International buyers are consistently paying lower than the global average price to apparel suppliers in Bangladesh but higher to some of the country’s competitors, according to the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Garment suppliers in Bangladesh are facing difficulties in delivering goods to international clothing retailers and brands on time due to extreme load-shedding, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said today.

Despite a lot of emphasis by policy-makers on cutting dependence on a single product for exports over the years, the share of readymade garments has increased gradually, putting external sales, jobs, and the economy as a whole at risk. 

Garment exports to Bangladesh’s single largest destination, the USA, rose by 51.57 per cent year-on-year to $9.01 billion in the just concluded fiscal year.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) targets exporting $100 billion worth garment items from the country by 2030 as the local apparel suppliers are diversifying the products and markets.

The garment makers' platform today urged Switzerland to extend duty-free access to Bangladeshi apparels for 10 years under the Everything but Arms scheme to ensure smooth transition of Bangladesh to a developing country

The Bangladesh Bank has issued a circular increasing one percent special cash incentive on export receipts of apparel items from the country, which was pending since July last year.

Bangladesh boasts as being the world's number two garment exporter. Every third European has a T-shirt made in Bangladesh on his back. Every fifth American wears jeans manufactured in Bangladesh.