Bangladesh will continue to grow as a major textile machinery market as local textile millers are expanding business riding on higher demand for garment items from international consumers, industry people said yesterday.
Local fabrics makers, textile millers, spinners and garment manufacturers spend a few billions of dollars every year to buy machinery.
“Bangladesh is the biggest machinery market for Chinese textile and garment machine manufacturers,” said Chen Ji, secretary general of the China Sewing Machinery Association.
Ji said Chinese sewing machinery manufacturers exported equipment worth more than $1 billion to Bangladesh every year.
“The textile and garment business will continue to grow in Bangladesh over the next many years as the demand is increasing every year both in the international and local markets,” Ji told The Daily Star at the 16th Dhaka International Textile & Garment Machinery Exhibition 2019, also known as DTG 2019. The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Yorkers Trade & Marketing Services Co. Ltd, Hong Kong jointly organised the four-day exhibition at the International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka. This is the largest textile machinery exhibition in Southeast Asia, the organisers said.
This year 1,200 exhibitors from 37 countries are showcasing latest machinery in the textile and garment sectors at 1,650 booths set up at the venue. Last year, 1,100 exhibitors from 36 countries took part.
Judy Wang, president of Yorkers Trade & Marketing Services Co., said every year the number of participants was increasing as renowned textile and garment manufacturing companies in the world wanted to sell their goods in Bangladesh.
Local spinners can meet 80 percent of the demand of the knitwear sector, while only 35 -40 percent of the woven sectors' demand can be met by local suppliers, she said.
“So, there is room for further big investment in the woven sector where local entrepreneurs will need to install machinery worth of billions of US dollars,” she said.
Wang said the DTG was a very good platform to invite international buyers targeting the woven sector, which has immense potential to grow.
BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon, in his inaugural speech, said buyers of textile and apparel products now recognised Bangladesh as one of their major sourcing destinations.
“Textile machinery manufacturers value Bangladesh as the centre of textile and clothing machinery business hub,” he said.
Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, urged the government to continue policy support and political stability.
"We need predictable and consistent policies. We want to know what the price of energy would be in the next 10 years. We do not want any erratic policy in the financial sector.”
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