Fortis Group is Bangladesh and Germany jointly owned apparel exporter having five owned production units, currently this group has diversified its business from the mainstream garments industry to real estate, hotel & resort, Infrastructure, footwear, and Agriculture. Unlike many other big business entities in Bangladesh, Fortis Group has a different philosophy. It does not float with the mantra of getting more business ‘at any cost’. Hence the group has a dedicated business wing that works with sustainability. Recently Team Textile Focus talked with a dynamic Industry leader and Managing Director of Fortis Group, Shahadat Hossain. The conversation is drafted below for our readers-
The observation about the $100 billion export target:
Achieving $100 billion is not a very difficult task. It’s easy to achieve the target if we can overcome some challenges like logistic support, port facilities, and most importantly Backward Linkage Support. Right now, the ongoing support from these areas is not capable of meeting the $100 billion target.
The logic behind setting up such green LEED certified sustainable factory:
First of all, I would like to thank our government for encouraging us with recognition and tax support. In this regard, the government has taken a very good initiative. That is why we have the courage to move forward spontaneously towards establishing a sustainable factory.
Another Part of, the most crucial consideration that boosts our interest in green factories is the concern for power, utilities, and water. As the days go by, the challenges of the price will increase for managing these ingredients.
Also Read: Habitus Fashion of Fortis Group achieves LEED Platinum certification
That is why we are harvesting rainwater in all our factories. So that we can reuse it. Being a green factory, we are getting power support from Renewable Solar Panel. To save energy and sustainable growth there is no alternative to Green Factory establishment. That is why we are making all factories green within 2025.
Order situation during this global economic crisis:
We don’t have such order scarcity at this moment. So far, we have enough orders. Because we export to diversified markets. We have buyers from Europe, America, Australia, Japan, and Dubai. As Bangladeshi Manufacturers, we have to go global. Keeping priority on profit, we must not confine ourselves to a single market.
Impact on the business when we will leap from LDC:
There will be a challenge in price. We are working on it. Many factories work manually whereas we work on minute cost. There is no way rather reduce our own costs.
Suggestions to strengthen the Backward Linkage Industry:
We need more Textile plants to reduce the dependency on Fabric import. This is why Government and business bodies should work together to find out the way how we can utilize gas, and electricity efficiently. It won’t be possible to achieve a $100 billion export target depending on other countries, we must have our own backward linkage.
Future Plan:
We are investing in a Polyester synthetic Dyehouse. As we are one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in Bangladesh, we are mostly dependent on China. To strengthen our Capacity, we are investing in synthetic. We are also investing in footwear. As we think, in the next 20 years, there will be huge opportunities in shoes.
