![]() However, no recent study has been conducted to determine the present competitive advantages of the Bangladeshi ready-made garments industry from the executive’s perspective who are the life of this industry. These studies (Yunus & Yamagata, 2012 Alam et al., 2017 Mostafa & Klepper, 2018 Chandra & Ferdaus, 2020 Islam, 2021 Bhuyan & Oh, 2021) were focused primarily on the post-Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) quota period (2005–2015) and used secondary data to identify the competitive advantages. 2020 Hasan et al., 2020 Islam, 2021 Zaman, 2021 Bari & Jin, 2021) found a vast labor force, low wages, suitable locations, and export-friendly policies as the competitive advantages of Bangladesh’s RMG industry. Previous studies (Yunus & Yamagata, 2012 Kathuria, 2013 Alam et al., 2017 Mostafa & Klepper, 2018 Hossian et al. Neighboring competitive countries seem to be taking advantage of the global market share more effectively than Bangladesh.Īlthough many studies have looked into Bangladesh's competitive advantage in the RMG industry, little research has examined its garment exporter's internal strategies or resources that could be used to compete more effectively in the global marketplace. For example, the country witnessed a 1.2% negative growth rate in the global garment export share in 2019, while India and Pakistan enjoyed a positive growth rate of 2.2% and 4.74%, respectively, during the same period (Islam, 2021 Rahman, 2021 Zaman, 2021). However, researchers (Ahlquist & Mosley, 2021 Ahmed, 2009 Bair et al., 2020 Das et al., 2018 Mottaleb & Sonobe, 2011) found low productivity, poor infrastructure, low research & development, non-availability of spinning facilities, and diseconomies of scale as drawbacks that led to poor performance of the Bangladeshi RMG industry. Bangladesh is also seen as the next sourcing destination to replace China due to its large labor force, low wages, and modern manufacturing facilities (Islam, 2021 Menzel & Woodruff, 2021 Rahman, 2021). ![]() Today, Bangladesh holds the second position in garment exporting while China remains the first for the last few decades (Nadiruzzaman et al., 2021 Zaman, 2021). ![]() The country also exports apparel products to Canada, Japan, Australia, China, India, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey (Menzel & Woodruff, 2021). Bangladesh's apparel exports to the European Union (EU) in 2019 were USD 20.42 billion and to the USA was USD 6.02 billion (BGMEA, 2021a, 2021b). Europe and the United States of America (USA) are the major exporting destinations comprising 80% of the country's total apparel exports in 2019. This lower wage attracts foreign buyers to source from Bangladesh, leading to an apparel export value of USD 33.07 billion in 2019 (BGMEA, 2021a, 2021b). Meanwhile, the minimum monthly wage in China ranges from USD 162 to USD 358 (Koty & Zhou, 2019). The salary structure of the Bangladeshi apparel industry is the major reason the country is considered a global apparel sourcing hub as the current monthly minimum wage is USD 97 (Chandra & Ferdaus, 2020 Paul, 2018). Attaining competitive advantages in garment exports would provide stability to the RMG industry of Bangladesh and help it become more successful.Ĭontinued growth in the apparel industry has helped Bangladesh to maintain steady economic growth (Ahlquist & Mosley, 2021 Zaman, 2021). Comforting because it shows that the export growth of the RMG industry is stable and alarming because of the country's dependency on one source of foreign income. More than 84% of the total export earnings in 2019–2020 came from garment exports which are both a comforting and alarming issue (BGMEA, 2021a, 2021b Islam, 2021). In the last 25 years, the ready-made garments (RMG) industry has been the most significant source of foreign earnings for Bangladesh (Das et al., 2018 Rahman, 2021 Zaman, 2021).
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