"Denimsandjeans.com, a website dedicated to the world denim industry since 2007, organised the two-day show in association with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, and German state agency GIZ. Denim makers from Bangladesh and India, Pakistan, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey participated."

Riding on the success of denim show ‘Denim in Fashion Dhaka’ organized by Denimsandjeans.com, Bangladesh has called for foreign investment in denim industry. The country is increasingly becoming a destination for denim business because of its well-established ability to supply huge volumes at comparatively lower prices. International Affairs Adviser to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Gowher Rizvi urged foreign denim manufacturers to invest in Bangladesh’s denim sector as huge opportunities lied with the demand rising. Gowher was addressing as the chief guest at the inauguration of the two-day Denimsandjeans.com Bangladesh show in Dhaka recently.

Gowher said as China was shifting its business from clothing to high-end industry, Bangladesh could take the chance to become the world’s largest supplier of clothing products. He added that the country has made lots of investment in power and infrastructure. “So, foreign investors can come up with your investment here in manufacturing industry. Bangladesh now exports denim products of $2bn annually. The figure will increase and the country wants to raise our 2021 RMG export target.”

Huge potential for denim

At the event, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Acting President Humayun Rashid said Bangladesh should be considered as a place of investment, not a source of import only. Envoy Textile Assistant General Manager (marketing) Rizwanul Karim opined the expo was a platform to inform global consumers as well as the buyers about the capacity of Bangladesh denim industry.

Square Denim deputy manager Muhammad Zakir Hossain opined, since the denim industry is an emerging sub-sector of the RMG industry, the government should offer special policy support on import chemical, an essential ingredient of the products. He said since manpower was available in the country, investment could produce good returns. Nandan Denim director D K Jain explained that Bangladesh is a highly potential country, as it supplies products to the European and to US market.

Strong sourcing destination

Meanwhile, Thomas Dislich, head of Europe and Asia region for Vicunha, the world's largest denim maker expressed his desire to invest in Bangladesh. Denim has a huge potential in Bangladesh given its strong footprint in the global apparel market and reliance on imports to meet 60 per cent of its demand. Bangladesh will remain an unavoidable sourcing destination for jeans for the next one decade at least. There is so much capacity in the country, Dislich observed and added that the demand for denim products are growing around the world by leaps and bounds. Globally, there is demand for a pair of pants per inhabitant every year.

Plus, denim is being used from shoes to caps and in cars and furniture. He went on to praise Bangladesh's recent improvements in the denim sector. Bangladesh is evolving from purely cheap products to diversified products. A lot of new products are coming up. Still, the country will have to make the most of the talent it has.

Sabina Chandrakant Ingale, sourcing head of Bershka, which is part of the Spanish Inditex group said that Bangladesh's denim industry has improved a lot in the last three to four years. She mentioned that 80 per cent of Bershka's denim comes from Bangladesh, with plans to increase sourcing by another 25 per cent over the next two years.

The global denim market is worth $60 billion, according to Sandeep Agarwal, founder of Denimsandjeans.com. Apart from selling denim fabrics directly to Bangladeshi exporters, about 20 manufacturers also sell the fiber to foreign producers directly.

Denimsandjeans.com, a website dedicated to the world denim industry since 2007, organised the two-day show in association with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, and German state agency GIZ. Denim makers from Bangladesh and India, Pakistan, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Turkey participated. ‘Denim in Fashion Dhaka’ event displayed jeans and denim products along with fabrics to local and foreign jeans manufacturers.