PHOTO: AMRAN HOSSAIN

REFAYET ULLAH MIRDHA

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.

Since the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013, Bangladesh’s workplace safety and compliance with regulations improved a lot, said the foreign buyers.

As a result, retailers and brands are coming over with an increased volume of work orders, especially with improvements in the Covid-19 situation, as the local apparel sector has also proved its strength.

“Bangladesh is the most important sourcing destination for our company,” said Ziaur Rahman, Swedish retail giant H&M’s regional head for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ethiopia, on the sidelines of the 12th Bangladesh Denim Expo in Dhaka.

“Bangladesh is a very important market for us. We will stay here,” he said, adding that currently his company was sourcing apparel items from 300 garment factories.

“Bangladesh is in the right direction in terms of workplace safety, compliance and product diversification. It is possible to export $100 billion garment items in the next 10 years,” said Rahman.

Even five years ago, Bangladesh was in a quite different situation. But now the country has improved a lot, he said, adding that he would increase the volume of items sourced from here by 11 per cent in the next five years.