The textile and clothing (T&C) industries provide the single source of economic growth in Bangladesh's rapidly
developing economy.
[1] Exports of textiles and
garments are the principal source of foreign exchange earnings. Agriculture for domestic consumption is
Bangladesh’s largest employment sector. By 2002 exports of textiles, clothing, and
ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh’s total merchandise exports.
[2]
By 2013, about 4 million people, mostly women, worked in Bangladesh's
$19 billion-a-year industry, export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG)
industry. Bangladesh is second only to China, the world's second-largest
apparel exporter of western brands. Sixty percent of the export
contracts of western brands are with European buyers and about forty
percent with American buyers.
[3] Only 5% of textile factories are owned by foreign investors, with most of the production being controlled by local investors.
[4]
Bangladesh's textile industry has been part of the trade versus aid
debate. The encouragement of the garment industry of Bangladesh as an
open trade regime is argued to be a much more effective form of
assistance than foreign aid. Tools such as quotas through the WTO
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) and
Everything but Arms
(EBA) and the US 2009 Tariff Relief Assistance in the global clothing
market have benefited entrepreneurs in Bangladesh's ready-made garments
(RMG) industry. Bangladesh, with a
population of about 156 million, is among the most
densely populated countries
in the world. In 2012 the textile industry accounted for 45% of all
industrial employment in the country yet only contributed 5% of the
Bangladesh's total national income.
History of textile production in Bangladesh
Post 1971
From
1947 to 1971 the textile industry, like most industries in East
Pakistan, were largely owned by West Pakistanis. During that period, in
the 1960s, local Bengali entrepreneurs had set up their own large
textile and jute factories. Following its separation from East Pakistan
the newly formed Bangladesh lost access to both capital and technical
expertise.
[7]
Until the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the textile sector was primarily part of the process of
import substitution industrialization (ISI) to replace imports. After the liberation, Bangladesh adopted
export-oriented industrialization (EOI) by focusing on the textile and clothing industry, particularly the readymade garment (RMG) sector. Immediately after the
founding of Bangladesh (1971),
[8] tea and
jute
were the most export-oriented sectors. But with the constant threat of
flooding, declining jute fiber prices and a significant decrease in
world demand, the contribution of the jute sector to the country’s
economy deteriorated.
[9]
In 1972 the newly formed government of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was also the head of the
Awami League,
enacted the Bangladesh Industrial Enterprises (Nationalization) Order,
taking over privately owned textile factories and creating a state-owned
enterprise (SOE) called Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC).
President Rahman promoted democracy and a socialist form of capitalism.
The BTMC never managed to match the pre-1971 output and in every year
after the 1975–1976 fiscal year, lost money. Until the early 1980s the
state owned almost all spinning mills in Bangladesh and 85 percent the
textile industry's assets (not including small businesses).
[7]
Under the 1982 New Industrial Policy (NPI) a large number of these
assets including jute mills and textile mills were privatized and
returned to their original owners.
[10]
In the devastating
famine in 1974, one million people died, mainly of starvation caused in part by the flooding of the
Brahmaputra river in 1974, and a steep rise in the
price of rice.
Partly in response to the economic and political repercussions of the
famine, the Bangladesh government shifted public policy away from its
concentration on a socialist economy, and began to denationalize,
disinvest and reduce the role of the public sector in the textile
industry while encouraging private sector participation. The 1974 New
Investment Policy restored the rights to both private and foreign
investors.
[10] Bangladesh's development model switched from a state-sponsored capitalist mode of industrial development with mainly
state-owned enterprises (SOE) to private sector-led industrial growth.
[10]
The export-oriented readymade garment (RMG) industry
Exports of textiles, clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG)
accounted for 77% of Bangladesh’s total merchandise exports in 2002.
[2]
By 2005 the ready-made garments (RMG) industry was the only
multibillion-dollar manufacturing and export industry in Bangladesh,
accounting for 75 per cent of the country's earnings in that year.
[11]
Bangladesh's export trade is now dominated by the ready-made garments
(RMG) industry. In 2012 Bangladesh’s garment exports – mainly to the US
and Europe – made up nearly 80% of the country’s export income.
[12] By 2014 RMG represented 81.13 percent of Bangladesh's total export.
[13]
1974 the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) and the Daewoo of South Korea
Starting in 1974 the
Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in the North American market ensured that trade in textiles and garments remained the most regulated in the world.
[14][15] Among other things the MFA set quotas on garments exports from the
newly industrialising countries of Asia.
Entrepreneurs from quota-restricted countries like South Korea began
"quota hopping" seeking quota-free countries that could become
quota-free manufacturing sites. The export-oriented readymade garment
(RMG) industry emerged at this time.
Daewoo of
South Korea
was an early entrant in Bangladesh, when it established a joint venture
in December 27, 1977 with Desh Garments Ltd. making it the first export
oriented ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh.
[16]
After only one year in which 130 Desh supervisors and managers received
free training from Daiwoo in production and marketing at Daiwoo's
state-of-the-art ready-made garment (RMG) plant in Korea, 115 of the 130
left Desh Garments Ltd. and set up separate private garment export
firms or began working for other newly formed export-oriented RMG
companies with new garment factories in Bangladesh for much higher
salaries than Desh Garments Ltd offered.
[15][17][18]
Global restructuring processes, including two non-market factors, such as quotas under
Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) (1974–2005) in the North American market and preferential market access to European markets,
[14] led to the "emergence of an export-oriented garment industry in Bangladesh in the late 1970s"
[15] and ensured the garment sector’s continual success.
The garment industry in Bangladesh became the main export sector and a
major source of foreign exchange starting in 1980, and exported about
$5 billion USD in 2002.
[19] In 1980 an export processing zone was officially established in at the port of
Chittagong.
By 1981, 300 textile companies, many small ones had been denationalized often returned to their original owners.
[7] In 1982, shortly after coming to power following a bloodless coup, President
Hussain Muhammad Ershad introduced the New Industrial Policy (NPI), most significant move in the privatization process,
[10] which denationalized much of the textile industry, created
export processing zones
(EPZs) and encouraged direct foreign investment. Under the New
Industrial Policy (NPI) 33 jute mills and 27 textile mills were returned
to their original owners.
The export of ready-made garments (RMG) increased from $USD 3.5
million in 1981 to $USD 10.7 billion in 2007. Apparel exports grew, but
initially, the ready-made garments RMG industry was not adequately
supported by the growth up and down the domestic supply chain (e.g.,
spinning, weaving, knitting, fabric processing, and the accessories
industries).
[citation needed]
From 1995 to 2005 the WTO
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing
(ATC) was in effect, wherein more industrialized countries consented to
export fewer textiles while less industrialized countries enjoyed
increased quotas for exporting their textiles.
[2]
Throughout the 10-year agreement, Bangladesh’s economy benefited from
quota-free access to European markets and desirable quotas for the
American and Canadian markets.
[4]
| export market |
USA (textile) |
USA (clothing) |
EU (textile) |
EU (clothing) |
| market share in 1995 |
<3% |
4% |
<3% |
3% |
| market share in 2004 |
3% |
2% |
3% |
4% |
As the above table shows, the market shares for Bangladeshi textiles
in the USA and both textiles and clothing in the European Union have
changed during the time period of the ATC.
[20]
Until FY 1994, Bangladesh's ready-made garments (RMG) industry was
mostly dependent on imported fabrics - the Primary Textile Sector (PTS)
was not producing the necessary fabrics and yarn.
[citation needed]
Since the early 1990s, the knit section expanded mainly producing and
exporting shirts, T-shirts, trousers, sweaters and jackets. In 2006, 90
percent of Bangladesh's total earnings from garment exports came from
its exports to the United States and Europe.
[11]
Although there was concern, noted in an IMF report, that the WTO's
Multi Fibre Arrangement, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC),
phase-out would shut down the textile and clothing (T&C) industry,
[21]
the Bangladesh textile sector actually grew tremendously after 2004 and
reached an export turnover of US$10.7 billion in FY 2007. Bangladesh
was expected to suffer the most from the ending of the MFA, as it was
expected to face more competition, particularly from China. However,
this was not the case. It turns out that even in the face of other
economic giants, Bangladesh’s labor is "cheaper than anywhere else in
the world." While some smaller factories were documented making pay cuts
and layoffs, most downsizing was essentially speculative – the orders
for goods kept coming even after the MFA expired. In fact, Bangladesh's
exports increased in value by about $500 million in 2006.
[22]
Textile exports from Bangladesh to the United States did increase by 10% in 2009.
[23]
Currently, the textile mills provide 70% of national exports. This
proportion is even higher in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the number of
employed workers in the textile industry increased by 400 000 in 1990 to
2 million in 2004, and the number of enterprises – from 800 to 4000.
Nine out of ten people employed in the industry – are women. In general,
the state of the textile industry depends on well-being of 10-12
million people in Bangladesh. By IMF estimates, as a result of the
abolition of quota exports of Bangladesh will be reduced by 25%.
[citation needed]
Employment
Of
the millions of wage earning children in Bangladesh in 1990, almost all
of them worked in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry. Based on the
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Labor Force Survey estimated there were
about 5.7 million 10- to 14-year-old children engaged in
child labor. This number may have been as high as 15 million children.
[24]
In 1993 employers in Bangladesh' ready-made garment (RMG) industry
dismissed 50,000 children (c. 75 percent of child workers in the textile
industry) out of fear of economic reprisals of the imminent passage of
the
Child Labor Deterrence Act (the Harkin Bill after Senator Tom Harkin, one of the US Senators who proposed the bill).
[24]
The act which banned "importation to the United States of products
which are manufactured or mined in whole or in part by children" would
have resulted in the loss of lucrative American contracts. Its impact on
Bangladesh's economy would have been significant as the export-oriented
ready-made garment industry represents most of the country's exports.
[24]
The results of surveys varied on the demographics and size of the
ready-made garments industry at the time of the Harkin Bill. One study
estimated that there were 600,000 workers in the industry.,
[24][25] BGMEA estimate was c. 800,000.
[26] The
Asian-American Free Labor Institute (AAFLI) reported that in 1994 females constituted about "90 percent of all adult workers, and roughly 60 percent of all child workers."
[24][27]
By 2001 the textile industry employed about 3 million workers of whom 90% are women.
[28]
By 2013, there were approximately 5,000 garment factories, employing
about 4 million people, mostly women, part of Bangladesh's $19
billion-a-year industry, export-oriented ready-made garment (RMG)
industry. Bangladesh is second only to China, the world's second-largest
apparel exporter of western brands. Sixty percent of the export
contracts of western brands are with European buyers and about forty
percent with the American buyers.
[3]
It has been a major source of employment for rural migrant women in a
country that has increasingly limited rural livelihood options, and
where women migrants have been largely excluded from formal work in the
cities.
[15]
The structure of gender participation underwent a major shift with
the rise of the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. Traditionally
the participation of women in Bangladesh's formal economy was minimal.
Bangladesh's flagship export-oriented ready-made garment industry,
however, with female labor accounting for 90 percent of the work force,
was "built to a large extent, on the supply of cheap and flexible female
labor in the country."
[29]
According to a
New York Times
journalist by August 2012 the garment or textile industry which exports
worth $18 billion a year, accounted for "80 percent of manufacturing
exports and more than three million jobs" with predictions by McKinsey
& Company of the industry tripling in size by 2020 (McKinsey
2001:10).
[12][30] According to the 2014
Bureau of International Labor Affairs's
List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, the Bangladeshi garments and textile industry still employs underage children
[31] as effective governmental measures are taking considerable time to be implemented.
Compliance
In
2000 garment entrepreneurs had a reputation for shirking custom duties,
evading corporate taxes, remaining absent in capital markets, avoiding
social projects such as education, healthcare, and disaster relief but,
argued authors Quddus and Salim, these entrepreneurs took the risks
needed to build the industry.
[32]
Bangladesh successfully competes in the manufacturing industry by
maintaining "lowest labor costs in the world." Garment workers' minimum
wage was set at roughly $37 a month in 2012 but since 2010 Bangladesh's
double-digit inflation with no corresponding rise in minimum wage and
labor rights, has led to protests.
[12]
Following labour disputes in 2013, the minimum wage was raised to the
equivalent of $68 a month. Many workers profited from the increase, but
it was also expected to attract more young girls to factories.
[33]
Other major fires 1990 and 2012, resulting in hundreds of accidental
deaths, included those at That's It Sportswear Limited and the fire at
Tazreen Fashions Ltd. Spectrum Sweater Industries, Phoenix Garments,
Smart Export Garments, Garib and Garib, Matrix Sweater, KTS Composite
Textile Mills and Sun Knitting. Major foreign buyers looking for
outsourcing demand compliance-related norms and standards regarding a
safe and healthy work environment which includes fire-fighting
equipment, evacuation protocols and mechanisms and appropriate
installation of machines in the whole supply-chain. RMG insiders in
Bangladesh complain about the pressure to comply and argue that RMG
factory owners are hampered by a shortage of space in their rental
units. In spite of this the industry exports totaled $19 billion in
2011-2012. They expected export earnings to increase to $23 billion in
2012-2013.
[34]
In an effort to eliminate underlying problems and avoid further deadly tragedies in the RMG factories in 2010
Clean Clothes Campaign CCC, the International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF), the
Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), and the
Maquila Solidarity Network
(MSN) contacted many of the RMG international buyers and offered a set
of recommendations regarding measures that should be taken.
[35]
In 2012 the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters
Association announced plans to expel 850 factories from its membership
due to noncompliance with safety and labor standards. Members of the
U.S. House of Representatives have also urged the U.S. Trade
Representative's office to complete its review of Bangladesh's
compliance with eligibility requirements for the
Generalized System of Preferences.
[36]
Five deadly incidents from November 2012 through May 2013 brought
worker safety and labor violations in Bangladesh to world attention
putting pressure on big global clothing brands such as Primark, Loblaw,
Joe Fresh, Gap,
Walmart, Nike, Tchibo, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and retailers to respond by using their economic weight to enact change.
[37] No factory owner had ever been prosecuted over the deaths of workers.
[3] This changed with 41 murder charges filed relating to the 1,129 deaths which occurred during the 2013 Savar building collapse.
[38]
Scott Nova of the Worker Rights Consortium, a rights advocacy group,
claimed that auditors, some of whom were paid by the factories they
inspect, sometimes investigated workers right issues such as hours or
child labor but did not properly inspect factories’ structural soundness
or fire safety violations. Nova argued that the cost of compliance to
safety standards in all 5,000 clothing factories in Bangladesh is about
$3 billion (2013).
[37]
Immediately following the April 24 deadly industrial accident, Mahbub
Ahmed, the top civil servant in Bangladesh's Commerce Ministry, fearing
the loss of contracts that represent 60 per cent of their textile
industry exports, pleaded with the EU to not take tough, punitive
measures or "impose any harsh trade conditions" on Bangladesh to
"improve worker safety standards" that would hurt the "economically
crucial textile industry" and lead to the loss of millions of jobs.
[3] Two dozen factory owners are also Members of Parliament in Bangladesh.
[37]
In June 2013 President
Barack Obama announced that U.S. trade privileges for Bangladesh, the
Generalized System of Preferences,
were suspended following the deadly 24 April 2013 collapse of Rana
Plaza, considered to be the global garment industry’s worst accident.
[39] In 2007, the
American Federation of Labor and
Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) had submitted a petition under the
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits to the
Office of the United States Trade Representative
(USTR) "alleging a number of worker rights issues in export processing
zones, the ready-made garments (RMG) sector, and the seafood processing
sector."
[40]
This investigated was expedited as concerns over labour rights and RMG
factory safety concerns increased in 2012 with more deadly accidents and
the unsolved killing in 2012 of prominent trade unionist
Aminul Islam[39][41][42][43][44]
In October 2013, the
Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and the
International Labour Organization
(ILO) launched the "Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made
Garment Sector" (RMGP) Program, a USD $24.21 million three-and-a-half
year initiative.
[45] The United Kingdom and the Netherlands jointly contributed USD $15 million.
[45]
"Rana Plaza and Tazreen became the symbols of what is wrong in the RMG
sector." Ms. Sarah Cook, UK's Department for International Development
(DFID) Head in Bangladesh said that the RMGP was a "key part of the UK's
approach to help ensure safe working conditions and improved
productivity" in the RMG sector and that the "sustainability of the
ready-made garment industry has a pivotal role to play in Bangladesh's
continued social and economic development."
[45]
That's It Sportswear Ltd fire 2010
On
14 December 2010 thirty people died and another 200 were seriously
injured in a fire at the garment factory, "That’s It Sportswear Ltd",
owned by Hameem Group. International buyers of this factories products
included "American Eagle, GAP/Old Navy, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Squeeze,
Sears, VF Asia, Target Store,Charming Shoppes, Wal-Mart in USA market
and H & M, Carrefour, Zara, Hema, M & S Mode, ETAM, Western
Store, Migros, Celio and PNC in Europe market."
[35] In February 2010 a deadly fire at the "Garib and Garib" factory killed 22.
[35]
2012 Tazreen Fashion factory
A fire broke out on 24 November 2012, in the Tazreen Fashion factory in
Dhaka[46] killing 117 people and injuring 200.
[47] It was the deadliest factory fire in the history of Bangladesh.
[48] According to the
New York Times,
Walmart played a significant role in blocking reforms to have retailers
pay more for apparel in order to help Bangladesh factories improve
safety standards. Walmart director of ethical sourcing, Sridevi
Kalavakolanu, asserted that the company would not agree to pay the
higher cost, as such improvements in electrical and fire safety in the
4,500 factories would be a "very extensive and costly modification" and
that "it is not financially feasible for the brands to make such
investments."
[49][50] As well, Walmart was the client for five of Tazreen apparel factory's 14 production lines.
[50]
In response Walmart donated over a million dollars to the North South
University, Environment, Health and Safety Academy (EHS+) to improve
fire safety in RMG factories in Bangladesh by the
Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), a U.S.-based nonprofit.
[51]
Rana Plaza collapse 2013
On April 24, 2013 over 1045 textile workers factories making clothes
for Western brands were killed when a garment factory collapsed. The
2013 Savar building collapse was in the Rana Plaza complex, in Savar, an
industrial corner 20 miles northwest of Dhaka, the capital of
Bangladesh. It was the "world's deadliest industrial accident since the
Bhopal disaster in India in 1984.
[52]
While some 2,500 were rescued from the rubble including many who were
injured, the total number of those missing remained unknown weeks later.
[52]
The eight-story building, owned by Sohel Rana, associated with the
ruling Awami League, was constructed on a "pond filled with sand". It
only had planning approval for five floors.
[53]
Owners used "shoddy building materials, including substandard rods,
bricks and cement, and did not obtaining the necessary clearances."
[52]
An engineer raised safety concerns after noticing cracks in the Rana
Plaza complex the day before its collapse. In spite of this factories
stayed open to fill overdue orders. When generators were restarted after
a power blackout the building caved in.
[3][54]
Six garment factories also in Rana Plaza were cleared to re-open on May
9, 2013 after inspectors allegedly issued safety certificates. Nine
people were arrested including four factory owners, the owner of the
complex and the engineer who warned of the crack in the building.
[3]
In June 2015 after a two-year investigation homicide charges were
filed against 42 people in the 2013 collapse of a factory Rana Plaza
that killed more than 1,136 people in April 2013.
Sohel Rana,
the building owner, Refat Ullah, mayor at the time of the incident
along with owners of five garment factories located in the Rana Plaza,
and "dozens of local council officials and engineers" were charged with
culpable homicide, "which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison
under Bangladeshi law."
[55][56]
Mirpur textile factory fire 2013
On
May 9, 2013 eight people were killed when a fire broke out at a textile
factory in an eleven-story building in the Mirpur industrial district
owned by Tung Hai Group, a large garment exporter. The president of the
politically powerful textile industry lobby group, the Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told Reuters
that "the Bangladeshi managing director of the company and a senior
police officer were among the dead."
[52]
As of June 2014, efforts to improve safety were being coordinated
under "an unprecedented comprehensive "Accord on Fire and Building
Safety" ... Around 180 companies - mostly from Europe - international
and local trade unions, Bangladeshi employers, exporters and government
are part of this agreement."
[57]
In addition, a "Bangladesh Alliance for Worker Safety - an association
of 26 American companies including CAP and Wal-Mart" seeks to address
these issues from an entrepreneurial standpoint, without participation
of trade unions.
[57] Together the two groups "are responsible for inspecting around 2,100 factories over a period of five years."
[58] As of July 2014,
progress had been made in inspecting about 600 factories. A spokesman
stated that "Ten factories have been submitted to the Government
Established Review Panel and most have been either closed completely or
partially."
[58]
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA)
Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is a recognised
trade body that represents export oriented garment manufacturers and
garment exporters of the country. The fundamental objective of BGMEA is
to establish a healthy business environment for a close and mutually
beneficial relationship between manufacturers, exporters and importers,
thereby ensuring steady growth in the foreign exchange earnings of the
country.
[59] [1]
BGMEA is being run by a 35-member elected Board of Directors. The
Board of Directors is elected for a two-year term. Seven Vice Presidents
having important portfolios, along with a secretariat of experienced
officials, assists the President in formulating and executing vital
policies and programs of the organization. The President is the highest
executive authority of the association. The Board of Directors takes
assistance from different Standing Committees headed by a Chairman and
composed of members having vast experience in the related fields. Strict
adherence to democratic norms and code of conduct are being maintained
in the BGMEA elections.The current president of BGMEA is Md. Siddiqur
Rahman.
[60][2]
Effect of trade agreements on textiles and clothing industry in Bangladesh
The United States introduced the Tariff Relief Assistance for Developing Economies Act of 2009
[61] designated Bangladesh as one of the 14
least developed countries
(LDC), as defined by the United Nations and the US State Department,
eligible for "duty-free access for apparel assembled in those countries
and exported to the U.S." from 2009 through 2019. The Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), an industry lobby
group, claimed that in 2008 alone Bangladesh paid "$USD 576 million as
duty against its export of nearly $3 billion' mainly consisting of woven
and knitwear.
McKinsey report (2011): Bangladesh as next hot spot, next China
Currently
Bangladesh
is now second largest ready-made garments (RMG) manufacturer after
China, by the next five years Bangladesh will become the largest
ready-made garments (RMG) manufacturer.
[30] Bangladesh was the sixth largest exporter of apparel in the world after China, the EU, Hong Kong, Turkey and India in 2006.
[citation needed]
In 2006 Bangladesh's share in the world apparel exports was 2.8%. The
US was the largest single market with US$3.23 billion in exports, a 30%
share in 2007. Today, the US remains the largest market for Bangladesh's
woven garments taking US$2.42 billion, a 47% share of Bangladesh's
total woven exports. The European Union remains the largest regional
destination - Bangladesh exported US$5.36 billion in apparel; 50% of
their total apparel exports. The EU took a 61% share of Bangladeshi
knitwear with US$3.36 billion exports.
According to a 2011 report by international consulting firm
McKinsey & Company,
80 percent of American and European clothing companies planned to move
their outsourcing from China, where wages had risen, and were
considering Bangladesh as the "next hot spot" making it the "next China"
[30][62] offering 'the lowest price possible' known as the
China Price, the hallmark of China’s incredibly cheap, ubiquitous manufacturers, much "dreaded by competitors."
[63]
Education in the textile sector
- Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTex) is the only public university specializing in textile engineering
in Bangladesh. It graduated from a college to a full-flagged university
on 22 December 2010 by an ordinance of Education Ministry. It has a
glorious history starting as a weaving school under British colonial
rule in 1921. Now the university offers graduation courses in Textile
Engineering, Industrial Production Engineering, Textile Management &
Fashion design.
- Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) started B.Sc in Textile Engineering from session 2012–2013.
- BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology
started functioning in 2000 and was affiliated to the National
University, Bangladesh in 2001. BUFT is conducting a two-year MBA course
in Apparel Merchandising and a four-year B.Sc. (Hons) course in Apparel
Manufacture & Technology (AMT), B.Sc. (Hons) in Knitwear
Manufacture & Technology (KMT) and B.Sc (Hons) in Fashion Design
& Technology (FDT). It has some diploma courses.
There are government and private textile engineering colleges under
universities that offer B.Sc. in Textile Engineering courses including
specialization in yarn manufacturing, fabric manufacturing, wet
processing, garments manufacturing and fashion design.
