Bangladesh targets Japan

DHAKA: Bangladesh garment manufacturers said on Sunday they have targetted Japan as their next big market to offset a drop in orders from the US and Europe. Bangladesh exported clothing worth $10.7 billion in 2007-08 — up around 17 per cent from the previous year 01- with more than 90 per cent of products heading to the US, Canada and western Europe. Fazlul Haque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) said they feared the US and top European nations were heading for a long and painful recession. “Japan is the world’s fourth largest garment importer. We have to enter the Japanese market at any cost to survive the coming storm. We have identified that in four out of ten top Japanese apparel items, we have huge price advantages,” he added.