REPORT ON

EXPORT IMPORT OF BANGLADESH

SUBMITTED BY
Group: Breaking Dawn Batch: 16th Session: 2009-2010

SUBMITTED TO
Dr. Ataur Rahman Assistant Professor Department of Marketing University Of Dhaka

SUBMISSION DATE O cGroup t o b e r Profile 11, 2012

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Breaking Dawn
Creating New Ideas

SL.NO.

NAME
Md. Minar uddin Quazi Mahfuza Rahman Afsana Ahmed Wajahat Noor

Email ID
minarmktdu@gamail.com mitul_2690@yahoo.com

ROLL

01. 02. 03. 04.

25 145 155 159

bosom_bluemoon@yahoo.c om wnh_du@yahoo.com

Batch: 16 t h Section: A Group leader: Quazi Mahfuza Rahman Roll: 145

Export Import Procedures and Export Import Documentation of Bangladesh

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1:0 Introduction:
Export business occurs between two independent nations for expanding business there are some rules that have to follow. Accepting orders from abroad the sellers send their products with a traditional system under this rule. In this case the sellers are treated as exporter. There are various persons, government or non government organizations are involved with export business at present. These persons or organizations are divided into two criteria based on their nature and functions. Such as direct and indirect export. The direct exporters send their manufacturing products abroad themselves. Some companies run their export management system by setting dealers in abroad. In export business the intermediaries are treated as indirect exporters. These classes of exporters do not manufacture any product but export. Most of them complete the direct export exporting by buying products from home market after receiving orders. They are known as export merchant. Again many exporters work as a percent agent. Many intermediaries export product by making contract with manufacturers. They seek for foreign buyer on behalf of the exporters and take orders. They are known as manufacturers export agent. These kinds of exporters also take commission from buyers if they get chance. It is not the matter the exporters are treated in which name they have to do business of course under the international rule and regulations. in every countries this business is controlled and regulated by the government . Without permission of government it is impossible to export any product. For this reason the exporters have to take export license from the government. Beside this a product list is published to clarify that which products are legal for exporting. The exporters cannot export any product out of the list. So we can say that export business is an initiative which is taken by government and non government organization for selling products and services in different countries under certain national and international rules and regulations. In our country the export items are diversified and different kind of facilities are given to the exporters but a successful exporters have to know different aspect of exporting systems, rules, regulations. These rules and systems are discussed below14

2:0 Export procedure

2:1:0 Export Registration Procedure:
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Here first exporters have to collect export permit from the office of chief controller of import and export under ministry of commerce. Without legal registration any exporters cant export any kind of products from Bangladesh. Export permit numbers have to be mention in all papers regarding exporting. Appling in a specific application form the exporters can get export permit from Dhaka ,Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Mymensing, Sylhet, Cumilla, Barisal, Pabna, Rangpur and Dinajpur from export import controller office. The procedure of getting registration from is described below1. Collection of application form: the from which area the exporter is interested to export he has to collect applivation form from that region. 2. Filling application form and collection of necessary documents: registration form Nationality certificate of partner or director. Band solvency certificate Tax certificate Membership certificate o trade association Affidavit of first class Magistrate 3. Payment of fees by treasury chalan: Then payment of fees are done by treasury chalan. 4. Submission of application form: The application form including signature of exporter have to drop in exporter importer office. There are some procedures. They are Main copy of treasury chalan Nationality certificate of partner or director. Partnership contract in case of partnership business. Memorandum for limited company Copy of trade license. Rent document of office.
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after collection

 Membership certificate of trade association. Affidavit from first class Magistrate. Other certificate(if necessary) 5. Recruit of application form: here the export import management office scrutinizes the application form, that all the legal documents are attested carefully or not. Thus scrutinize the application if the office thinks that the application is correct they accept it. If there is any fault it is sending for rectify to the applicants. 6. Issuing Export Registration Certificate:. In this phase from the export import office the export registration certificate is given. So here a exporter get the legal right to export products in the international market. Renewal of export Registration Certificate: In the nest phase the exporter can renew the export certificate giving a certain fee. The function is appropriate for all the products except jute, jute made products, tea and tobacco products.

2:2:0 Execution of export:

After Market identification, goods selection and export procedure the next step of exporter is to take the actual initiative in hand. In this task following activities are included 1. Establishing communication: At first relationship with customer should be established by market investigation. This communication can be created by personal interactions or by exchanging letter. Generally, the first communication between buyer-sealer started with letter exchanging. For that reason, on exporter should have necessary knowledge about how to write an attractive, neat and clean business letter. 2. Sending sample: In terms of establishing export communication, sending sample is a general rules. Generally, exporter has to send actual representative sample toward bowyer through airways/line. In Bangladesh near to the amount of 500 tk sample cane be sent without any recommendation of govt. institution. From 500tk to 1000tk value measurement sample can be snit by the
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recommendation of export developing bureau and more than 1000tk valuing goods can be sent by the recommendation at head of Export-Import controller. 3. Getting Export Order: In this step. An exporter goes forward to getting export order. Several buyers of jute and jute made product of Bangladesh, consult with foreign sealers and for providing export order create () office, representative or appoint local agent. Moreover, TCB, BJMC and JBEC of the behalf of exporter consult with foreign buyers to facilitate getting export order. 4. Information about financial solvency of the customer: If the buyers are not introduced before with exporter, then before the execution of export contract the information collection about the financial solvency of buyers is a well accepted sassiness rules. This financial report is secret evidence and it can be collected from Export Bank, General Insurance Corporation or from foreign Bangladesh administration. 5. Marketing export contract: Sucking and effective communication with buyers extend the execution of export contract when one sides proposal is excepted by another, then it will be regarded as a contract Importer or exporter can curate any type of contract that will not go beyond the countrys rules and regulations. The contract can be both formal & informal. In terms of holding a contract following things should be considered i) Elements of contract: In terms of executing the selling contract the textures of goods, quantity of goods as well as the quality, selling condition, per unit price and total price, Inspection certificate, arbitration condition etc. should be considered. ii) Pro forma invoice: The agreement consisting of contract elements is known as pro forma Invoice. This invoice works as basements of export exchanging. This pro forma invoice is consisting of goods reechoes, quantity, quality description, order timing, packaging, marking, labeling etc. 6. Receiving letter of credit:
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In terms of receiving letter of credit following matters should be talon under consideration Is there is a similarity between the conditions of contract and LC mentioning Irrevocable letter of credit should be pre feared first as well as should be confirmed by advising Bank. Is in there is a proper motioning of adequate timing at shipping as well as time for negotiation. If the exporter mentions the LC as a transmutable, divisible and advisable in the contract then whether these conditions are clearly mentioned in the LC should also be observed. 7. Procurement of goods: After consultation and contracting with buyers and issuing LC in favor of exporter, the next task of exporter is the procurement of goods. If for any necessity, the mentioning time limitation need to be extend then without coasting time the buyer should send a request. 8. Shipment of Goods: This is important to remember that, an exporter has to take the initiative on shipment of goods according to the certain conditions of selling contract attend shipment of foods. In terms of shipment, following documents are needed E.X.P form (It should be certified by bank at first and then customs authority); The copy of registrations; The copy of contract; The copy of LC; Railway, (iii) or truck receipts;
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Direction copy of shipment; Insurance policy.

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9. Preparation & collection of export documents: During this step, following documents have to be prepared and collected Bill of exchange or Draft; Bill of lading; Invoice; Insurance policy; Certificate of origin; Inspection certificate; Consular Invoice; Packing list; Quality maintaining certificate; G.S.P form; Fights senetary certificate. 10. Submission of documents of Bank for negotiation: Lastly, but not the least, an exporter has to submit the documents to bank for negotiation.

3:0 Export Import documents:

1) Shipping document Bill of lading Bill of exchange Commercial invoice Airway bill
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 Truck receipt Packing list Certificate of origin Inspection certificate Consular invoice Marine insurance policy EXP form GSP certificate Visa 2) Supporting documents: Copy of LC Quality control certificate Export contract Proforma invoice IRC ERC Mates receipt Invent Certificate of inspection
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3) Documents used in import goods: Bill of lading

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 Bill of exchange Commercial invoice Mates receipt Packing list Certificate of insurance Certificate of origin Bill of shipping GSP Certificate Textile VISA License 4) The documents used in transfer in the duty department: Bill of shipping LC copy EXP form Commercial invoice Certificate of origin Packing list Certificate of inspection Insurance certificate Consular invoice 5) The documents used export price collection: Commercial invoice
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 Bill of exchange EXP form LC copy Bill of lading Export contract Packing list Mates receipt Consular invoice Certificate of origin GSP Certificate Bill of shipping Quality control certificate

N.B: to implement the export contract what types of document are needed and what types of document needs to be submitted, everything will be mentioned in the L/C. according to the documents exporter needs to provide them in time. 1) Bill of exchange: Generally bill of exchange is made in three phases by the exporter. Actually it is a written order of an exporter to the importer to pay his dues after specific time. Generally in our country the exported income must be brought within four month from the shipping date of the process. Some times according to the contract condition in the debenture the bill may be drawn within 30 days, 60days, 90 days or 120 days date. The price mentioned in bill must be corresponding to the invoice price and it will not be more than the debenture price. 2) Commercial invoice:
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It is provided by an importer himself, here the description, the quantity, price, quality; shipping sign, no. of package of the goods are mentioned clearly. The following matters are to be ensured in Commercial invoice: #the date, no, of invoice, signature of exporter, #the description of goods in the invoice needs to be corresponding to the debenture, #if the invoice contains the unit rate, price of the goods, it must be like in the debenture # the description of the invoice must be same with not only with debenture bit also with the bill of lading, packing list. 3) Bill of lading: The following matters are to be kept in mind of an exporter: # It is made by 2,3,4 phases so proper in transferable copies must be submitted in the bank. # It will be conspicuous and error indication will not be seen. # It will be in short and on board. # It will mention the shipping date, # It will be drawn in favor of any authorized dealer of Bangladesh. # it must be signed by the representative of shipping company. # Bill of lading will include the fare of ship. # corresponding to the respective documents must include details of goods, shipping numbers. # It can not be null and void. 4. Airway Bill: In airway bill, there are three parts of a selling statement sent by the airway company. Among the three parts, the first part is kept by the Biman. Second part is sent to the importer and the last part is sent to the exporter. Airway bill is not transferrable because it does not provide right on the products. according to the act of foreign exchange, it is mandatory to make sure
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that the exporter is acknowledged about the matter of negotiation between two banks .It is of two parts: MAWB(Master Airway Bill)and HAWB(House Airway Bill).Cargo Forwarder accomplish all kinds of essential activities through using the airway bill. 5. Truck Receipt: It is mandatory to include the truck receipt while exporting. The truck receipt has been used in case of street communication. 6. Packing List: The number of containers ,packages ,total &net weight ,sign of shipping etc.are mentioned in this document .This list is essential to find out the product easily . The exporter makes the packing list. 7. Certificate of Origin: Actually the authorized trade association provides the certificate of origin .If there is not mentioned any kind of endorsement by the association about the certificate of the origin ,then the exporter can fill it in by himself. 8. Inspection Certificate: This cert5ificate is usually collected by inspection company . The inspection company provides this certificate by stating that the quality, standard and other required things are fulfilled according to the contract. The inspection company is approved by the buyers. 9. Consular Invoice: In fact, this is a copy of invoice . There is an endorsement of consular of the import country in this statement. When there is an endorsement provided by the consular in the exporters invoice. Sometimes, consular has been employed in the export country on behalf of the importers. Before sending the products to the importers , the exporter will submit three copies of invoice to the consular. 10. Marine Insurance Policy:
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Marine insurance has been defined as a contract between insurer and insured whereby the insurer undertakes to indemnify the insured in a manner and to the interest thereby agreed ,against marine losses incident to marine adventure. This policy is very flexible and it will be
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accepted by fulfilling the required conditions of both exporter and importer .The marine insurance company will be bound to indemnify only when the losses occurred based on the marine hazardness. The core marine perils are Fortuitous accidents or causalities of the sea . Fire, water or smoke related perils. Attack by pirates or marine thefts All other marine related perils.

There are some indirect losses which are not directly related with marine perils . Such as: Failure in transportation Losses due to rain water Restraints and detainments Explosion Strikes ,riots and commotion clause

A prompt notice of claim by the insured is required . The receipt of notice or the approval of the course of action taken by the insured does not mean that the liability of any loss is acknowledged. The damage notice must be given prior to survey by insurers representative and the survey report signed by him. The following documents are required at the time of claim. Policy or certificate of insurance Bill of Lading Invoice or bill stating terms and conditions of sale Copy of protest Certificate of survey
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Bill of sale Letter of subrogation Exporter losses due to of products specific insurance company will liable for covering this loss. For getting the amount following papers must be needed

Copy of commercial invoice Copy of bill of leading Copy of survey report Copy of paper used in transaction with Ship Company and authority of port Bill related to surveyor

12. EXP FORM: for exporting every product every company must declare the exporting through exp by a order of Bangladesh bank that is the maintaining the rule of foreign currency exchange. 13. GSP CERTIFICATE: when develop country import from less develop country they give dome facility for that country such as tariff advantages etc. For getting this facility exporter have to collect GSP certificate from export development bureau. 14. Mates receipt: after taking the product from the exporter the authority of the ship provide a document to the exporter this is called mates. 15. Visa: visa is needed for exporting in the United States. 16. Copy of L/C: for exporting all products copy of L/C must be attested 17. Quality control certificate: most of the time it is essential for exporters to collect quality certificate from the quality testing department of country. 18. Export contract: importer or on behalf of the importers bank issues export contract. These contracts include condition of exports and imports. 19. Export license: for exporting RMG in Canada export development bureau issues export license
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20. Proforma Invoice: It is a paper of which includes, details about products amount of product, price of product and commercial condition. 21. Copy of export contract: for exporting copy of export contract between exporter and importer must be attested

4:0 Analysis
The growth story of our apparel sector is simply spellbinding. In 1983-84, the total apparel exports of Bangladesh were only $31.57 million, 3.9% of total exports. During this period there were only 134 factories, which employed around 400,000 workers. The breakthrough occurred during 1985-86, when the number of factories increased to 594 and volume of export grew to $131.5 million. In FY90 it became a $624 million industry with a share of 41% of total exports. During 198590, the sector grew at a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 40%. The earnings from this sector crossed the billion-dollar mark in FY92, with a total export of $1.18 billion. In FY95, the share of apparel export increased to 64% of total exports and earnings doubled to $2.2 billion. The industry grew at CAGR of 29% during 1990-95. Within the next five years, the export proceeds from this sector again doubled to $4.35 billion and the share of apparel export to total exports grew to 76%. Since then, the apparel sector has continued to contribute more than 75% of total exports. Several internal and external factors contributed to the phenomenal growth of the RMG sector. The key factor behind the growth was the quota regime under the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA). The General System of Preferences (GSP) facilities and RoO (Rules of Origin) offered by the developed nations also helped Bangladesh to accelerate its export. In short, MFA provided market protection for Bangladesh, whereas GSP facilities offered preferential treatment and market access opportunities in developed economies. Moreover, the apparel industry also received support from the government, which included measures like duty drawback facilities, tax holidays, cash assistance, income tax rebate, creation of export processing zones, zero tariff on machinery inputs, rebate on freight and power rate, bonded warehouse facilities, provision of import under back-to-back letters of credit, loans at concessional rate, export development fund, etc. Finally, Bangladesh possessed a number of
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comparative advantages, like low labour costs, compared to other Asian economies, growing share of local inputs (particularly in knit fabrics) and competence in mass-produced basic garments (such as knit cotton and woven cotton products). Meanwhile, the sector survived the MFA phase-out at the end of 2004, despite fierce competition from neighbouring countries. However, the success story continued. Post MFA phase-out, export earnings from the apparel sector increased to $6.4 billion in FY05, $7.9 billion in FY06, and crossed the $10 billion mark in FY08. It was apprehended that, post MFA phase-out, about 30% to 40% of garment factories would close down. On the contrary, the number of factories increased from 4,000 in FY04 to 4,740 in FY08, and employment generation increased from 2 million to 2.5 million. The journey of this growth story was not smooth. The entrepreneurs of the apparel sector faced tremendous constraints in terms of power and gas supply. Political instability, frequent hartals (strikes), poor port facility, and labour unrest created longer lead time, which became another barrier in competing with neighbouring nations. Amidst all the constraints, the RMG entrepreneurs lived up to the buyers' expectations of reduced price margin, improved compliance standards, and quality assurance. There were also significant investments in backward integration. The comparative advantage of low labour cost also attracted foreign direct investment. As a result, both backward and forward linkage industry flourished in Bangladesh. Currently, the backward industry is able to meet up to 85% of the demand for the raw materials required for knitwear export, which significantly contributed to the country's growth of apparel export and knitwear exports emerged as a number one export item due to increased investments in backward linkages. From the chart we can see the structural shift in the country's export pattern and how the market dynamics shifted towards knitwear export. During early 1992-93, knitwear contributed only 14% of total apparel export, which increased to 25% in 1997-98. Post-MFA phase-out, knitwear contributed 48% of total apparel export. In 2007-08, the total knitwear export of Bangladesh was $5.53 billion, which surpassed the total export of woven garments of $5.17 billion and contributed 52% of apparel export. Even in the first quarter of FY09 (July-September 2008), the export receipts from woven sector was $1.53 billion, which represents 36.7% YOY growth, and total knitwear export was $1.83 billion, which is a 52% growth over the corresponding period of the previous year.
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MUMIT M The crossroads

Since 2005, in the quota-free regime, the earnings from apparel export grew at the CAGR of 18.6%. There has been vast progress in terms of size and scale, capacity development, establishment of forward and backward linkages, etc. However, there are some constraints warranting all out attention too. If this growth rate is sustained, Bangladesh is likely to cross $25 billion in earnings from apparel export in the next five years. Now, the question is, can the growth rate be sustained in future? Will we be able to survive another crisis like the global economic slowdown and financial turmoil of Western countries as we had survived the challenge of MFA phase-out? The economic slowdown in the US and EU, and the fear of recession, has hurt other economies of the world as well. The exportreliant countries have been hit hard by the financial turmoil. Bangladesh is also an exportreliant country and the export earning from apparel sector is considered as one of the driving engines of the country. Of the total apparel exports, 30% goes to the US, more the 60% goes to the EU countries, and the rest goes to other countries. In FY08, the total export receipts from woven garments was $5.16 billion, out of which $2.37 billion came from EU, and $2.41 billion came from the US. Knitwear export in FY08 was $5.53 billion, of which about 79% was exported to European countries and around 15% went to the US.
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In a nutshell, around 90% of garment exports goes directly to the US and European countries, which are currently facing economic slowdown. The slowdown in these economies may decrease the demand of apparel imports from our country due to the fall in purchasing power of the consumers. The possible negative effects on Bangladesh may come in the form of decrease in export orders. The huge concentration of the apparel sector (76% of the country's total exports) in the country's export basket exposes us to an even bigger challenge of survival and sustenance. However, we all know that the risk of falling export orders from Bangladesh is largely mitigated by the fact that Bangladesh exports mostly basic and low-end apparels and related accessories, where the income elasticity is lower than that in the high price segment. So far, apparel exports have retained robust growth, and it is expected that the current slowdown will not have much adverse impact on that. If we look at the data published by the US Department of Commerce, the apparel import figures confirm the assumption. The growth trend during the peak period (from June to September) was positive. As of September 2008, the total apparel imports of the US from Bangladesh was about $2.6 billion, which is 8.6% growth over the corresponding period of the previous year. As of September 2008, the total apparel import by the US was $54.27 billion, which is a decline of 3.3% compared to September 2007. The total apparel export of China to the US until September 2008 was $16.9 billion, which is 31% of total apparel import of the US. However, the total import from China has declined by 2.2% compared to September 2007, which was $17.29 billion. Among the other Asian countries, total apparel import from Vietnam was $3.9 billion as of September 2008, which registered a growth of 22.9% over the corresponding period of the previous year. Imports from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India fell by 0.11%, 9.3%, 2.2%, and 4.1% respectively in September 2008 compared to the corresponding period of September 2007. As of September 2008, Bangladesh is the fifth largest apparel exporter to the US after China, Vietnam, Mexico ($3.07 billion) and Indonesia ($3.1 billion). India ($2.4 billion), Honduras ($1.9 billion), Cambodia ($1.8 billion), Thailand ($1.28 billion) and Hong Kong ($1.25 billion) are in sixth, seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth positions respectively.
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In the first quarter of 2007, total export by Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand was $5.5 billion, which has increased to $6.2 billion in the third quarter of 2008. Among these countries, Vietnam has increased its share from 16% in Q107 to 25% in Q308. Indonesia's share of export was stable in the range of 17% to 18% over quarters. Bangladesh contributed around 14% over the quarters to the total export of these eight economies, and increased its share to 15% in the last quarter. The share of apparel export from India fell significantly from 17% in Q107 to 10.9% Q308. The shares of Cambodia (10%-11%), Pakistan (7%), Thailand (7%-8%) and Sri Lanka (6%-7%) were stable over the quarters. The decline of Chinese apparel exports is definitely good news for Bangladesh. The Chinese apparel sector suffers from currency appreciation, increased labour wages, and rising cost of compliance with new regulations on working conditions. While we are eyeing the diverted business from China, we must assess to what extent we are increasing our market share. We must find out why Vietnam was able to grow by more than 22% by exporting to the US market from September 2007 to September 2008 while Bangladesh lagged behind. And we must not forget that Bangladesh has a very limited market share in the non-apparel/textiles export market, which is dominated by the neighbouring countries. Until September 2008, total non-apparel/textiles exports to the US by China were $7.5 billion, while India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam exported $1.5 billion, $1.2 billion, $235 million, $170 million, and $150 million respectively. The total exports from Bangladesh were $75 million. Hence, even though China and India are losing market share in the apparel sector, they are far more competitively positioned in the textiles segment. Moreover, total exports from China are likely to surge from the first quarter of 2009, when restrictions will be lifted. Following the recent financial crisis, the currencies of Asian countries have substantially depreciated against the US dollar. In the past few months, the Indian rupee has depreciated over 20% against the US dollar. The Pakistani rupee depreciated by 25%, and the Vietnamese dong by 10% against the US dollar. More importantly, the central banks of these countries did not play any active role in currency depreciation; rather the regulatory authorities of these countries are concerned about currency
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depreciation because of withdrawal or decline of foreign capital investments from these countries. Similar is the case for South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. On the flip side, export sectors of these countries will comparatively gain due to the fall in the value of the local currency. The key challenge for Bangladesh will be to compete against these countries with competitive exchange rates.

Future action plans:

There were challenges in the past, and challenges will remain in future. However, we should focus at least on sustaining the existing growth rate, if not targeting more. To become a $25 billion export country by 2013 the prime agenda should be the following: Enhancing labour productivity : The greatest challenge for us is to constantly focus and enhance our efficiency and productivity. Enhancing productivity does not only mean cost reduction, but also requires greater vision and enforcement of that vision in an effective manner. One of the prime causes behind low labor productivity is the prevailing labour shortage in the apparel sector. It is reported by the BGMEA that the number of skilled manpower in the apparel sector has declined by 25%. The prime reason behind this is lack of institutional orientation. The apparel sector is the livelihood of more than 2.5 million people, but there is no training institution or certification program to develop the manpower. It is essential to up skill the labor force to derive optimum level of productivity and capacity utilization. Furthermore, major shifts in production technologies are factors that may seriously affect the competitiveness of manufacturers in Bangladesh. RMG entrepreneurs of Bangladesh, therefore, should quickly embrace state of the art technologies. Innovation of new production tools/techniques/ equipment and plants may also be explored. Countering labor unrest: Every year, the apparel sector faces substantial productivity loss because of labor unrest, which results in production halt, missed shipment, and revenue loss. Many a time we have heard that there is foreign conspiracy working behind the labor unrest in our apparel sector to reduce its competitiveness. However, what measures have been taken by the owners to counter the problem?
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In Bangladesh, as per the minimum wage policy, a new worker draws only $24 per month. After working for three months, the worker gets to draw $29 to $36 a month, whereas a skilled worker gets paid around $45 a month. The last "Minimum Wage Policy" was revised in October 2006, when annual average inflation was 6.78% and food inflation was 7.95%. During FY09, the annual average inflation rate increased to 10% and food inflation rose to 12.5%, but we have not observed any wage revision. As a result, workers have started to migrate to China, Vietnam, and UAE, which are sourcing cheap labor from Bangladesh with relatively higher wages and benefits. Although our inward remittances will increase due to this, our comparative advantage is decreasing. Hence, the garment company owners need to offer a competitive, encouraging and engaging pay package to retain the workers and counter unrest. Addressing safety and security issues: The reason behind labor unrest is not only the low wage structure, but also the hazardous working conditions, insufficient safety and security measures, inadequate break time, irregular payment, forceful overtime, and many other factors. We have seen that hundreds of workers died due to collapse of factory buildings. The "Savar, Palashbari" incident is still vivid in our memories. There are frequent fires also. For how long will this continue? And why are the concerned authorities not taking any active measures to address the issue? We are speaking about enhancing labor productivity, but also recognize that productivity in our country's apparel sector is low compared to neighboring countries. However, productivity will not increase if we do not take any aggressive measures to address the safety and security issues. Improving supervisor-worker relationship: The relationship between supervisors and workers plays a key role in terms of productivity enhancement and maintaining overall discipline in the work place. While the "boss and subordinate" relationship is important in every industry, in the apparel sector it plays a major role and sometimes influences negatively. Incidents of exploitation and harassment of the workers by supervisors are common phenomena in the apparel sector, and this is more applicable to the female workers. The reason behind this is that there is always a gap between the owners and the workers. Supervisors play a "middle man" role, and owners are influenced by them. The absence of
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job description, accountability and corporate governance hamper the worker-owner relationship. Identifying new destinations: With 76% contribution to the country's export basket, the apparel sector is vulnerable to any possible downturn in major export destinations. It is also susceptible to the economic, political and regulatory risks of the US and the EU since 90% of apparel export flows to these regions. The other important export destinations are: Canada, Japan, Australia, etc. In FY08, apparel export to Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Africa was $468 million, $61 million, $22 million, and $21 million respectively. Within Asia, Bangladesh exported $20 million to Hong Kong, $15 million to Singapore, and $10 million to China. These are all relatively new markets for Bangladesh, and efforts to enhance our trade share should continue. However, it is important to remember that reaching new destinations is also closely linked with capacity. Hence, capacity development and proper utilization is also very important. Besides, Bangladesh is yet to derive benefits from the South Asia Free Trade Agreement. In most cases, South Asian countries have homogenous exportable items, which makes export opportunities even thinner. Bangladesh faces challenges in exporting apparel to India since RMG is a "sensitive" import item for India. In FY08, total export from Bangladesh to other Saarc countries was only $7 million, out of which export to India was $5 million, followed by Pakistan $700,000, Nepal $640,000, and Sri Lanka $610,000. At the micro-level, entrepreneurs in the apparel sector must analyze their commercial structures. They have to examine their overall business portfolio in terms of destination mix and the strength of their buyers, and should conduct an in-depth analysis of the buyers' main revenue and cost streams. If possible, the owners should also find out whether their cash flow depends on volatile economic sectors like real estate or sale of luxury items, which, in turn, may affect the buyers' overall businesses. If any such impacts are found, the entrepreneurs should consider diversification of their buyer base. Developing second-tier management: In most cases, the management control of the factories is limited within the family members of the owners, and in many cases it is just a one-man show. As a result, the overall business suffers from key man risk as well as capacity constraints. The owners of the RMG factories must make an effort to develop a second-tier management team, especially in the large apparel corporate.
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Given the global dynamics, it is high time to implement corporate culture and practices in the apparel sector, which requires developing human resources, enhancing corporate governance, decentralizing decision making authority and empowering people. This will translate into enhancement of accountability and time saving and, more importantly, the second-tier management team can bridge the gap between the workers and owners, which will help further in improving industrial relationships and relieving the workers from harassment to a great extent.

Every year, a lot of business graduates are coming into job market, but how many of them are interested in working in the apparel sector unless they have their own family businesses? Without the expertise from professionals like chartered accountants, cost management accountants and business graduates, it is extremely difficult to achieve an efficient cost management structure or sustainable business model for the apparel business. This sector requires proper branding to attract the country's talent pool. Conducting cost-benefit analysis: Good accounting practices and an overall risk analysis structure must be established. The management team should not only focus on cost reduction but also identify the important factors of production. In the apparel sector, the financing cost constitutes less than one percent of the total cost of production, rather many a time, owners incur huge expenses due to port demurrage and air freight because of lack of efficiency and control. In our country there is a huge

concentration of RMG manufacturing units in town areas, and a majority of them are operating even in the posh location where the rent is high and proper working conditions are absent due to space scarcity. Hence, an in-depth analysis needs to be done on factors of production, and cost reduction strategy should focus on the factors which contribute significantly to
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the overall cost structure. Transparency in the accounting practices and required level of disclosures can also put the apparel corporate in a stronger position for negotiation with the buyers and financing partners.

5:0 Conclusion
Trade and Commerce is one of the prime driving forces of socio-economic development. Since last two decades, export has been playing a very important role in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh. These days, export of Bangladesh has been developing and expanding fast contributing in employment generation and reducing poverty significantly. The number of young and educated entrepreneurs in the export business is increasing day by day. It is important for them to know how to deal in the export business and the relevant laws, rules and policies. Bangladesh, despite being a least developed economy, has a proven record in export competitiveness. Here is a summary of the facts. From 2003 to 2007 Bangladesh achieved annual export value growth of 19.6%, a testimony to its export competitiveness. Whilst not wishing to be complacent, and being mindful of difficult global trade conditions in 20082010, these positive trade differentials are likely to be with Bangladesh well into the future.

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