India, Bangladesh need to work together in textile sector: High Commissioner

The Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh has said that both countries need to work together to tap the benefits of global textile industry changes.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the manufacturing is “increasingly” shifting to countries in South and Southeast Asia due to the cost advantages offered.

“Rapid economic growth and rising disposable incomes are contributing to fast growth in apparel consumption in the developing countries,” he said.

“India and Bangladesh need to work together to take advantage of these opportunities by creating and strengthening cross border value chains”.

The High Commissioner was speaking at a technical symposium on “Current Trends in Textiles” organised by Grasim Industries Ltd (Aditya Birla Group) in Dhaka on Monday night.

The Readymade Garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh has seen impressive growth over the years accounting for more than 80 percent of the total exports earnings of the country.

After India granted duty free quota free access to Bangladesh in 2011, the RMG exports to India have more than doubled to $136.4 million in 2015-16 from $55 million in 2011-12.

In 2015-16, Bangladesh’s RMG exports to India grew by 31 percent. Bangladesh’s overall exports to India have also increased by 30.82 percent at the same time.

India also supplies a large part of critical inputs such as cotton and manmade fibres, yarn and fabric, and chemicals for the Bangladesh RMG industry.

As the industry strives to meet the target of exporting $50 billion per year by 2021, its linkages with the Indian textiles industry will be “critical”, the High Commissioner said.

“Besides being the top cotton producer in the world, India possesses huge capacities for producing yarn and fabric, and is also amongst the largest manufacturers of manmade fibres, yarn and fabric,” he said.

“As a neighbour, India is ideally positioned to supply these inputs at lower prices and with lower lead times to the Bangladesh RMG industry”.

Apart from cotton supplies, the demand of manmade fibres like the viscose staple fibre – the flagship product of Grasim Industries – and ‘technical textiles’ which is being used in industries such as defence, healthcare, construction, and sports have also grown.

“Manmade fibres and technical textiles are already amongst the fastest growing areas in the Indian textiles industry, and India can also meet Bangladesh’s demand for these items,” the envoy said. 

He, however, urged Bangladesh to invest in India to take full advantage of the growth and size of the Indian market of 1.3 billion people.

“Make in India programme launched by the Government of India offers significant advantages to companies investing in India”.

India has earlier invited Bangladesh RMG industry to attend ‘Textiles India 2017’ being organised in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from Jun 30-Jul 2.

The High Commissioner hoped that Bangladesh RMG industry would participate in large numbers in the expo.