Bangladesh’s four prominent international trade shows for garment and textile industry that were held concurrently – 18th Garmentech; 2nd Printing & Packaging International Expo; 10th Yarn & Fabrics Sourcing Fair and 10th Gapexpo 2019 proved quite fruitful for the exhibitors as well as visitors. Held recently, together under one roof at International Convention Centre, Bashundhara (ICCB), the shows were spread over 10 halls. Nearly 510 companies from more than 24 countries displayed their latest product offerings. As per the organisers’ record, 17,451 visitors attended the shows. Zakaria Trade and Fair International; ASK Trade and Exhibitions; Bangladesh Garment Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA) organised these events.
The expositions were inaugurated by Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Minister of Industries, along with other dignitaries. Nurul appreciated the efforts of Bangladesh entrepreneurs and assured full support to the garment industry. Industry representatives like Abdul Kader Khan, President BGAPMEA and Md. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, President, FBCCI, raised various issues about the industry. One of the prominent issues was about the quality, connectivity and predictability regarding power. Bigwigs of apparel manufacturing technology like Jack, Juki, Brother, Pegasus, Gerber Technology, Eastman, Richpeace, Highlead and Euromac were upbeat about the rising trend of automation in the country and the same could be seen in the products being showcased at their booths. All of them had a plethora of products on display, right from basic technology to high-end special machines, capable of performing critical operations with minimum human intervention and maximum productivity. Most of the technology suppliers, with whom Apparel Resources technical team met, were convinced that rising wages in the country will further make garment exporters invest more in automation.
“Garment exporters have no other option than moving more towards automation and, to capitalise on the same, we are reinforcing our R&D division. We will add whole automatic trousers and chino pants’ technology within our product basket and will promote ourselves not just as denim technology providers but as all kinds of bottoms’ seller,” said Johan Grieten, Manager Development & Member of the Board, Euromac.
Moreover, Indian companies like IIGM, Cheran Machines, DCC, Winsome Yarns Limited, GTN Industries were also present at the events and were happy with the growth opportunities in the Bangladesh market. One such Indian company was Shree Lamipack, Ghaziabad which offers a wide variety of products like self-adhesive tapes, self-adhesive labels, barcode etc. Apurba Chakraborty, Regional Business Manager of the company shared, “We are participating in this event from many years and even at this time, the footfall is good.”
Team Apparel Resources met many quality visitors during these shows and found that despite all internal and external challenges of apparel export, they are expanding and are geared up for further growth. The interesting fact that came up was that new players from other sectors like trims are coming into apparel manufacturing. Multiplus Industries Ltd./Polybag Mgf. Co. (Bangladesh), an established player in trims’ segment, is now venturing into jeans and trouser manufacturing with a factory of 50 to 70 lines. Khaza Motaher Hossain, VP of the company shared that having in-house support of trims’ manufacturing is an added advantage for them. Apart from this edge, good demand also motivated him to start a garment unit. Similarly, Edison Group is focusing on garmenting and started initially with 17 lines.
As innovation in products is the key, most of the visitors were keen to explore those products that could assist them with this emerging concept. Shaker Ahmed, Director, SM Group, Bangladesh (having more than 120 lines) was exploring new kinds of yarns and fabric as his focus is more on new products development. Priority for Md. Matiur Rahman, Director, Essential Clothing, Bangladesh were all those which could reduce cost or add value to his products. “Be it technology or raw material, wherever we can reduce the cost or can add value, we will surely go for that. With the same purpose, I visited Garmentech,” he added. The events also witnessed some visitors from overseas like Ashok Budhathoki, Chairman and Varun Dawadi MD of Himalayan Cowboys, Kathmandu (Nepal). “The event is really helpful to explore hi-tech machines and we have also finalised orders for some machines,” informed Ashok. A lot of mid-level professionals from various factories, buying offices and departments visited the events like Md. Fazley Elahi, Head, R&D- Fabric Division, DBL Group and SK Asadut Daulla, Asst. Manager- IE, Utah Fashion Ltd. Md. Zulfikar Ali, DGM-Production, BSA Group of Companies shared, “I like the machine for label attachment and elastic joining as it reduces the manpower requirement.” The company, with nearly 10,000 sewing machines, works with Walmart and many other such prestigious companies.
“Garmentech Bangladesh 2019, with concurrent sourcing shows under one roof, is positioned as a complete sourcing forum for all stakeholders in the RMG sector. As the RMG sector is on a fast track to reach the target of US $ 50 billion of exports by 2021, increasing factory efficiency and adopting practices that allow for the manufacturing of smaller production runs without significantly increasing costs are areas that were addressed in-depth at the shows. We hope it will prepare the sector to reduce lead times, will greatly enhance the appeal of Bangladesh to higher-end labels,” informed Tipu Sultan Bhuyian, CEO, Zakaria Trade & Fair International.
