 4859.83 4583.75 4912.09

811 934.43 819.21 1076.61 1231.2 1291.56 1923.7 1717.55 1993.9 2382.89 2533.9 3472.56 3882.42 4418.28 5161.2 5312.86 5752.2 6467.3 5986.09 6548.44

3.89 12.44 16.05 27.74 35.24 36.47 32.45 50.47 59.31 60.64 61.4 64.17 65.61 67.93 73.28 75.67 75.61 75.14 76.57 75.01

200304 200405 200506 200607 200708 200809 200910 201011

5686.09 6417.67 7900.8 9211.23 10699.8 12347.8 12496.7 3971.52

7602.99 8654.52 10526.2 12177.9 14110.8 15565.2 16204.7 5029.05

74.79 74.15 75.06 75.64 75.83 79.33 77.12 78.97

20000 10000 MILLION $ 0

EXPORT OF RMG

1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

Export of rmg (in million us$) Total export of Bangladesh(in million US$)

TIME

2010-11

%of RMG's to export

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 %of RMG's to export

% OF RMG IN GDP
14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 1991-92 2009-10 Series1