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Adopt efficient management practices in apparel: PwC

Star Business Report
The apparel industry in Bangladesh needs to adopt efficient management practices to improve productivity and efficiency to increase its global competitiveness, experts said at a programme yesterday.
"The ecosystem needs to undergo a transformation today," Mamun Rashid, managing partner of PwC Bangladesh, said at the PwC Summit held in Chittagong.
"Issues around processes, technology and people need to be addressed together to accelerate growth in the sector," he said at the event on "Driving transformation in Bangladesh's apparel industry".
"We must adopt global best practices, look out for market shifts and align ourselves to global trends."
"Bangladesh's garment industry is a key contributor to the country’s growth story. The declining export growth rate has been an area of concern for the industry and policymakers," Rashid said in a press release
Exports fetched $36.66 billion last fiscal year, but fell short of the government's target of $37.5 billion.
Bangladesh's main export earner, apparel shipments brought home $30.61 billion, up 8.76 percent year-on-year in 2017-18, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
The garment sector accounts for 12 percent of the country's GDP and 83 percent of its exports. The industry has huge growth potential thanks to the growing demand from international markets, experts said at the summit.
Manufacturers are embracing newer machinery and production technologies to stay relevant. These along with a skills upgrade of workers have led to a shift towards manufacturing of specialised garments in Bangladesh, they said.
However, a lot remains to be done to outperform global majors in the retail manufacturing space. The export growth rates are fluctuating and have shown a declining trend over the past few years.
Productivity in Bangladesh remains low as compared to other garment manufacturing nations like China and Vietnam, they said. There is an urgent need to revamp infrastructure too to aid the potential growth of the sector, according to the experts.
The growth in the sector needs to be sustainable and environment-friendly, said Pallab De, partner for management
consulting of PwC India.
The industry has seen a significant rise in the number of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified environment-friendly factories and this is exemplary in the global manufacturing industry, according to Pallab De.
“The country today boasts of the top three eco-friendly garment factories in the world. The government's decision to subsidise interest rates to companies intending to set up green factories will provide the much needed boost."
There is a significant scope to increase operational efficiency in the sector and help meet international standards, the analysts said. The seminar highlighted the upcoming trends in the garment sector.
The better businesses understand the landscape, the more they would be able to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the sector, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre.
He shed light on the importance of Chittagong as a business hub and requested the government and entrepreneurs to work together in order to expand the garment industry in the port city.
"The government should also undertake some initiatives to provide improved technical education to the workers that could lead to a skilled workforce."
More than 50 industry stalwarts and representatives from trade bodies attended the summit.
Md Fazlul Hoque, a former president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and SM Tanvir, a director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also spoke.