Bangladesh Textile and Garment Industry

This book is the revised version of the authors Ph.D dissertation approved by the Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University, Japan. The book evaluates the structure, structural changes and international competitiveness of the Bangladesh textile and garment industry. The domestic and export sectors of the industry differ from each other in raw material usage, product type, product quality, manufacturing technology, manufacturer, marketer and target customer. The sourcing, production and distribution channels of the industry have been changing over the time period. The export- quota system has enhanced the surface-level competitiveness of the industry to international markets through quantitative expansion. Moreover, some qualitative changes such as product diversification and product upgradation for enhancing the deep-level competitiveness have also taken place in the industry. However, Bangladeshs position remains far behind as compared with other exporters such as India or China. The long-term sustainability of the industry requires equal and simultaneous consideration of both the surface and deep-level performance enhancement.