Bangladesh’s income from garment exports has fallen in the July-November period of this fiscal compared to the same period of the earlier fiscal. This has been attributed to falling demand in the Eurozone, the country’s main market for garment products, and a slump in business competiveness of the sector.

Bangladesh garment exporters want cash incentives. While the country’s apparel exports have taken a hit in recent months those of its competitors are on the rise. The readymade garment sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of the country’s annual export earnings. But the country has lost its market share in global apparel exports by 0.1 percentage point to 6.4 per cent. China still remains the top exporter of apparel products with earnings. India’s market share has come down to 3.3 per cent from 4.1 per cent.

The second biggest apparel exporter globally, the Bangladesh garment manufacturing sector is not having the best of times lately. In the last seven months, 59 garment factories have gone out of business while around 25,900 workers have lost their jobs. Most garment factories are small and medium enterprises and they fail to maintain compliance strictly and pay their workers under the new wage structure.