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The end of
Multi-fibre Arrangement (MFA) in December, 2004 was a
critical milestone in the global trading regime in textiles
and clothing. Unshackled by the quota derestriction, a
number of apparel exporting countries, most importantly
China, had started to take advantage of the emergent
situation. In spite of the formidable challenges, and the
attendant difficulties, export-oriented RMG industry of
Bangladesh was able to sustain the growth momentum of the
post-MFA era and demonstrated remarkable results. An
exercise to identify factors contributing to Bangladesh's
post-MFA performance is important to understand, and to gain
useful insights, about the strengths of Bangladesh's RMG
sector and the ongoing restructuring in the export-oriented
RMG industries of the country. Such an exercise required
generation of detailed factory level data and information
relating to the nature of the restructuring, coping
strategies pursued by individual entrepreneurs,
technological change, product and process modification and
upgradation, productivity changes and initiatives to attain
compliance with core labour standards at the enterprise
level. This exercise could also be helpful in understanding
the problems faced by the enterprises in maintaining their
competitive edge in the global market. The present volume is
the outcome of a study implemented by the Centre for Policy
Dialogue (CPD), in collaboration with the SouthAsia
Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF), to find answers to
the aforesaid questions. Based on indepth analysis of
detailed firm level data, generated through large sample
surveys of RMG enterprises and workers, the study throws
important insights as regards how the RMG sector of
Bangladesh is positioning itself in view of the changing
global market scenario.
Areas which have been dealt with in this volume include
characteristic features of Bangladesh's RMG enterprises,
background of RMG entrepreneurs and workers, nature of the
ongoing restructuring process, production, cost structure,
sourcing of raw materials, marketing strategies, dynamics of
capital-output and labour-output ratios, product and market
diversification, state of labour standards compliance,
livelihood issues concerning RMG workers, skill upgradation,
scaling up and consolidation, structural weaknesses and
future challenges. The study also puts forward a set of
policy recommendations in this context with a view to
enabling strengthened participation of Bangladesh's
export-oriented RMG sector in the global market, so that the
sector could take advantage of emerging market opportunities
and address the attendant challenges.
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