Bangladesh:Knitwear makers mull Turkish partnership

The country's knitwear makers have started conducting a feasibility study on a proposal by Turkish apparel manufacturers to forge a partnership in producing garments in Bangladesh.
With production costs going high in the European country, president of Turkish Knitwear Industrialists Association Mustafa Balkuv on Monday met the country's readymade garment entrepreneurs and expressed willingness to make apparel items on the basis of joint ventures.
The minimum wage of garment workers in Turkey has already crossed US$ 400 a month compared to the government fixed minimum salary of Tk 1,662 (US$ 25 approximately) in Bangladesh.
President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque said he will go to Turkey next month to discuss the issue more as Turkish investors are desperately seeking strategic partnership in Bangladeshi entrepreneurs.
BKMEA has already started collecting relevant data for analyzing the proposal.
Hoque said Turkey, the second largest apparel exporter to European countries after China.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez said since Turkey has technology, own brands and a huge market Bangladesh will be benefited.
Turkey exports apparels, mostly knitwear, to the tune of $20 billion every year. Turkey exports $6 billion garments to Russia alone.
Europe's knitwear market is worth $36 billion.
If the country can become a strategic partner of Turkey in apparel business, Bangladesh has a huge potential to exploit the EU markets, Hoque said.
He said Turkey is now trying to ensure supply to its existing customers.
“It is not possible for Turkey to retain its existing markets by paying higher wages to workers,” Hoque said.
He said Bangladesh's collaboration with Turkey will help local entrepreneurs grab more market shares.
Major market player China is now facing two major problems-- currency appreciation and higher wages of workers.
Recently, rising costs and an appreciation of the yuan are squeezing Chinese cotton textile companies, making nearly half of them want to quit, said a new industry survey conducted by China Cotton Textile Association.
According to the survey, 49.2 percent of the companies said they want to quit and start other businesses.
Meanwhile, for the first time ever exports of knitwear overtook woven products this year as the country's largest export item, with the industry benefiting from large-scale investment in the sector over the past decade.
In the July-January period of this fiscal year Bangladeshi manufacturers exported knitwear items worth $3.014 billion against the total target of the year $5.465 billion.
Behind the leap is the creation of a vibrant yarn and dyeing industry that provides 'backward linkage' as well as the introduction of innovative fashion and design.
These developments are especially attractive for international buyers as domestic production of yarn increases flexibility and greatly reduces lead times, the industry people said.