Industry promoting to new markets including Gulf as exports fall in US and Europe Garment industry employs four million people and accounts for 80% of nation’s exports DHAKA: Bangladesh has reported significant growth in garment exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the last year, as the South Asian nation boosts efforts to expand its key market in the Gulf. The garment sector accounts for 80 percent of the country’s exports and 11 per cent of its GDP. Four million people work in the industry and Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest supplier of clothes after China. The country made $42.6 billion between July 2021-June 2022 from garment exports, with the EU and the US the biggest markets. However, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said that sales had dropped in traditional markets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting a reorientation of its promotion strategy to other areas, especially the Middle East. “We have been trying to increase dependency on non-traditional markets, so we targeted the Gulf and Middle Eastern countries,” Mohiuddin Rubel, director of the association, told Arab News. Its data shows sharp growth in exports to the region, especially Saudi Arabia, where they increased 40 per cent in the last financial year to $125 million. In the UAE, they grew 21 percent to $183 million. “To boost our export potential to the Kingdom and other Middle Eastern markets, we have been trying to increase our presence in this region. Last week, we just concluded the Bangladesh Expo in Riyadh, where our garment exporters were the key participants. It was a part of our promotional campaign,” Rubel said. “The more we can reach the Saudi local brands, the more it will be beneficial for us. Definitely, there are immense potentials over there.” Prof. Mustafizur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka told Arab News that opportunities were indeed there for Bangladeshi producers. “The Middle East imports a significant amount of apparel every year and Bangladesh’s share is very small. It’s mainly China, India, and others. There is an opportunity for the replacement of those exporting countries by Bangladesh.” As about 2.5 million Bangladeshis live and work in Saudi Arabia, and another 700,000 in the UAE, they are also a target group in the efforts to introduce Bangladeshi products in the region. Rahman said the large numbers were a captive crowd. “That is another advantage for us.”