Textile:

Sector Highlights:

• The fastest growing industry in Bangladesh with RMG accounting for more than 75% of total exports.

• Bangladesh is best placed in the region for textiles and garments because of cheap labor and trade status with the EU.

• Government incentives for the spinning and weaving industries include a 15% cash subsidy of the fabric cost to exporters sourcing fabrics locally.

• There is a huge fabric demand supply gap in the RMG industry which is being me by imports. Thus the potential for backward linkage industry is enormous.

RMG and Backward Linkage :

The phenomenal growth in RMG was experienced in the last decade. With about 2,600 factories and a workforce of 1.4 million, RMG jointly with knitwear accounted for more than 70% of total investments in the manufacturing sector during the first half of the 1990's.

Exhibit: Growth of RMG Exports from Bangladesh (1980-81 to 1999-2000)
In million US$

The growing trend in textile sector presents itself particularly appealing to the foreign investors.