Third Leather-tech held in Dhaka
A huge number of buyers and sellers congregated to observe the state of the art technology available in the leather sector in a three day long international exposition. The event also showcased the backward and forward linkage products of the sector. IBT caught up with three experts at the fair to get their thoughts on the prospects of the sector.
Engr. MA Taher
The President of the Leather Goods Exporters Association shared with ICE Business Times that the leather footwear and components exposition is the third of its annual series. He mentioned that under this roof people will be sensitized about the prospectts of this sector. “The global market of leather goods is $250 billion; out of which, 30% is of leather goods and 70% of artificial leather because leather is very costly.” He urges that the burgeoning leather sector in Bangladesh requires a surge of investment from local and foreign sources stating, “With the participation of the joint venture initiatives, Bangladesh can replicate the successful model of the RMG industry in the leather sector as well.” Expressing his satisfaction about the turn out and response from the participants he said,” This was one of the most successful events in recent times and will encourage local investors to work harder to improve the industry.”
Franco Colombo
The Managing Director of famous Italian brand BEKA LIMITED said, “Bangladesh’s potential as a developing country has attracted our attention and we have already built a very good relationship with the people of this country. We are offering technology and expertise which was earned though our long journey. Bangladesh is an emerging player in the sector and we see a very good opportunity to represent our products because the market size is growing here, where the scenario is completely opposite in many other countries.” He mentions about his partner William Chan from Taiwan who has joint venture companies in China, Vietnam and Cambodia and has different offices across the globe and represents the most important company in Japan in this field. He urges that local factories should be more careful about ensuring international rules and regulations about compliance and environmental pollution.
Peter Allen
The representative of SATRA, an independent research and testing organization, says that Bangladesh is slowly becoming a nation of manufacturers where the textile industry already has a solid form and footwear industry is slowly attaining good progress. “We conduct research and developed 400 text messages to use in the global footwear industry. The text message is on 300 machine devices for the improvement of their productivity.” He also says that they have memberships in global chains, retails and social companies in China, Germany and Vietnam and have the supply chain to develop products. Regarding the compliance issues he says that to be compliant, training is very much required besides the professional investment and policy support, which they are going to provide. “We found that many consider that investment in professional development is a liability; however to inspire members we try to ensure their participation in the overall process. We see it is increasing in the testing markets. There are companies who are making investment in quality production. Lack of infrastructure is a challenge in Bangladesh, which along with political instability sends a wrong signal to the investors from abroad.” Nevertheless, as soon as the local factories stress more on understanding the technical aspects and eventually ensure producing quality products, the chances to become a market leader for the Bangladeshi leather sector will increase exponentially.”
The experts all opined that Bangladesh has great potential in the global leather goods and footwear products market due to the abundance of raw materials, available competitive young labor force and preferential market access with the EU, Japan, and Canada. Recently Bangladesh leather goods and footwear sector has been declared as one of the four prioritized sectors by the government of Bangladesh.
