Bangladesh retained second position in apparel shipments to the European Union (EU) in the first two months of the current year with a 22.75 per cent share of the trade bloc’s overall garment imports, according to data from EUROSTAT.

Only 6 factories are still working clear the bonus

Bangladesh has gradually turned into a major manufacturing hub for winter jackets as work orders are mainly shifting away from China due to higher production costs and a shortage of skilled workers in the country.

Bangladesh’s export earnings stood at $4.63 billion in February, the lowest in four months, although overall receipts rose 7.81 per cent year-on-year led by apparel, leather and leather goods shipments, official figures showed yesterday.  

Sabiha Saiki Fashion shipped 85 consignments worth Tk 22 crore through Ctg port in the last three years using fake documents

Readymade garment manufacturer A Plus Sweater Ltd had sent an RMG consignment to Chattogram Port from its Gazipur factory on eight covered vans on October 29 last year for shipment to Brazil.

In theory, this sounds like a good idea, but it is not so straightforward.

Unpredictability has become the new normal in a world afflicted by the forces of deglobalisation amidst rising geopolitical tensions.

Clean Clothes Campaign, the world’s largest alliance of garment industry labour unions, piled pressure on the major brands connected to the Tazreen factory fire to sign the International Accord, which protects workers in Bangladesh.

The workers of a garment factory blocked a road in Hemayetpur area of ​​Savar demanding their salaries yesterday.Nearly a thousand workers of Raquef Apparels Washing and Packaging Industries Ltd blocked ​​Hemayetpur-Singair road at Tetuljhora area around 3:30pm, said Dhaka Industrial Police-1 assistant sub-inspector Korban Ali.

As the global economy is threatened by recession, RMG makers will have to come up with strategies to deal.

It seems that just as we recover from one crisis – the global pandemic – another one begins.

Bangladesh will remain as the preferred sourcing destination for readymade garment (RMG) items well into the future as the country has substantially improved production facilities and on compliance with regulations over the last few years, said international clothing retailers and brands yesterday.

You may have already seen the social media campaign ‘#payup’, asking Kardashian sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner to pay up their suppliers in Bangladesh. You may have also read about British brand, Debenhams, which is asking for a whopping 90 percent discount on products from 40 suppliers in the country. What you may not know is that these are only two of at least 1,931 brands which have either delayed, put on hold, or straight-up cancelled their orders since the onset of Covid-19, as per data received from the BGMEA.

It's an era of innovation. It's an era of efficiency. In one part of the world, they are making “smart” jackets, which are creating a microclimate for the wearers, by using carbon fibre heating pads, and are also using Amazon's smart assistant Alexa to even pre-heat the jacket before the consumers are putting them on.

Police yesterday arrested 25 garment workers from Ashulia and Savar industrial zones for their alleged involvement in vandalism, looting goods from factories, and torching vehicles during the weeklong labour unrest that ended on Tuesday.

The call for suspending the operations of the Accord, an inspection and remediation platform of more than 200 global clothing retailers and brands, has been getting louder as garment factory owners are being forced to spend several billion dollars to improve workplace safety.

Since its foundation, the Bangladesh Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector has enjoyed rapid expansion, reaching an audience of international buyers and contributing to 83 percent of per annum exports, employing some 4.4 million people, and contributing over USD 32 billion to the economy.

The RMG workers, who blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway in Savar protesting the death of their fellow worker this afternoon, withdrew the agitation following the garment authorities' assurance of providing Tk 8 lakh as compassion.

Nine garment manufacturers have abused the Free of Cost facility and dodged tax of around Tk 120 crore by importing raw materials up to 22 times the permissible limit.