The ongoing political crisis in Myanmar and the worsening COVID-19 situation in India, have led many international brands and retailers to divert work orders to Bangladesh.
Media reports claimed this underlining that in India a devastating second wave of the coronavirus is continuing and mass protests have been taking place across Myanmar since the military seized control on 1 February even as President of the apex garment makers’ body in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Faruque Hassan has, reportedly, acknowledged that some work orders were shifting from Myanmar but underlined that the shift had little impact on Bangladesh’s garment sector whilst adding the placement of work orders in India had slowed a bit due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but went on to maintain it does not mean that Bangladesh was receiving work orders of India even as former BGMEA President Dr. Rubana Huq on her part, reportedly, stated that export from Bangladesh in the last 15 days has dipped 16 per cent compared to that of last year and the only category that has had growth was knitwear, while woven witnessed a drop of almost 6 per cent between 20 August and 21 April.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, President of the Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB), Md. Saiful Islam, reportedly, maintained that Bangladesh’s leather sector had been receiving an increasing number of work orders over the last couple of months even as he maintained, “Many leather and leather goods companies have shifted orders from Myanmar to Bangladesh because of the political uncertainty.”
According to reports, this shift has helped the recovery of the leather and leather goods shipments recently even as earnings from leather and leather goods shipment were up 8.56 per cent year-on-year to US $ 760.92 million between July and April.
