Textile Industry Scenario of Bangladesh-1
Introduction
Industrialization plays a vital role in accelerating the economic development of a country. It offers substantial dynamic benefits that are important for changing the traditional structure of the less developed economy, and the advocacy of industrialization may be particularly compelling for primary export countries that confront problems of a lagging export demand while having to provide employment for a rapidly increasing labor force.
In a predominantly agricultural country like Bangladesh, industrialization is one of the most significant processes in economic development of the country in so far as industries process agricultural product into manufactured goods, supply both consumers and producers goods mostly for the use by the people of the country, great job opportunities for employment of the growing labor force, earn foreign exchange through exports of the goods; save foreign exchange by substituting imports of the goods; generate income for investment in various sector of the economy; reduce dependence on foreign countries for essential commodities and develop backward regions of the country there by correcting regional imbalances in the industrial sector.
The present Bangladesh has a sizeable number of industries mostly inherited from the pre-liberation days. The large scale manufacturing industries in Bangladesh consist of about a thousand enterprises each employing, on the average, just over 300 workers. The contribution of these industries to economic development of the country can be seen mainly in terms of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The rationale of industrialization: the background of General and Asian experience specially for Bangladesh
Recent researches have supported a shift away from the old obsession that industry plays a predominant role in economic development. Even in advanced capitalistic countries (like the U.S.A, U.K., Belgium, Australia and Japan), results of investigation have supported the conclusion that the direct contribution of man-hours and capital accumulation hardly account for more than 10 p.c. of the rate of growth in per capita product, the large remainder being assignable to increase in efficiency in that productive resources i.e. a rise in out put per input unit is either due to the improved quality of the resources or to the effects of changing arrangements, proved quality of the resources or to the effect of changing arrangements, or to the impact of technological change or to all three.
The Denison study of the U.S. pattern of growth has reinforced the above conclusion with a clear indication that in modern economic growth, “the ratio of capital to output was kept down by capital-saving innovations, investment in human training and other arrangements producing greater output with diminished relative supply of natural resources and even of productive capital”. For the capital-poor less developed countries, this advantage of reduction in the relative shares of contribution to growth is not available simply because of the status of underdevelopment (in which the economies of scale and spread of technical knowledge are matters of long range growth dependent on the growth process it self). The situation in the poor developing countries, especially in the problem-infested economy of Bangladesh, is characterized by-
(a) Serious scarcity of capital,
(b) Lack of opportunities of capital-saving labor-intensive technical change, and
(c) Inability to resist application of capital-intensive technology in industrialization.
In fact, for industrialization, the contemporary poor developing countries need the technology (which was less capital-intensive) developed more than hundred years back by the present developed countries, but such a technology does not exist today; that was scrapped long time back for the evolution of the modern technology which suits the relative factor endowments of these developed countries. The critical issues thus revolve round a central problem that they need to develop the growth-including sources of contribution before achieving sustaining growth; issues of industrialization stem from the same.
Industrialization needs heavy investment, which is justified on the grounds of induced structural changes (e.g., rise in the relative importance of manufacturing industry change in the composition of industrial output and change in production techniques) which are growth producing. Industrial growth is, however, primarily caused by the process of import-substitution, growth in final demand and growth in intermediate demand arising out of the former two. It is even possible to interpret patterns of industrial growth in the various regions as well as in the developed vis-à-vis underdeveloped countries in terms of a Eros-section analysis of the above three causes as the main variables. While the processes contributing to growth are important and dynamic, the emphasis on the investment criterion is often misplaced. Investigation has established that even for European countries, any systematic association between growth and investment is almost non-existent; investment itself is not a sufficient condition for a rapid industrial growth because in the sample, “no country achieved very fast growth without a high rate of investment whereas a large number of countries which were investing substantially failed to grow rapidly. This investment condition is certainly likely to be more insufficient for growth in the Asian poor countries and more so in Bangladesh where the inadequate industry structure has been continuously strained by non-economic factors of allocation of resources.
On economic considerations, the problem of choice for investment criteria based on production techniques is, indeed, vital. But this problem of choice of techniques is intermingled with that of the choice of industries and their scales. Investment allocation to large-scale factory production does not produce employment-relief in the situation of a huge backlog of unemployment and high rate of growth in the labor force; and allocation of investment to the textile industry sector increases the opportunities of employment-relief. But decision making on allocation of recourses just on the basis of the above broad employment implication may not be feasible.
There cannot be any fixed pattern of combination of large, small and textile industry obtainable from a study of a typical group of developing countries that can be prescribed as the best or the second best optimality in recourse allocation. Emperical studies of the experience of Asian countries have concluded that the analysis of the problem of the textile sector and the factory sector need be treated separately, because the working of the mechanism of capital accumulation and growth is different and the criteria for the choice problems are also different between the two sectors. The comprehensive study by Ishikawa concludes:
“Once the difference in the patterns of production functions among the different branches of industries is taken into consideration, it will become evident that text-book type discussions on the problems of choice of techniques or scales of production in complete isolation from the choice of industries is unrealistic; the actual choice of the former is always influenced or sometimes even governed by the choice of the latter and, speaking more realistically, both choices are interdependent. In addition to these interdependent decisions, the smallness of the national economy and the availability of national investment resources also assume important roles as additional constraints.
All these countries including the limitations of choice are formidable for Bangladesh where even the current non-investment requirements of resources could not be reasonably met. In this economy, although planning efforts are officially pursued, the really efficient allocation criteria can hardly be conceived in the midst of so many priorities of irresistible character.
The First Five Year Plan, which has already greatly outlived its discipline by the first combat with the realities during the first year, envisaged a five-year investment target of tk.895 core (of which only 15.6% was earmarked for the private sector and this is to be limited to small and large textile industry). This program is expected to create about 6,00,000 job opportunities in the ratio of 1:5.37 for the public and private sectors which implies an investment cost of a job creation at Tk.77, 500 for the public sector and Tk.3, 000 for the private sector. Where the planning of the public sector job creation at a capital cost 29 times higher than that for a private sector job creation is justified or not will depend on guidance from a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis designed for the purpose.
The Plan document does not provide any guidance nor indications of the required technical analysis; even the evaluation of economic development in 1973-74 (the first year of the execution of the plan, if this can be considered as execution) published by the planning Commission does not attempt a checking of the basis of the assumption with reference to results of application in the projects and programmers concerned.
A close examination of the composition of the proposed industry programmer will convince anybody that the Planning Commission aims to lead the forces of industrialization on the tracks of capital-intensive investment allocations only to aggravate the already critical resource constraints in the country. As a first taste of this aggravation, the poor performance of industrial product in 1973/74 is known to have been largely caused by a significant short fall in the volume of imports in real terms even for a little better operation of existing capacity.
List of Industries
Private industries
Government industries
Jute industries
Fertilizer
Chemicals
Textile
Sugar
Paper
Ship Building
Soft Drinks
Electronics
Cement
Automobile
Servicing-Electricity/Gas
Electronics
Cement
Steel
Soft Drinks
Melamine
Garments
Pharmaceuticals
Textile
Jute
Ceramics
Lather
Soft ware
Steel
Automobile
Fishing
Packaging
Ship Building
Garments Backward linkage
Chemicals
Electricity
Fertilizer
Paper
Small and Cottage
Tourism
Good Performing Industries:
a) Garments
b) Pharmaceuticals
c) Soft ware
d) Fertilizer
e) Servicing (Electricity/Gas)
f) Garments backward linkage
g) Small and Cottage
h) Cement
i) Ceramics
j) Paper
k) Lather
l) Melamine
Industries falling into Danger:
a) Jute
b) Steel
c) Sugar
d) Textile
e) Ship Building
Those industries, which have good future:
Software industry
Garment’s backward linkage
Pharmaceuticals
Small and cottage
Tourism
List of Textile Mills
PRIME TEXTILE SPIN MILLS LIMITED (12002)
BEXIMCO TEXTILE LIMITED (12007)
BEXIMCO KNITTING LIMITED (12010)
PADMA TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12011)
ASHRAF TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12020)
MITA TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12021)
SONARGAON TEXTILE LIMITED (12022)
HR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12024)
TAMIJUDDIN TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12026)
SAIHAM TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12030)
SREEPUR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12014)
EAGLE STAR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12016)
DYNAMIC TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12019)
Types of Textile Mills:
Generally we can see two types of textile mills. They are-
a) Oven and Knit Fabric
b) Only Knit Fabric
Some names of Oven and Knit fabrics are-
Asian Textile
Sinha Textile
HR Textile
Sayham Textile
Hamza Textile
Satarupa Textile
Finix Textile
Nayagra Textile
Mymun Textile
Beximco Textile
Only Knit Fabric Textile mills are-
Padma Poly Cotton
Saqura Knytex
Epylon Knitex
Beximco Knittting Limited
Prime Textile and Knitting
National Crafts Council of Bangladesh
National Crafts Council of Bangladesh (NCCB) contacted early in 2003 The Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka with plans for the publication of a book on the major textiles traditions of Bangladesh, tracing their evolution from the trade for royal courts and luxury European demand to fine products for the contemporary marketplace
The presentation of an exhibition where it will be demonstrated how traditional artisans could interact with designers and craft developers to innovate and diversify their products
The organization of workshops to explore the importance of developing institutional support for handloom textiles so as to ensure a high-value market and to develop future strategies for the promotion of the handloom sector
“Design without Borders” (DwB) was asked to see how our development program would be able to contribute in such a context.
Design and product development in Bangladesh
”Design without Borders” needed more information about the above-mentioned projects, as well as about Bangladesh in general; in order to make feasible suggestions and to see which role DwB might play in the development of design in textile production in Bangladesh. Our focus was on
(1) Design and product development (textile crafts and jute fiber)
(2) Design education
Both BNCC and the jute project focus on production for export. ”Design without Borders” has not earlier been involved in export-oriented projects and accordingly do not have marketing and export expertise.
We started on our talks with the elected leaders of the National Crafts Council of Bangladesh, the participants in Norad’s jute project, representatives from a couple of design institutions and other crafts or design organizations. All we have met have been most helpful and have also led us on to new contacts. We are very grateful for all the information we have been given. Should there be incorrect information in this report, this reflects on us and not on our sources.
This report has textiles as its theme. Obviously, it offers no comprehensive description of the overall situation for Bangladeshi textiles and textile production. There are certainly limitations to our knowledge. One important limitation is imposed by the programmer profile of Design without Borders itself. Another limitation is the number of people we managed to talk to and the interests they were representing, and even if we managed to get hold of some interesting literature in Dhaka, we do not contend that this literature is covering the entire field.
After defining some of the terms used in the report, there is a short introduction to Bangladesh in order to give the reader a little background information. There is also an overview of the textile and clothing industry, its importance to the Bangladeshi economy and the challenges it will meet after 2004. This chapter also covers the locally grown fibre, jute. Chapter 6 on the crafts businesses and NGOes gives an introduction to Bangladeshi textile crafts as well as a description of the handloom industry. After that on product design we try to describe some of the particular challenges of working with textile design in Bangladeshi, and also present a number of design models. Lastly, we discuss the different markets available to Bangladeshi textiles. Foreign donors in Bangladesh also cover design education here while concentrate on suggestions for future involvement in the area of textile design and product development.
Naturally, one cannot write a report on design development without running into dilemmas. The basic one is formulated by Jackie Corlett, woven textile designer, in her MA Thesis:
“Developing design skills would be wasted if used only to design new products for the richer nations…There are however a host of problems local to these designers that are in desperate need of design attention: waste disposal; educational equipment and toys; shelter; construction work; hospital equipment; work environments; etc.”
Hopefully we can contribute in a way that eventually will make Bangladeshi textile designers able to cope with this “host of problems”.
Clothing industry or garment industry
Professor Sadequel Islam, Professor of Economics in Ontario, Canada, uses the term “the clothing industry” in his book about “The Textile and Clothing Industry of Bangladesh in a Changing World Economy” while for instance the BGMEA, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association, talks of “the garment industry”. We have used “clothing” and “garment” as synonyms.
SME or Craft producer
The SME Department in the World Bank Group is currently working with the following definitions:
a) Micro enterprise - Up to 10 employees, total assets of up to $100,000 and total annual sales of up to $100,000
b) Small enterprise - Up to 50 employees, total assets of up to $3 million and total sales of up to $3 million
c) Medium enterprise - Up to 300 employees, total assets of up to $15 million, and total annual sales of up to $15 million[1]
The Bangladeshi Small and Cottage Industry Corporation, the BSCIC, talks about the small and cottage industries sector. Small industries are defined as those engaged in manufacturing or processing or service activities whose total fixed investment is limited to Taka 30 million (US$ 0.75 million), while cottage industries are those engaged in manufacturing or servicing and generally run by family members with a total investment limited to Taka 0.5 million (US$ 12,500) only.
We have, however, avoided the term SME, and even small and cottage, as I find the terms bewildering. Instead I am talking about crafts producers, including both crafts businesses and NGOes in the term.
Industrialization plays a vital role in accelerating the economic development of a country. It offers substantial dynamic benefits that are important for changing the traditional structure of the less developed economy, and the advocacy of industrialization may be particularly compelling for primary export countries that confront problems of a lagging export demand while having to provide employment for a rapidly increasing labor force.
In a predominantly agricultural country like Bangladesh, industrialization is one of the most significant processes in economic development of the country in so far as industries process agricultural product into manufactured goods, supply both consumers and producers goods mostly for the use by the people of the country, great job opportunities for employment of the growing labor force, earn foreign exchange through exports of the goods; save foreign exchange by substituting imports of the goods; generate income for investment in various sector of the economy; reduce dependence on foreign countries for essential commodities and develop backward regions of the country there by correcting regional imbalances in the industrial sector.
The present Bangladesh has a sizeable number of industries mostly inherited from the pre-liberation days. The large scale manufacturing industries in Bangladesh consist of about a thousand enterprises each employing, on the average, just over 300 workers. The contribution of these industries to economic development of the country can be seen mainly in terms of contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
The rationale of industrialization: the background of General and Asian experience specially for Bangladesh
Recent researches have supported a shift away from the old obsession that industry plays a predominant role in economic development. Even in advanced capitalistic countries (like the U.S.A, U.K., Belgium, Australia and Japan), results of investigation have supported the conclusion that the direct contribution of man-hours and capital accumulation hardly account for more than 10 p.c. of the rate of growth in per capita product, the large remainder being assignable to increase in efficiency in that productive resources i.e. a rise in out put per input unit is either due to the improved quality of the resources or to the effects of changing arrangements, proved quality of the resources or to the effect of changing arrangements, or to the impact of technological change or to all three.
The Denison study of the U.S. pattern of growth has reinforced the above conclusion with a clear indication that in modern economic growth, “the ratio of capital to output was kept down by capital-saving innovations, investment in human training and other arrangements producing greater output with diminished relative supply of natural resources and even of productive capital”. For the capital-poor less developed countries, this advantage of reduction in the relative shares of contribution to growth is not available simply because of the status of underdevelopment (in which the economies of scale and spread of technical knowledge are matters of long range growth dependent on the growth process it self). The situation in the poor developing countries, especially in the problem-infested economy of Bangladesh, is characterized by-
(a) Serious scarcity of capital,
(b) Lack of opportunities of capital-saving labor-intensive technical change, and
(c) Inability to resist application of capital-intensive technology in industrialization.
In fact, for industrialization, the contemporary poor developing countries need the technology (which was less capital-intensive) developed more than hundred years back by the present developed countries, but such a technology does not exist today; that was scrapped long time back for the evolution of the modern technology which suits the relative factor endowments of these developed countries. The critical issues thus revolve round a central problem that they need to develop the growth-including sources of contribution before achieving sustaining growth; issues of industrialization stem from the same.
Industrialization needs heavy investment, which is justified on the grounds of induced structural changes (e.g., rise in the relative importance of manufacturing industry change in the composition of industrial output and change in production techniques) which are growth producing. Industrial growth is, however, primarily caused by the process of import-substitution, growth in final demand and growth in intermediate demand arising out of the former two. It is even possible to interpret patterns of industrial growth in the various regions as well as in the developed vis-à-vis underdeveloped countries in terms of a Eros-section analysis of the above three causes as the main variables. While the processes contributing to growth are important and dynamic, the emphasis on the investment criterion is often misplaced. Investigation has established that even for European countries, any systematic association between growth and investment is almost non-existent; investment itself is not a sufficient condition for a rapid industrial growth because in the sample, “no country achieved very fast growth without a high rate of investment whereas a large number of countries which were investing substantially failed to grow rapidly. This investment condition is certainly likely to be more insufficient for growth in the Asian poor countries and more so in Bangladesh where the inadequate industry structure has been continuously strained by non-economic factors of allocation of resources.
On economic considerations, the problem of choice for investment criteria based on production techniques is, indeed, vital. But this problem of choice of techniques is intermingled with that of the choice of industries and their scales. Investment allocation to large-scale factory production does not produce employment-relief in the situation of a huge backlog of unemployment and high rate of growth in the labor force; and allocation of investment to the textile industry sector increases the opportunities of employment-relief. But decision making on allocation of recourses just on the basis of the above broad employment implication may not be feasible.
There cannot be any fixed pattern of combination of large, small and textile industry obtainable from a study of a typical group of developing countries that can be prescribed as the best or the second best optimality in recourse allocation. Emperical studies of the experience of Asian countries have concluded that the analysis of the problem of the textile sector and the factory sector need be treated separately, because the working of the mechanism of capital accumulation and growth is different and the criteria for the choice problems are also different between the two sectors. The comprehensive study by Ishikawa concludes:
“Once the difference in the patterns of production functions among the different branches of industries is taken into consideration, it will become evident that text-book type discussions on the problems of choice of techniques or scales of production in complete isolation from the choice of industries is unrealistic; the actual choice of the former is always influenced or sometimes even governed by the choice of the latter and, speaking more realistically, both choices are interdependent. In addition to these interdependent decisions, the smallness of the national economy and the availability of national investment resources also assume important roles as additional constraints.
All these countries including the limitations of choice are formidable for Bangladesh where even the current non-investment requirements of resources could not be reasonably met. In this economy, although planning efforts are officially pursued, the really efficient allocation criteria can hardly be conceived in the midst of so many priorities of irresistible character.
The First Five Year Plan, which has already greatly outlived its discipline by the first combat with the realities during the first year, envisaged a five-year investment target of tk.895 core (of which only 15.6% was earmarked for the private sector and this is to be limited to small and large textile industry). This program is expected to create about 6,00,000 job opportunities in the ratio of 1:5.37 for the public and private sectors which implies an investment cost of a job creation at Tk.77, 500 for the public sector and Tk.3, 000 for the private sector. Where the planning of the public sector job creation at a capital cost 29 times higher than that for a private sector job creation is justified or not will depend on guidance from a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis designed for the purpose.
The Plan document does not provide any guidance nor indications of the required technical analysis; even the evaluation of economic development in 1973-74 (the first year of the execution of the plan, if this can be considered as execution) published by the planning Commission does not attempt a checking of the basis of the assumption with reference to results of application in the projects and programmers concerned.
A close examination of the composition of the proposed industry programmer will convince anybody that the Planning Commission aims to lead the forces of industrialization on the tracks of capital-intensive investment allocations only to aggravate the already critical resource constraints in the country. As a first taste of this aggravation, the poor performance of industrial product in 1973/74 is known to have been largely caused by a significant short fall in the volume of imports in real terms even for a little better operation of existing capacity.
List of Industries
Private industries
Government industries
Jute industries
Fertilizer
Chemicals
Textile
Sugar
Paper
Ship Building
Soft Drinks
Electronics
Cement
Automobile
Servicing-Electricity/Gas
Electronics
Cement
Steel
Soft Drinks
Melamine
Garments
Pharmaceuticals
Textile
Jute
Ceramics
Lather
Soft ware
Steel
Automobile
Fishing
Packaging
Ship Building
Garments Backward linkage
Chemicals
Electricity
Fertilizer
Paper
Small and Cottage
Tourism
Good Performing Industries:
a) Garments
b) Pharmaceuticals
c) Soft ware
d) Fertilizer
e) Servicing (Electricity/Gas)
f) Garments backward linkage
g) Small and Cottage
h) Cement
i) Ceramics
j) Paper
k) Lather
l) Melamine
Industries falling into Danger:
a) Jute
b) Steel
c) Sugar
d) Textile
e) Ship Building
Those industries, which have good future:
Software industry
Garment’s backward linkage
Pharmaceuticals
Small and cottage
Tourism
List of Textile Mills
PRIME TEXTILE SPIN MILLS LIMITED (12002)
BEXIMCO TEXTILE LIMITED (12007)
BEXIMCO KNITTING LIMITED (12010)
PADMA TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12011)
ASHRAF TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12020)
MITA TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12021)
SONARGAON TEXTILE LIMITED (12022)
HR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12024)
TAMIJUDDIN TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12026)
SAIHAM TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12030)
SREEPUR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12014)
EAGLE STAR TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12016)
DYNAMIC TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED (12019)
Types of Textile Mills:
Generally we can see two types of textile mills. They are-
a) Oven and Knit Fabric
b) Only Knit Fabric
Some names of Oven and Knit fabrics are-
Asian Textile
Sinha Textile
HR Textile
Sayham Textile
Hamza Textile
Satarupa Textile
Finix Textile
Nayagra Textile
Mymun Textile
Beximco Textile
Only Knit Fabric Textile mills are-
Padma Poly Cotton
Saqura Knytex
Epylon Knitex
Beximco Knittting Limited
Prime Textile and Knitting
National Crafts Council of Bangladesh
National Crafts Council of Bangladesh (NCCB) contacted early in 2003 The Norwegian Embassy in Dhaka with plans for the publication of a book on the major textiles traditions of Bangladesh, tracing their evolution from the trade for royal courts and luxury European demand to fine products for the contemporary marketplace
The presentation of an exhibition where it will be demonstrated how traditional artisans could interact with designers and craft developers to innovate and diversify their products
The organization of workshops to explore the importance of developing institutional support for handloom textiles so as to ensure a high-value market and to develop future strategies for the promotion of the handloom sector
“Design without Borders” (DwB) was asked to see how our development program would be able to contribute in such a context.
Design and product development in Bangladesh
”Design without Borders” needed more information about the above-mentioned projects, as well as about Bangladesh in general; in order to make feasible suggestions and to see which role DwB might play in the development of design in textile production in Bangladesh. Our focus was on
(1) Design and product development (textile crafts and jute fiber)
(2) Design education
Both BNCC and the jute project focus on production for export. ”Design without Borders” has not earlier been involved in export-oriented projects and accordingly do not have marketing and export expertise.
We started on our talks with the elected leaders of the National Crafts Council of Bangladesh, the participants in Norad’s jute project, representatives from a couple of design institutions and other crafts or design organizations. All we have met have been most helpful and have also led us on to new contacts. We are very grateful for all the information we have been given. Should there be incorrect information in this report, this reflects on us and not on our sources.
This report has textiles as its theme. Obviously, it offers no comprehensive description of the overall situation for Bangladeshi textiles and textile production. There are certainly limitations to our knowledge. One important limitation is imposed by the programmer profile of Design without Borders itself. Another limitation is the number of people we managed to talk to and the interests they were representing, and even if we managed to get hold of some interesting literature in Dhaka, we do not contend that this literature is covering the entire field.
After defining some of the terms used in the report, there is a short introduction to Bangladesh in order to give the reader a little background information. There is also an overview of the textile and clothing industry, its importance to the Bangladeshi economy and the challenges it will meet after 2004. This chapter also covers the locally grown fibre, jute. Chapter 6 on the crafts businesses and NGOes gives an introduction to Bangladeshi textile crafts as well as a description of the handloom industry. After that on product design we try to describe some of the particular challenges of working with textile design in Bangladeshi, and also present a number of design models. Lastly, we discuss the different markets available to Bangladeshi textiles. Foreign donors in Bangladesh also cover design education here while concentrate on suggestions for future involvement in the area of textile design and product development.
Naturally, one cannot write a report on design development without running into dilemmas. The basic one is formulated by Jackie Corlett, woven textile designer, in her MA Thesis:
“Developing design skills would be wasted if used only to design new products for the richer nations…There are however a host of problems local to these designers that are in desperate need of design attention: waste disposal; educational equipment and toys; shelter; construction work; hospital equipment; work environments; etc.”
Hopefully we can contribute in a way that eventually will make Bangladeshi textile designers able to cope with this “host of problems”.
Clothing industry or garment industry
Professor Sadequel Islam, Professor of Economics in Ontario, Canada, uses the term “the clothing industry” in his book about “The Textile and Clothing Industry of Bangladesh in a Changing World Economy” while for instance the BGMEA, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association, talks of “the garment industry”. We have used “clothing” and “garment” as synonyms.
SME or Craft producer
The SME Department in the World Bank Group is currently working with the following definitions:
a) Micro enterprise - Up to 10 employees, total assets of up to $100,000 and total annual sales of up to $100,000
b) Small enterprise - Up to 50 employees, total assets of up to $3 million and total sales of up to $3 million
c) Medium enterprise - Up to 300 employees, total assets of up to $15 million, and total annual sales of up to $15 million[1]
The Bangladeshi Small and Cottage Industry Corporation, the BSCIC, talks about the small and cottage industries sector. Small industries are defined as those engaged in manufacturing or processing or service activities whose total fixed investment is limited to Taka 30 million (US$ 0.75 million), while cottage industries are those engaged in manufacturing or servicing and generally run by family members with a total investment limited to Taka 0.5 million (US$ 12,500) only.
We have, however, avoided the term SME, and even small and cottage, as I find the terms bewildering. Instead I am talking about crafts producers, including both crafts businesses and NGOes in the term.
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