Staff Reporter: 63 percent of the country’s total exports come from the garment sector. But the impact of the corona virus has hit the garment sector, the country’s main export product. In the just-concluded 2020, the average export of garment products declined at a higher rate than that of other sectors.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the country’s garment exports in 2020 fell by 573 million, or about Tk. 47,600 crore. Of this, garment exports have declined by USD 560.16 crore, which is about Tk 48,614 crore in local currency.

In the interest of the survival of the industry during the Corona epidemic, the government announced large sums of incentive assistance. It started with the ready-made garment industry. Incentives of Tk 10,000 crore were given at low interest to pay the salaries of the workers in this sector. Entrepreneurs in the sector have also received loans from a fund of Tk 30,000 crore to provide working capital. However, like other sectors, there are allegations that even in this sector, relatively small and medium entrepreneurs have not been able to take incentive loans. Again, not all factories received loans for workers’ wages at nominal interest. Apart from the members of the two garment owners’ associations, no factory has availed the loan. Entrepreneurs in the sector say that many small and medium entrepreneurs have been deprived due to the condition of giving loans on the basis of bank-customer relationship. All in all, the decline in exports and the lack of incentives are now a bad omen for small entrepreneurs in the ready-made garment sector.

Mohammad Hatem, senior vice-president of BKMEA, an association of garment owners, said small and medium entrepreneurs needed loans more. But many of them did not get incentive loans. This facility did not reach them as there was a condition to give loan on the basis of bank-customer relationship.

According to the source, the price of garments has also come down last year. According to a recent estimate by the BGMEA, an association of ready-made garment industry owners, the prices of the 12 most exported garments in knitwear in 2020 fell by 3.46 per cent over the previous year (2019). The export price of eight types of oven garments has decreased by an average of 1 percent.

Economists say the economic recovery process will be delayed as the second wave of corona begins. However, with the introduction of the coronavirus vaccine, people’s confidence is returning. Economist and Policy Research Institute (PRI) Executive Director. Ahsan H. Mansoor said that due to the second wave of corona, the bad situation of export will continue till next March-April. All in all, not much progress is expected before the second half of this year (until June). Hopefully, with the introduction of vaccines in major export destination countries, people’s confidence is growing.

The main destination of Bangladesh’s clothing is the alliance of 28 countries, the European Union and the United States. Apart from this, Canada, Australia, China and Japan are also big markets for clothing. More than 80 percent of the exported garments go to these countries. Meanwhile, as the second flow of corona has started in European countries, the export orders have not been as expected, industry owners said.

Fazle Shamim Ehsan, managing director of Fatullah Apparel in Narayanganj, said the purchase orders that were supposed to be available at this time of the year in the past are no longer there. On the other hand, the condition of oven garment exporters is relatively worse.

According to the EPB, the overall garment exports in 2020 decreased by 16.94 percent over the previous year. Exports have been severely disrupted due to the early corona lockdown. Garment exports fell by 20 per cent in March, 75 per cent in April and 72 per cent in May. In June, it came to a tolerable level (7.63 percent). After declining by about two per cent in July, it increased by two and a half per cent in August and September. However, in the following months it began to decline again. In the last three months, in October, November and December, garment exports declined by 4.5 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 10.45 per cent.