The glooming and booming apparel retailing markets by Olivier Zieschank

The world largest companies by market capitalisation in 2006 lost their leading position to the benefit on IT giants in 2017. The traditional industrial heavy weights, such as Exxon Mobile, General Electric, and Gazprom, started to be dwarfed by Apple, Alphabet, or Microsoft (see the figure). During the last 10 years, the knowledge industry has kicked in with a strong influence on all aspects of the world’s industrial organisation. The last decade was especially characterised by turbulent times for [...]

The link between investor and customer value for RMG companies by Bill Humphries

The RMG industry has made a very significant contribution to Bangladesh’s national economy by generating foreign exchange earnings and creating employment opportunities that reduce poverty. Various reports have emphasised the potential for future growth of the sector based on higher volumes, more sophisticated products and the provision of added value services. Of prime importance is generating sufficient returns to retain and grow investment in the sector. It must be remembered that value is created only when the return on capital [...]

RMG export to the EU: The challenges ahead of Bangladesh by Zillul Hye Razi

About two years ago, Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had set a goal to increase annual export of readymade garments to 50 billion US dollars by 2021. There is also a roadmap drawn up by experts assigned by BGMEA to achieve the target. Although not much has been heard recently about this roadmap, the RMG export has already started facing many challenges. The challenges spelled out in the roadmap included removing infrastructural bottlenecks, boosting productivity, skills development, attracting [...]

New markets for Bangladesh garments by Forrest Cookson

This article describes the unfortunate situation facing Bangladesh garment exporters in gaining access to markets in two key economic allies, India and China. Both countries have very important economic relations with Bangladesh. India has a large surplus in official trade; a large surplus in informal trade; a large surplus in services [medical and educational]; a large flow of remittances by Indians resident in Bangladesh [variously reported as US$2-4 billion]. There is substantial under invoicing of Indian imports. My estimate is [...]

Role and importance of efficient accountants in RMG sector by Fauzia Haque

Generally, we all say, finance is the heart of any company, but do we believe it wholeheartedly? Maybe the answer is “No”. Why? As an argument for such an answer, it may be mentioned that in our country, majority of the company owners think managing finances is such a simple and easy task that anyone from any discipline of study can do it. But this is not true and problems start arising from this notion. If a person does [...]

Going green to woo foreign buyers by Monira Munni

Local apparel makers are banking on green technology heavily in running their factory operation to brighten the image of the readymade garment sector and the country abroad after the recent industrial accidents. They were investing on a large scale in adoption of the environment-friendly technology to shore up the reputation of the sector as well as the country, said Mahmud Hasan Khan, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), talking to The FE. Many others were weighing the [...]