
Official data shows that Chinese investment in Bangladesh totalled US $ 280 million in the 2023–24 fiscal year, quadrupling from the previous fiscal year. This is despite the fact that the fiscal year 2023-24 saw the lowest FDI in the previous three years. Additionally, a Bangladesh Bank research emphasises that the RMG industry draws the most foreign investment. It is anticipated that Chinese textile companies would continue their investment boom.
China’s 24-year-old vertically integrated Bettex Group, having a turnover of around US $ 750 million, is one such company that is enthusiastic about its investment and expansion in Bangladesh. With a strong hold on yarn, fabric production and also offering a large range of products like sweaters, outerwear, woven, activewear, workwear, the group has a global presence with marketing and design offices in Europe, America, Spain, Italy, UK, China, India and Japan. The Bettex Group started its Bangladesh operations in 2019 with a small office and focused on trading. It now has manufacturing operations and is working with a long-term massive expansion plan.
In an exclusive discussion with Apparel Resources, Frank Yi, Chairman of the group and Avanish Walia, Director, Sourcing and Marketing in Bangladesh, shared details about the expansion plan and focus on the country.
The group’s presence in Bangladesh increased post-pandemic as Frank realised that this would open a world of opportunities. In addition to Bangladesh’s advantages such as its low production costs, skilled labour pool and ecosystem, China’s problems such as a lack of workers and RMG’s decline in importance were the main factors behind the company’s increased focus on Bangladesh.
Keeping these factors in mind and experiencing good growth, the Bettex Group bought a sweater manufacturing factory and started its outerwear unit with some of the mergers and acquisitions being in the discussion stage. Overall the group has two sweater facilities and one outerwear facility in Bangladesh and maintains strategic partnerships with over eight manufacturers, producing around 9 million pieces annually. The expansion plan includes doubling manufacturing capacity in the next one to two years with the company also starting dyeing operations recently.
Currently, Bangladesh is contributing 12 per cent to the group’s turnover which is expected to increase significantly in the next two to three years.
The company has taken three acres of land and will make two buildings – one for woven products and one for warehousing. It will have seven floors (each floor spanning around 25,000 sq. ft. area) and in the long term, its vision is to make an industrial zone.
“There are many Chinese textile, apparel and accessories companies that wish to explore Bangladesh and we want to be instrumental for such companies. This cluster of various Chinese companies will help each other and an ecosystem will be developed within the cluster. Along with the companies investing here, this ecosystem will benefit the workers of these factories as we will also have better facilities for them like accommodation, medical facilities and education for their children,” said Frank.
Bettex Group believes in having strong supply chain control and a thrust on marketing, thus it has also established its overseas offices with a strong team that help the company to excel in business. As of now, Europe, Japan and the US are the core markets for the company. Its future plans also include selling ‘Made in Bangladesh’ products in China.
“Our fabric production will remain in China and garment manufacturing focus will be on Bangladesh which will help us remain cost-competitive. We have robust technology and product but the markets have not been explored completely, but irrespective of short-term challenges, we are quite optimistic about our future plans,” informed Avanish Walia.
Bangladesh’s stronghold on sustainability is another critical factor for Bettex Group to expand operations in the country. “We are embracing sustainability in every aspect of our business since without sustainability, we can’t grow the business with top brands and retailers,” said Frank.
The group’s focus on sustainability can be seen right from the raw materials being used to the company’s policies and infrastructure. The majority of its products use sustainable fibres, recycled cotton and recycled polyester, and for governance, the focus is to keep its people continuously motivated by investing in them using training, different incentives and an employee-friendly work environment.
The company is continuously exploring new opportunities like Myanmar, however, it has not found a country suitable for its buyers. Thus Bangladesh has become the best option. The company has worked with many top brands and retailers including Zara, Walmart, Primark, Mango, Kmart, C&A, RiverIsland, Tally, Teddy, LIDL, JCPenney etc. All of these buyers have a strong sourcing base in Bangladesh. “We work in a way that we can be always among the top three partners for our customers. All our investments target and manage the market’s pain point or customers’ demanding areas. We have observed that for RMG, global buyers have trust in Bangladesh,” says Frank.
We are embracing sustainability in every aspect of our business since without sustainability, we can’t grow the business with top brands and retailers. Frank Yi, Chairman, Bettex Group |
Going forward, the company’s focus is also to increase its operations in India since its Indian office has recently started. Working with Indian companies like Aditya Birla and Reliance Retail, Bettex plans to add more Indian corporate clients. There are some cultural differences in these countries and to overcome issues like language barriers, time and resource-saving regarding travelling, visa approvals and more, the company’s thrust is to have a strong and dedicated team. To ensure growth, the Bettex Group is continuously utilising the competitive advantage across Bangladesh, China and India, integrating strengths in a way that can create a win-win for all stakeholders in business.
The vision is to use low-cost Chinese raw materials, cost-competitive RMG manufacturing in Bangladesh and to cater to the massive Indian and global markets. At the same time, the company is also targeting Bangladesh and India for its yarn and fabric business. With its own yarn and fabric production in China with the digital platform Threadify, the group offers a virtual library of yarn, fabric and trims and is like a one-stop solution for quality raw material.
“We are open to various opportunities and challenges and are firm on growth,” concludes Frank.