Garment exporters in Bangladesh are confident of increasing their share in the global apparel market despite the existing economic challenges facing the world. They also hope to be the top apparel exporter to the European Union within a few years even though as of now the overall demand for apparel by importing countries in the EU has fallen due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

In fact, Bangladesh hopes to reach a share of eight per cent in the global apparel market within this year. One reason for this belief is that international clothing retailers and brands are giving new work orders. Another reason is shifting of orders from China to other manufacturing countries and yet another is increasing demand for knitwear products.

Buyers from the US are shifting their orders from China in large volumes to Bangladesh apart from countries like India and Vietnam. Currently, the share of Bangladesh in global apparel business is 6.26 per cent. Bangladesh is now the second largest garment exporter in the world after China. Although there are some signs of a slowdown in garment exports now, because of the war-related crisis, the global economic turmoil and record inflation affecting retail businesses, it is expected that the shipment to new destinations, particularly to Asian markets, will witness growth.