Introduction
History of Textile in Bangladesh:
There were 9 export oriented garments industry in 1978, earned only one
million dollar.
Some of them were very small, produced RMG for local market as well.
Four such pioneer and small garments were Reaz Garments, Paris Garments,
Jewel Garments and Boishkhi Garments.
Reaz Garments was established in 1960 as a small tailoring outfit named Reaz
Store in Dhaka served only in domestic market of its initial 13 years.
In 1973 it changed its name to Reaz Garments Ltd. And started to export by
selling 10000 shirts to France, valued 13 million franc in 1978. That was the
first export apparel in Bangladesh.
Desh Garments Ltd. Is the first joint venture in Bangladesh did technical and
marketing collaboration with S. Korean Daewoo Corporation, established in
1979.
Desh Garments [Link] the first 100% export oriented company.
In 1980, youngone (49%) and Trexim (51% equity) formed a company named
Youngone Bangladesh exported first consignment of jacket to Sweden in 1980.
It had trained 120 operators including 3 women in South Korea in 1980 and
went for production.
Till to the end of 1982, there were only 47 garments in Bangladesh.
Break through occurred in 1984-85, garments factory increased to 587.
In 1999, total numbers of garments in Bangladesh were 2900.
In 2013, average growth rate of garments export is 22% and total number of
garments is 2900.
Textile and clothing sector plays a vital role in the growth of economy;
generation of more than 65% of the country’s industrial employment and 81%
of the export earnings. The industry employs about 5 million workers of
whom 80% are women.
The year 2018 was very significant for Bangladesh apparel industry that is
contributing to 84 percent of annual exports with a contribution over USD 32
billion to the economy and generating employment for almost 45 lakh people.
Importance of Textile Industry in Bangladesh:
The textile has been an extremely important part of socio-economic development for
a very long time for a number of reasons:
The textile industry is connected with meeting the demand for clothing,
which is a basic necessary of life.
It is an industry that is more labor intensive than any other in Bangladesh,
and thus plays a critical role in providing employment for people.
It has contributed to employment creation, poverty reduction as well as
women empowerment.
More than 81% of export earning comes from textile sector.
Contributes over 13% of GDP, 40% industrial value addition comes from the
textile sector.
Provide huge opportunities for the supporting industry banking, insurance,
shipping, transport, toiletries, cosmetics, hotel and other related economical
activities.
Provide 55 lakh of employment where 80% are women
150 lakh of peoples in support industries depend on this trade.
Provides 2 lakh jobs in waste recycling industry related to textiles.
Present Scenario of Textile Sector in Bangladesh:
1) Spinning sector:
Different types of yarns are produced at this sector. 100% of yarn is used in domestic
and exported oriented weaving and knitting mills in Bangladesh. The situations of
spinning sectors are given bellow:
Table-1: Number of spinning mills
C
Ring spinning 97
Ring spinning with open-end capacity 195
Rotor/open-end 51
Synthetic yarn mills 30
No. of spindle- 87 lakh
No. of rotor- 2.3 lakh
Production capacity-205.0 core Kg
Employment- 4 lakh
Spinning sector is facing stiff competition from the competition like India due to the
price fluctuation of raw cotton.
2) Weaving section:
There are various designs and structure oriented woven fabric are produced by this
sector. Mainly plain weave fabric is major production. This sector can produce only
40% of woven fabrics for woven RMG. The situation of weaving sectors of
Bangladesh are given below:
Table-3: Weaving mills
Woven 561
denim 21
Home textiles 18
Looms -17,000 shuttle less and 13,000 shuttle
Production capacity- 215 core meter
Employment -80,000
3) Power loom sector:
Mainly synthetic and specialized products are produced. Share, lungi, and
gamcha also produced at this sector. Local primary textile industry meets 90%
of domestic fabric demand.
No. of units – 1065
Production capacity – 40 core meter
Employment -43,000
4) Hand loom:
This sector is very old and traditional sector of Bangladesh. Jamdani, and banarosi
like luxurious share are produced by this sector. The hand loom industry provides
employment for a large segment of the rural population of Bangladesh. It also helps
in self-employment of rural women.
No. of units – 1,83,512
Production capacity – 837 core meter.
No. of hand looms – 5.05 lakh
Employment – 10.2 lakh (50% female)
The industry also supplies a large portion of the fabric required by the local
market.
Bangladesh hand loom board looks after the sector.
5) Knitting, knit dyeing:
There are two types of knitting and knit dyeing factory in Bangladesh. Some factory
produce fabric for export demand and large no. of factory produce knit fabric for
domestic need. Local knit sector can supply 80% of knit fabric for knit RMG.
No. of units-
Export oriented 800
Local 2000
Production capacity -
Export 360.0 meter.
Domestic 50.0 core meter
Employment- 60,000
6) Dyeing and finishing sector:
These mill process the grey woven and knit fabric and produce different colored
dyed and printed fabric. During wet processing of fabric these mills consume a huge
amount of underground water and produced waste water (effluent).
No. of units – 320
Production capacity – 172.0 core meter.
Employment – 33,000
7) RMG sector in Bangladesh:
No. of units – 5063
Production capacity – 22.323 core dozen
Employment 36 lakh
Where 80% are female workers.
Contribution of RMG sector in national economy of Bangladesh:
In fiscal 2010-11, the contribution of RMG (woven and knitwear) to
national export was 78.14 percent or $17.91 billion compared with 77.12
percent or 412.50 billion in fiscal 2009-11.
Total export was $22.93 billion in 2010-11.
Knit wear export $9.49 billion (41.79%)
Woven garments export $8.43 billion (36.79%)
In home textile, terry towel and specialized textile were included in the
RMG sector, the share of the total export would cross 80 percent in fiscal
2010-11.
In 2010-11, earnings from home textile export were worth $78.88 core,
(3.44%) while terry towel earned 412.0 core (0.52%).
The garment manufacturing sector in Bangladesh has a new slogan: “$50
billion by 2021.” It’s an ambitious vision to reach $50bn in exports by 2021,
the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Bangladesh.
Fig: Bangladesh RMG export earning (Source: BKMEA)
Table: Textile sector of Bangladesh at a glance-
Type of mill No. of Production Employment
unit
Spinning 385 205 core kg 4 lakh
Weaving 721 215 core meter 80,000
Knitting 2800 410 core meter 60,000
Powerloom 1065 40 core meter 43,000
Handloom 1,83,512 837 core meter 10.2 lakh
Dyeing 310 172 core meter 33,000
Finishing
Garments 5063 44.4 core dozens 36 lakh
Sericulture 72 6.94 lakh kg 6 lakh
Jute 9.05 lakh ton