EXPORT TREND OF BANGLADESH: THE DOMINANCE OF READY-MADE GARMENT INDUSTRY

: Ready-made garment (RMG) industry is considered to be the strongest pillar of Bangladesh economy. Since its inception in early 80’s, it has established itself as a major source of export income for Bangladesh. This study is conducted to identify different dimensions of export performance of Bangladesh primarily focusing on the ready-made garment industry of Bangladesh. To accomplish such results, the research technique has been based on information from secondary sources. The study reveals the absolute dominance of RMG sectors over other sectors of the country as its share is almost 81% of the export earnings (24.49 billion USD of RMG export earnings within 30.19 billion USD of total earnings from export in fiscal year 2013-14). Where export was 6.9 billion USD after the end of Multi Fiber Agreement (MFA) in 2005, the export income rose to 11.8 billion USD in 2008. The sector proves its competitiveness against the global and domestic challenges such as world recession, non-tariff barriers, domestic political violence, and compliance pressures as the sector had a turnover of 19.2 billion USD in 2011 and 24.5 billion USD in 2014 (regardless of world recession). The study shows that the EU (as a zone) has been the biggest market with 55% of the total RMG export earning  followed by the United States (as a single country market) holds 23% and 14% of the total exports of Bangladesh exported to emerging markets such as, Australia, Brazil, China, Japan and South Africa. The study also reveals that Bangladesh has been mainly exporting low value based products almost 80% and its high dependency on the EU and USA market. Both product and market diversification are needed for the sustainability of this industry. New markets such as Japan, Russia, and Brazil can be lucrative destination with both high and low value ended products. Cohesive actions from both government and entrepreneurs can ensure a luminous future for this industry.