Trousers: The jewel in apparel crown

The simple step that Bangladesh took in the apparel trade four and a half decades ago has proven to be a giant leap as the country has emerged as the second-largest garment exporter globally after China. 

In 1978, Bangladesh started its journey with only a few thousand formal shirts. Today, the country is a dominant player in basic and low segments of the apparel value chain and is now marching ahead to capture more share of the value-added and high-end segments.

Local entrepreneurs have invested more than $25 billion in the industry on top of $20 billion from the primary textile sector, the main supplier of raw materials to the largest foreign currency earner.

Despite stellar growth, 80 per cent of export-oriented garment items are still confined to five items. Trouser is one of them.

In fact, trousers are the strongest item, especially since 2000 when apparel exports to the US began surging. The country is well-known for churning out trousers both for men and women.

In the past, garment shipment was mainly confined to European countries with a high concentration of T-shirts, formal woven shirts and knitted items. But over the years, the US has become the single largest export destination for Bangladesh's garment items, led by trousers.

The item accounted for 34.02 per cent, or $14.50 billion, of the total garment export value of $42.61 billion in the last fiscal year, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Receipts from trousers shipment stood at $9.36 billion and $10.68 billion in 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively.