Entrepreneurs Contemplate Venturing for Turkish Partnership

During his visit in Bangladesh, the Head of the Turkish Knitwear Industrialists Association met domestic readymade garment entrepreneurs on April 7 expressing its desire to manufacture apparel products on a joint venture basis. What propelled Turkish knitwear manufacturers to make such a proposal was the increasing cost of production driven by high labor costs in contrast to cheap availability of labor and easy access to raw materials in Bangladesh. Domestic knitwear manufacturers have already started gathering relevant data for conducting a study on the viability of the proposal. Mr Fazlul Hoque, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) observed that Turkey was the second largest apparel exporter to European countries after China and since the country has adequate technology, own brands and a huge market, Bangladesh is likely benefit from the proposition.

Turkey’s export value of knitwear apparels amounts to US $20 billion every year and an export to Russia alone reaches $6 billion. Research studies show that knitwear market in Europe is worth $36 billion and if Bangladesh concludes an agreement of joint venture with Turkey, there is huge scope for exploiting the EU market. Besides, local entrepreneurs can get the opportunity to grab a more market share. Providing valuable statistics on exports made in the period 2006-07, Mr Fazul divulged, “Knitwear exports reached $4,553.6 million while woven, handicraft, footwear and home textile touched $4657.63, $8.16 and $256.97 millions respectively.” The overall value of exports touched $12,177.86 showing that the country has enormous potential to expand its production and export domain.