New Delhi, 9^th February 2023: Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has collaborated with SOWTEX to organize a Textile Sourcing Meet here in Delhi which was attended by the representatives from Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Indian Textile Industry.

Shri T. Rajkumar informed that a high-level delegation of BGMEA including its President Mr. Faruque Hassan, Vice – President BGMEA and Chairman of Classic Group Mr. Shahidullah Azim, Chairman & MD of Sparrow & Crown Garments, Mr. Shovon Islam and many more, is on a four-day visit to India for close interactions with top Indian Textile Manufacturers to scale-up Textile Exports from India to Bangladesh. Apart from Delhi, such Textile Sourcing Meets are also planned in Ahmedabad and Surat on the 10^th and 11^th of February 2023.

Shri Rajkumar further said that Bangladesh is one of the strongest and oldest trade partners of India and both countries share strong cultural, political, and economic relations. He opined that there is a huge potential for synergies between the two countries and as Bangladesh is looking to accelerate the RMG exports to US$100 Billion by 2030, India has the potential to increase its textile exports to Bangladesh to about US$ 15 bn from current levels of about US$ 4.2 bn in next 3-5 years. India need not set new capacities for the same. There is already about 20-50% of idle capacities, particularly in fabric mills and processing houses which can be effectively deployed in a faster and shorter period by using the Tech Gateway Integration platforms such as of SOWTEX.

He further cited that often there have been issues between the two countries related to faster communication, on-time delivery, Quality & Timely Payments. To deal with the same, both countries need to work closely towards Harmonisation and Mutual recognition of Standards and Procedures on both sides and we should also explore possibilities of Rupee Trade which is an effective way to mitigate the spillovers of the global change, especially the challenges faced on account of currency volatility and reserve changes

BGMEA president Mr. Faruque Hassan said that so far Bangladesh has grown through volume business. However, now they are planning to grow through fiber diversification, innovations in design and application, etc. and for this, a Center for Excellence is being created. He cited that as India specializes in the upstream segment which complements our downstream industries, both countries can collaborate to create their own brands.

He further said that with more ports opened up besides Benapole, logistic issues between the two countries have eased a lot. Moreover, seven new land ports are being constructed which will help grow Bangladesh exports further and indirectly of India as well, as each dollar export increases from Bangladesh, results in increase in exports to Bangladesh of not just textile inputs, but dyes and chemicals, machinery, etc. from India.

Besides improving sourcing, CITI and BGMEA are planning to coordinate for creating green factories in India.

Shri Rajkumar concluded by Saying that India and Bangladesh both today have ambitious visions and targets for their textile sector. More collaborative efforts to supplement our strengths would surely help both countries in emerging stronger in the global Textile Value Chain and also take our mutual Textile Trade to new heights.