The apparel and textile sector are currently in a difficult situation as a result of the entire shutdown, curfew, internet blackout, and general vacations surrounding the quota reform movement. People who are involved claim that this industry has suffered irreversible damage as a result of the internet outage in particular. At last, four or five days later, the industrial districts of the nation came back to activity. As a result, economic activity has rebounded. Nonetheless, orders and losses worry businesses. Business activities are still not going back to how they were before. Aside from seven or eight hours during the day, businesses are having a great deal of trouble because of the ongoing curfew, restricted internet access, and restricted financial activities. Although production has begun to return to normal following the easing of the curfew and the restoration of the internet, business owners warn that it could take up to three months for things to get back to normal.
Exporters report that on Wednesday, the internet was largely restored. Calls aren’t feasible on WhatsApp, though. They are not becoming more confident despite our conferences and Zoom communication. They no longer want to take chances going forward as a result of everything. We still can’t seem to persuade them. They are losing money as a result of port congestion and industry closures. Due to the delay in shipments, purchasers will force us to transport products via air, which will raise our expenses. We shall be troubled by this issue in the future. Obtaining orders has proven to be difficult while the internet was down. They think there will be a significant obstacle in recovering the image. Stakeholders in the industry have demanded action to stop scenarios like this from happening again.
Some of the factories that were closed because of the curfew reportedly started up again last Tuesday. The following Wednesday, most of the surviving factories went back into operation. Production in companies that produce clothing, textiles, plastics, steel, cement, and other materials is said to have begun on Tuesday morning in a number of locations, including the Dhaka metropolitan region, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, and Bhaluka in Mymensingh. The majority of people went back to their jobs. The majority of Chittagong’s factories began operating last Tuesday. Additionally, factories in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) in Chittagong and Karnaphuli have reopened. Workers in the clothing industry have shown up for work despite the continuous curfew. In this instance, officials, mid-level managers, and employees view the factory identity card as a curfew pass. At the same time, things have started to return to normal at Chittagong Port. The beginning of the export of goods has put more pressure on the import of goods. As a result, there is ongoing congestion inside the port. All clothing manufacturers have reportedly started up again, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). But now, company owners are concerned about timely delivery of imported raw materials. They do not want any additional bureaucratic complexities in this area because they have already lost forty to fifty hours of work. For many, handling this setback will be difficult.
The BGMEA reports that the apparel industry exports goods valued at $450 million on average each month. This is equivalent to 1,600 crore taka, or $15 million, every day. According to Mohammad Hatem, Executive President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), the industry lost around $100 million during the days of the movement-induced standoff. Transportation of products was reportedly hindered after the quota reform campaign got violent in mid-July, according to sources. When the fighting intensified on July 18, the majority of companies and factories closed. Mobile internet had already been removed earlier, and broadband was turned off starting that evening.
On July 19, the army was sent around the nation and a curfew was enforced starting at midnight. Factory production was suspended. Shipments from industries to the port were suspended as a result of the transit ceasing. The internet connectivity outage caused delays in the shipment of export commodities that had already arrived at the port prior to this scenario.
The port was not releasing imported raw materials for industry for the same reason. After limited broadband internet access was restored on Tuesday night and import-export commodities traffic restarted under security escort, things started to return to normal on Wednesday. Tuesday night’s meeting between BGMEA and BKMEA leaders and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal resulted in this decision.
According to economist Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, the economy was already under strain due to the recent unstable economic conditions, and the new circumstances have made matters worse. It is imperative to attain political consensus in certain sectors and learn from past mistakes for the nation’s economic success. Industry participants stated that worries about missing orders arose from the difficulty of contacting buyers during the internet outage. In addition, there were more issues with products shipping at the port. Exporters consequently had to deal with medium- and long-term losses. To get past this, entrepreneurs want a solid business environment. They claimed that after the internet was fixed, contact with customers started up again. We will need a week to fully comprehend the order negotiating process, the penalties that purchasers will impose, and the extent of our work.
Besides, S.M. Mannan Kochi, President of the BGMEA, expressed concerns on a possible waning of foreign customers’ trust and dependence on us. In addition, BGMEA Vice President Abdullah-Hil Rakib, the general holiday declaration cost us five working days. Most factories had 2-3 hours of additional work to make up for the loss. Even more garment workers were sent home on their own initiative. To accelerate the shipment of the products we were unable to ship on time, we are requesting the assistance of Chittagong Port and all NBR agencies.
Furthermore, BKMEA Executive President Muhammad Hatem, knit factories have reopened all around the nation. There haven’t been any violent occurrences anywhere because of the vigilant law enforcement. Every factory has commenced operating at maximum capacity. On the other hand, problems with raw material supply chains resulted in reduced working hours for employees in certain industries. Employees at these factories were given time off ahead of schedule. We were unable to email several documents because of the internet outage, according to BKMEA Vice President Fazle Shamim Ehsan. We do not know if we will get paid on schedule. Many businesses will lose orders as a result of the delay in sending samples. ones from Bangladesh might not arrive on schedule, whereas ones from China or India most certainly will. After that, buyers will have to select samples from other people. These are persistent problems.
The Pacific Jeans Group’s Managing Director, Syed Mohammad Tanvir, stated that we were unable to fulfill multiple orders’ worth of merchandise on schedule because of plant closures. We also experienced a production delay. Since the internet went back up, we have been in contact with buyers. Next week, these matters will be made clear. Data from EPB shows that in the fiscal year 2022–2023, Bangladesh made $55.55 billion from exports. 84.58% of the total export revenue, or $46.99 billion, came from the export of garments. The curfew that followed the fighting and chaos severely damaged the apparel industry, which is the biggest earner of foreign exchange. This was because the banking system and internet services were shut down.
