International Affairs Adviser to Prime Minister Gowher Rizvi was addressing as the chief guest at the inauguration of a two-day Denim and Jeans.com Bangladesh show that displayed jeans and denim products along with fabrics to local and foreign jeans manufacturers in Dhaka yesterday urged foreign denim manufacturers to invest in Bangladesh’s denim sector as huge potential lied with the demand rising.

Gowher said that Bangladesh has become a global player in manufacturing RMG products and there is no reason that it cannot be the number one manufacturer in the world.

As China was shifting its business from clothing to high-end industry, Bangladesh could take the chance to become the world’s largest supplier of clothing products.

Bangladesh has made lots of investment in power and infrastructure. So the foreign investors can come up with their investment in Bangladesh’s manufacturing industry. It is high time to invest in Bangladesh’s denim industry as the country is increasingly becoming a lucrative place of sourcing denim products, claiming that by 2021 Bangladesh’s denim export will reach $7bn.

Envoy Textile Assistant General Manager (marketing) Rizwanul Karim said that the expo was a platform to inform the global consumers as well as the buyers about the capacity of Bangladesh Denim industry. The demand of Denim fabrics is increasing both locally and internationally. The growth is now 15%-20% annually.

Square Denim deputy manager Muhammad Zakir Hossain said that the denim industry was an emerging sub-sector of the RMG industry, the government should offer special policy support on import chemical, an essential ingredient of the products and since the manpower was available in the country, investment could produce good returns.

Considering the rise of demand, Square Denim are going to increase production capacity to 2m yards from existing 1.5m yards per month, Zakir said.

Bangladeshi manufacturers need to now also focus on research and development, making fabrics with different items to draw global buyer’s attention to become the best in the sector.

Indian company Nandan Denim is also participating in the expo as Bangladesh is a good source of garment products, even India imports from Bangladesh.

Director DK Jain said that Bangladesh is highly potential country for them as it supplies products to the European and United States market.

Bangladesh now exports denim products of $2bn annually. The figure will increase and they want to raise their 2021 RMG export target.

According to Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Acting President Humayun Rashid, Bangladesh should be considered as a place of investment, not a source of import only.