A high-profile gala event to celebrate a great milestone, not only for the Ananta Group but also the entire Bangladesh was held recently in Dhaka, as the company entered three joint ventures in three specialized categories – suits, high-end sweaters and buttons. The mood at the event was upbeat and people from financial institutions, logistic companies, and most importantly key buyers were present to celebrate the occasion over continental cuisine. Also present at the event were the partners of the joint ventures and Martin Trust, President Brandot International, the man credited for bringing all of them together.
The mutual respect and admiration that the partners had for each other was palpable as Sharif Zahir, MD, Ananta Group took the stage to thank all of them for having confidence in the Group. He admitted that Bangladesh has been confined to few categories and to move up the value chain it was imperative to take support from world leaders who could pave the way for success based on past experience. “In our growth strategy we need to have strong international partnerships where there is knowledge transfer, where there are bigger players or more experienced players, who have been doing business since a long time and can actually transform and bring a lot to Bangladesh,” said Zahir.
Thanking Martin for having faith in Bangladesh, Zahir added, “Around three years back, we met him and encouraged him to come to Bangladesh. Today, thanks to Martin’s past contacts in the industry, we were able to reach out to so many entrepreneurs from around the world like Mao from Shanghai Huaxiang who is a very successful entrepreneur based in China specializing in sweaters; and the T&S Buttons management in Hong Kong, with whom we have recently entered a joint venture to manufacture buttons.” Zahir also praised Chris Long, Director, Time International, who has factories in Romania for partnering with them for the Universal Menswear Factory to produce men’s formal suit. “This is really a new product for Bangladesh and I assure you that the setup we are making is going to be of an international standard, and with all the equipments in place, lot of expats, know-how, it will be one of its kind,” said Zahir with conviction.
Ishtiaq Alam, Director, Ananta Apparels shared the details of the joint ventures with the invitees. “Universal Menswear is a joint venture partnership between Ananta Group and Sweden-based Time International, manufacturing high-end men’s suits; Ananta Huaxiang sweater manufacturing facility is a three-way joint venture between Ananta Group, Shanghai Huaxiang and Brandot International; while T&S Buttons (Bangladesh) is another three-way joint venture between Ananta Group, T&S Buttons Hong Kong and Brandot International,” he informed.
Addressing the audience, Martin got nostalgic and recalled his long journey of forging joint ventures many of which are in Sri Lanka. “The last 41-42 years have been rather extraordinary in a lot of ways. And hopefully what we bring to the party is not just some current know-how, but more important to me is that the joint ventures are planned and executed for the future to keep pace with what’s going to happen in the fashion world in years from now. So something that was accomplished here is the idea of upgrading. That is something we think is critical, not just for the success of our company but for the overall success of the industry. I think it is also important to emphasize that our effort and the effort of so many others in Bangladesh, is not a solitary assignment,” he said.
Expressing happiness to be working with Ananta Group, buyers from Gap, H&M and Next committed to continue sourcing from them. “We are very happy to be in Bangladesh, and we continue to source more and more from here. Working with a progressive vendor like Ananta, is a pleasure and we hope to increase our business with them,” added Pankaj Diwan, Director, Gap Inc. – Bangladesh, Pakistan and South India.
Rounding off the evening with food for thought, Dan Mozena, the US Ambassador to Bangladesh very strongly emphasized that he cannot bring business to the country, it has to be the efforts of the industry to become a force that no one can ignore and business will come on its own. “I can only talk about the wonderful factories and the facilities, but the actual deliveries are what will clinch the deal,” he concluded.
