Chinese Council Signs MoUs with BGMEA, BKMEA

A top Chinese apparel council Thursday signed two separate MoUs with the country's two apex apparel bodies-BGMEA and BKMEA to further promote bilateral trade and investment in the textile and clothing sector between the two countries.

China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) deputy director Lin Yunfeng and BGMEA President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and BKMEA first Vice-President Md Hatem signed the memorandum of understandings (MoUs) on behalf of their respective organisations at different venues in the city.

A 40-member high-powered Chinese delegation headed by Mr Yunfeng, is visiting the country to explore apparel sourcing and investment potential here.

Both the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said the deals will help to increase mutual co-operation in trade exploring investment opportunities, education, science and technology transfer, data and delegation exchange and participation in fairs.

Mr Yunfeng said they are impressed with quality of products, management and machinery set up as they visited few Bangladesh factories.

"Bangladesh garment industry is booming and it has a very good future. We are eager to join this industry," he added.

They also expressed their interest to invest in Bangladesh as rising labour cost and labour shortage in China.

Local apparel manufacturers urged the Chinese delegation to invest in the country's potential high value added products manufacturing such as suit, blazer and backward linkage spinning and weaving sectors.

BGMEA President Shafiul Islam made the call in the MoU signing programme at BGMEA's office in the city where the Chinese delegation was also present.

The BGMEA president said China is an important destination for Bangladeshi apparel for three reasons. Those are Chinese domestic market and its export to other countries and many brand retailers are opening their branches there now.

"China itself is a huge market for Bangladesh and with its per capita income and standard of living, the need for clothing is also growing there," he added.

"So meeting their domestic clothing demand is an untapped opportunity for us," he said.

China is moving to more high-end and high-tech industry, so shifting the production to Bangladesh is a win-win situation for both the countries and we have significant prospect in this area, he explained.

He requested the Chinese manufacturers to invest in the areas where Bangladesh does not have enough capacity and strength but has enormous marketing potentials.

"We don't have a mentionable capacity in suit or blazer manufacturing but there is a huge demand for it," he said seeking investment in those areas.

Faruque Hassan, vice president of BGMEA said, we welcome foreign investment in the backward linkage industry such as spinning and woven sector saying local sources can meet only 30-35 per cent of woven fabric demand while they meet about 90 per cent of knit fabric demand.

"So we need foreign investment in these spinning and weaving sectors," he said adding China can export through Bangladesh which is now enjoying duty-free access to EU, India, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and also in China.