As per latest figures by the Department of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), Bangladesh registered the highest growth amidst 10 countries in the US apparel imports for September, 2018. The country’s exports surged to 11.8 per cent with 171m Square Meter Equivalent (SME), surpassing Honduras (90m SME), India (81m SME), and El Salvador (65m SME).
Globally, Bangladesh is the second-largest ready-made garment (RMG) exporter, with net annual worth around $28 billion. The RMG Sector houses 41 per cent factories with moderate technologies and 20 per cent using advanced machinery.
Touted as a women-driven sector, male to female worker ratio stands at 39.2:60.8, with total employment of approximately 3.5 million people. While the textile sector is responsible for 83.5 per cent of the country’s exports, it plays a crucial role in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures with 6 per cent contribution. This comes as the country has utilised the impetus received from the government as well as private companies like Beximco Textiles.
The government of Bangladesh has been instrumental in laying a strong foundation for the industry. They collaborated with the International Labor Organization (ILO) for enhanced protection of factory working environment and inspections were carried out across 3,780 factories under the same. In order to ensure this as a long-term measure, the Department of Inspections of Factories and Establishments (DIFE) was re-structured with a personnel and budget boost.
