Dhaka
A rebound in garment orders after demand crashed during spring shutdowns is helping to revive the Bangladesh economy.
Apparel makers, the country’s main export industry, say they are looking ahead to Christmas orders from the US and other major markets.
Remittances from Bangladeshi workers employed overseas have also recovered, helping to relieve pressures from a pandemic quasi-shutdown during the spring. The Asian Development Bank reported this week that the economic comeback was encouraging. It is forecasting the economy will grow at a robust 6.8 percent annual pace in the fiscal year that ends in June if current conditions persist.
That’s a much brighter outlook than in April-May, when global clothing brands suspended or canceled orders worth more than $3 billion, affecting about 4 million workers and thousands of factories.
“At the moment we can say that the ready-made garment industry has been able to regain its growth trajectory upward compared to March-May,” said Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA.“As economies in the West were turning around we were successfully able to get the buyers back to the negotiating table, which is why 80 percent to 90 percent of the $3.18 billion in canceled orders have been reinstat ed”.—Arab News
