Venturing into a Quota Free World : The Ready-made Garment Industry in Bangladesh

The export-oriented readymade garment industry of Bangladesh is now at a critical juncture, having to come to terms with changes in global trading conditions that now pose most severe competitive pressure it has ever experienced. Taking advantage of the reserved market shielded by the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) regime, the industry grew rapidly - from an almost unknown sector, exporting less than $ 100 million in 1985 to emerging as the country's principal export product - currently fetching more than $9 billion, accounting for three-quarters of all merchandise export receipts, 30 per cent of manufacturing investment, and perhaps more significantly, providing direct employment to about 3 million people - 80 per cent of whom are women. The discontinuation of the MFA system from the beginning of 2005 followed by the removal of safeguard measures against the world's leading supplier, China, in the EU and USA, which is to take place by the end of 2008, is expected to bring in heightened competition, causing concern for a number of suppliers, including Bangladesh.This book brings together a number of empirical papers based on suitable analytical structures that study the factors associated with the future export prospect of readymade garments along with the likely poverty and welfare consequences for Bangladesh. It deals with such issues as international competitiveness, potential effects of duty-free access, implications of discriminatory tariff preferences, impacts of multilateral liberalization, and consequences of adverse export shocks. While the analyses and results presented would be useful for policymakers and the concerned stakeholders, this volume would also be of interest to analysts involved in applied trade policy research.