Workers do a final check of sweaters at a textile factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka. Photo: AFP

More international buyers are coming to Bangladesh despite the global financial recession as they think China, one of the major competitors of Bangladesh, is no more viable for them due to higher prices of apparel items.

"Chinese are no more interested in labour intensive industries like textile and ready-made garment (RMG) sector because of the currency appreciation against the dollar and higher wages of workers," said Rasheduzzaman, a local buyer in Dhaka.

Recently, almost all renowned international retails stores, including Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Marks and Spencer, H and M, Tesco, GAP, Li and Fung, Puma and G-Star, have enhanced their volume of purchase from Bangladesh, said a supplier of the RMG products.

The recent change in the purchase pattern is because Bangladesh is a vital destination for international buyers of readymade garments (RMG) items in the wake of less cost-effectiveness of Chinese apparels.

A strong presence of foreign retail buyers of apparel items from Bangladesh has outshone the growth of local buying houses, as they now focus more on direct purchase from manufacturers, according to sector people.

"Bangladesh is receiving a huge number of orders from international buyers as they have been shifting their orders from China in the age of financial recession," said KI Hossain, owner of Total Apparel, a local buying house.

Up to May, at least 200 new local buying houses have opened in Bangladesh, while the number of such new buying houses was 150 in 2007, said Hossain, also the vice-president of Bangladesh Garment Buying Houses Association (BGBA).

A buying house, a hub for sellers comprising of leading manufacturers, exporters and suppliers, displays their latest and trendiest collection of apparels to a huge audience round the year.

Buyers from across the world can meet sellers at this permanent showroom and source their products as per their exact specifications.

Meanwhile, some international buyers like Sweden based IKEA, a global giant in home textile business, has already opened its liaison office in Dhaka to make any business deal directly with manufacturers.

At the recent inaugural function, the IKEA's local representatives said it would raise its purchases from Bangladesh, mainly home textiles, to 300 million euros from 100 million euros in the next few years.

Talking to The Daily Star, Shahadat Hossain Kiron, chairman of Dekko Group, said although there is no exact statistics of the orders Bangladesh now receive, which are being shifted from China, the country has turned out to be a good destination for outsourcing apparel items.

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