Big Dreams in Small Spaces

A Report on the Embroidery Industry of Bangladesh

Findings, Recommendations, Insights

Institute of Business
Administration

April 27, 2014

A REPORT ON THE EMBROIDERY INDUSTRY OF BANGLADESH

Prepared for:
Mr. Sheikh Morshed Jahan
Course Instructor: Bangladesh Studies

Prepared by:
Group 02
RH-01 Fariha Islam
ZR-03 Abdullah Atique
RH-04 Shaila Nusrat Aurin
RH-12 Samiha Zaker
ZR-14 Maruf Hassan
RH-23 Farah Binte Azam
ZR-27 Rehanul Islam
RH-29 Rubyat Tasfia Rahman
ZR-43 Rahimun Anik Haider
RH-45 Sylvia Islam
ZR-57 Abrar Bin Darda
RH-59 Aanisha Mahmood
BBA 20th Batch

Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka, Dhaka

April 27, 2014

Letter of Transmittal
27th April, 2014

Mr. Sheikh Morshed Jahan

Associate Professor
Institute of Business Administration (IBA)
University of Dhaka
Subject: Submission of Bangladesh Studies Report

Dear Sir,
Take our best regards. We, the members of Group 2, are hereby presenting our report on the
Embroidery Industry of Bangladesh as a requisite for our K202 Bangladesh Studies course.
We hope the report along with all the specifications that you guided us with meet with your
approval.

Yours sincerely,

Fariha Islam

Abdullah Atique

Shaila Nusrat Aurin

Maruf Hasan

Farah Binte Azam

Rehanul Islam

Sylvia Islam

Abrar Bin Darda

Rahimun Anik Haider

Samiha Zaker

Rubyat Tasfia Rahman

Aanisha Mahmood

Abstract

The Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh has a rich history. Since the Mughal period, the
techniques of Embroidery have been passed from father to son, mother to daughter. However,
the advent of mechanical instruments has led to a downward spiral for the Embroidery
Industry.
For this report, we interviewed people from 4 different clusters to get a better view of the
Embroidery industry of the country- Cluster 1: The Bihari Embroider Community in the
Mohammadpur Geneva Camp, Cluster 2: The Female Embroidery Entrepreneurs in Joyeeta,
Cluster 3: The Embroiders in Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market, and Cluster 4: The
Embroiders in New Market.
The overall conditions of business and business environment varied almost drastically among
these four clusters studied. The Bihari community is in this business because of their inability
to engage in other sectors. The Female Entrepreneurs in Joyeeta are supported by the
government. The Embroiders in Khilgaon and New Market are more independent in their
trade.
We have included our major findings from these 4 trips. We also analyzed them using the
Sustainable Market Enterprise Competitiveness Model, the Triple-Triangle Framework, and
the Grid of Institutional Mandate. We included some of our recommendations at the end of
the report.

Table of Contents

1. Background ............................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Embroidery ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 History of Embroidery ..................................................................................................... 1
1.3 Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh ................................................................................. 1
1.4 SWOT Analysis of the Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh ........................................... 3
2. Trip to Mohammadpur Bihari Camp ..................................................................................... 4
3. Trip to Joyeeta........................................................................................................................ 9
4. Trip to Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market........................................................................ 13
5. Trip to New Market ............................................................................................................. 16
6. Sustainable Market Enterprise Competitiveness ................................................................. 18
7. Triple Triangle Framework .................................................................................................. 20
8. Grid of Institutional Mandate............................................................................................... 22
9. Major Findings ..................................................................................................................... 23
9.1 New Market .................................................................................................................... 23
9.2 Khilgaon ......................................................................................................................... 24
9.3 Joyeeta ............................................................................................................................ 25
9.4 Mohammadpur ............................................................................................................... 26
10. Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................. 28

1. Background
1.1 Embroidery

Embroidery is the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or
yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads,
quills, and sequins. Embroidery is most often used on caps, hats, coats, blankets, dress shirts,
denim, stockings, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available with a wide variety of thread or
yarn color.

1.2 History of Embroidery

Embroidery has been dated to the Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC). The process
used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing
techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery. In a
garment from Migration period Sweden, roughly 300700 CE, the edges of bands of
trimming are reinforced with running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, tailor's buttonhole stitch,
and whip stitching, but it is uncertain whether this work simply reinforced the seams or
should be interpreted as decorative embroidery.

1.3 Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh

The Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh has a rich history. The history of the Embroidery in
this subcontinent can be traced as far back as the Mughal Dynasty. Emperor Akbar was said
to be a great admirer of the industry. For generations, the techniques of Embroidery have
been passed from father to son, mother to daughter. However, the advent of mechanical
instruments has led to a downward spiral for the Embroidery Industry.
For this report, we interviewed people from 4 different clusters to get a better view of the
Embroidery industry of the country1. Cluster 1: The Bihari Embroider Community in the Mohammadpur Geneva Camp
2. Cluster 2: The Female Embroidery Entrepreneurs in Joyeeta
3. Cluster 3: The Embroiders in Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market
4. Cluster 4: The Embroiders in New Market

1|Report

The items on which Hand Embroidery is done usually include- various types of Saree and
other dresses like Salwar-Kamiz, Veil, Lahenga, Shawl, Scart, Maxi, Bridalveil, Blouse,
Panjabi, Fotua, Waist-coat, T-shirt, Sweater, Childs wear etc. In addition to that, other
products include Bed-Sheet, Pillow-Cover, Cushion-Cover, Chair-Cover, Table-Cloth, Hand
Bag etc.
The overall conditions of business and business environment varied almost drastically among
these four clusters studied. In Mohammadpur, where there is NO Government or NGO
initiatives to help and motivate the embroidery business entrepreneurs, another clusterJoyeeta is THE Government initiative to encourage women entrepreneurs. In Mohammadpur
Geneva Camp, there was hardly a business worth over or around 2,000,000 BDT, in New
Market, dealings in just three months might amount or even surpass this value.
The one common thing among these four clusters was the growing concern about the Hand
Embroidery Industry to be out of business very soon. Mostly, this fear and concern rose from
the rise in sales of Machine Embroidered clothes and apparels made in Bangladesh or India
and Pakistan, which are cheaper to buy and faster to made. The remuneration and profits they
receive are good enough as the finished goods i.e. embroidered clothes are handmade and
naturally can fetch a higher price, but the overall value of the profit and remuneration are not
imply enough to keep these entrepreneurs going. Most of these entrepreneurs started their
initiatives out of livelihood needs, but reason for choosing this industry was particularly a
learned skill from family or community.
Treatment of employees or Karigors is exceptionally good in this business, as the success of
the business hinges on the skill, willingness and sincerity of these workers. On the basis of
our field works, filled- up questionnaires and interviews a SWOT Analysis was done on this
sector.

2|Report

1.4 SWOT Analysis of the Embroidery Industry in Bangladesh

Strengths

Weaknesses

Highly skilled
workers

Loan ineligibility related to less

contacts and low loan taking history

Local products

Low number of existing manpower

Comaparatively lower priced products

than foreign hand embroidered clothes

Inconvenient locations

Intricacy and durability of hand

embroiderd products

Lower overall profit

Dependency on customers for
survival

Threats

Opportunities

Increasing competition

Increasing demand for

hand crafted clothes
and apparels

Lower price of machine

embroidered clothes
and apparels

Skilled and willing

unused manpower

Increasing costs of raw

materials, e.g. Jori, silk
threads etc.

3|Report

2. Trip to Mohammadpur Bihari Camp

At the time of The Great Partition in 1947, a large number of Urdu-speaking Muslim people
migrated from India to the then East Pakistans territory, which is now Bangladesh. All the
migrated Urdu-speaking Indian people became Pakistani. Many of them had started living in
Mohammadpur area of Dhaka. Since 1971 the community people has almost doubled in
number due to high birth rate in the camps.
There is little economic opportunity for the Biharis in or outside the camps. Jobs in
Bangladesh are scarce, and loans for small business supplies like looms and cloth are
virtually non-existent. A good number of old people have turned to begging and an estimated
20,000 unmarried girls are vulnerable to human trafficking and forced prostitution to make a
living.
The embroidery business cluster in Mohammadpur developed mostly because of livelihood
needs and a limited access to other skills and business finance. There were only a few
Mahajons (entrepreneurs) for each of whom about 25- 30 skilled workers worked day long.
They work mostly with personally ordered embroidered clothes and if the order is any bigger
than 30 pieces, they usually outsource it to Savar, where according to them-theres more
manpower and embroidery machines make it cheaper and faster to perform such medium to
large orders.
According to the Mahajons, their employees take the lions share of the pieces the employees
work on. One of the Mahajon said, for example, that if a normal light embroidery cloth is
priced 500 taka, then the employees have to be given at least 300 taka or in many cases 400
taka.
Entrance of amateur workers at their youth is very limited as the Mahajons usually prefer
already skilled worker over a non-experienced one. Mostly when these people are very
young, 9- 12 years of age, they start to get a hands-on experience with the craft of embroidery
with their parents or with any Mahajons.
Monthly profit varies with the size and type of embroidery crafts the people have here. It
ranges from a mere 6000 taka to about 50,000 taka. The costs of the raw materials- like
thread or chumkis make it harder for them to have an increased profit margin.

4|Report

Image: Narrow Alleys in the Bihari Camp of Mohammadpur

Image: Karigors working on a Saree

5|Report

Image: The Bihari Embroiders have to work in dim lights that causes problems in vision

Image: Male and Female Embroiders work together in Mohammadpur Bihari Camp
6|Report

Image: Bihari Children often help out their parents in the embroidery work

Image: One of the Bihari children excitedly showing us his embroidery work
7|Report

Perspective: Because of their familys never ending poverty, Bihari Children often have to
work with their parents in their Embroidery Work. Nevertheless, these children can still
smile and dream of a better future.
8|Report

3. Trip to Joyeeta

Joyeeta is a long envisioned venture of Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. It

is a platform to support and facilitate the grass root level women entrepreneurs to market
their own arts, crafts and products. It nurtures the cultural heritage of Bangladesh. It has
about 30-40 stalls by women entrepreneurs, arranged in different blocks.
Joyeeta is a latest government initiative to promote women entrepreneurs and co-operatives
around Bangladesh. Almost 180 small scale entrepreneurs are able to benefit by selling
directly to end consumers under the banner of Joyeeta. The shopping area, consisting of two
top floors (3rd and 4th floor) at Rapa Plaza, Dhanmondi, opened its door to the public on
November 16, 2011. Various stalls here showcase a wide range of Bangladeshi handicrafts,
food, clothing, fabrics, hand-loom and other traditional products.
Most of the stalls specialize in exclusive traditional and designer Bangladeshi clothing which
are hand embroidered. As a socially aware business, they are committed to work with cottage
industry weavers, jewelers and artisans to ensure a fairer deal for them. In future they plan to
continue to add new products and bring exclusive designs.
Current condition:

Inconvenient location, as customers do not bother to go up to the top floor of the

shopping mall to make purchases.

Joyeeta does not get much exposure as no marketing initiative has been taken to increase
awareness among people about the existence of Joyeeta. So the business suffers, even
though they offer better quality of products and varied designs than fashion houses.

Unable to predict the current market trends which results in huge losses. For example, an
entrepreneur stocked up on fatuas for Pohela Boishakh as part of her seasonal sale, but
trend in the market had shifted to long kurtis or traditional sarees, so sales was less than
expected.

Factors affecting sustainable business:

For most of these small entrepreneurs profit making and maintaining a good customer
relationship are the most important factors because they would not be able to sustain the
business in the long-run without making profit, and customers must be satisfied in order to
9|Report

ensure their return for repurchase. Next comes keeping employees happy to retain them in
their jobs and ensure that they are dedicated to the work. Suppliers and distributors come at
the end because entrepreneurs generally maintain a good relationship with them and most of
them do not have distributors.
Manpower: The industry has a large number of highly skilled people who are willing to
work. These entrepreneurs either employ these efficient workers to work under them or
sometimes the entrepreneur just outsources the orders received from customers to these
women working independently.
Access to fund: Most entrepreneurs easily obtained loans to finance their business but banks
required security against loans and interest rate is considerably high.
Work culture: Sometimes workers cannot complete the work on time, tendency to switch
jobs because of higher wages by a competitor is quite common.
Competition: Inside Joyeeta, competition is quite fair as every stall has something different,
although there have been cases of design being copied by others, but the playing field in the
industry is unfair because fashion houses have better location and more exposure.
Demand: Compared to previous years, demand has considerably increased as more people
are inclined towards purchasing local products, but alternately demand for branded clothing
from fashion houses has increased too and foreign clothing e.g. Pakistani and Indian
embroidered clothing has monopolized the market.
Globalization factor: Demand for traditional embroidery work on blankets, bed-sheets, wall
hangings, apparel etc. has grown in recent years, and many entrepreneurs now participate in
fairs in India, Pakistan, China to showcase their products, while many export to foreign
countries.
Technology: Currently, technology includes only sewing machines for the machine
embroidery but the demand for hand embroidery is more where every stitch is done
meticulously by hand. There is still a need for automated machines which would greatly
improve efficiency. Moreover, they need better access to information technology to keep up
with global trends and designs.
State actions and social expectations: Government policies related to export of embroidered
clothing should be more lenient and regulations regarding price and supply of foreign
10 | R e p o r t

products monopolizing the market should be controlled to make the environment friendlier
for small entrepreneurs to thrive. Social expectations regarding local products is still quite
low as most customers still prefer foreign apparel over local ones. Many believe that local
products are of poorer quality and should be priced less but in reality embroidering each
product by hand requires a long time and tremendous effort which is consequently reflected
in the price. So this perception should be changed.

11 | R e p o r t

Image: Customers looking at Embroidery Products in Joyeeta

Image: Customers browsing Embroidery Products in Joyeeta

12 | R e p o r t

4. Trip to Khilgaon Taltola City Super

Market

Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market holds a large number of embroidery shops on the first
floor. The people over there were working and were pretty busy, but they still took some to
answer our questions.
Most of the people we interviewed didnt have a parent or a grandparent who was a
businessman, and most of them started this business around 10 years ago. The reason for
starting this business was to earn a living, and they choose this industry because it was easy
to set up, cost of starting was low and some entered this because of family reasons.
Number of people in a shop rarely exceeds 6 these are really small businesses. Monthly
expenditure is under Tk. 1 lac. The business and the industry have been performing agreeably
over the years, but now it is seeing a rapid loss of customers. The demand for products is
entirely dependent on customers, so the businesses perform poorly when the customers dont
come. In times of Eid, Puja or other occasions they face large orders of clothes, but during the
rest of the year they have comparatively much lower level of work.
The entrepreneurs are in this business to earn a living, so making profit is vital. In their line if
you cant keep customer happy business would wither away, and if you dont keep
employees they would not perform well, so these two conditions must also be met. Keeping
good relations with suppliers is important but not very much so. And with businesses of such
small size it is difficult for them to serve the society and give something back. The
perceptions regarding these factors has seen some change over the years, but mostly in
customer segment in the sense that they have to keep them even more happy now since there
are now a much wider array of choices available.
The manpower required for this embroidery business is not widely available. In the older
days, employees had apprentices who paid to learn work. Now people are not interested in
working in this sector. The current employees tend to go work for others if they are paid
more, and also tend to switch to other professions.
There is a lot more competition than there used to be. There are more embroiders than before,
and there are so much more shops selling ready-made clothes than before. There is now
13 | R e p o r t

availability of more automated machines that can make clothes which are making embroiders
redundant. The competition is fairly ethical, but there are some complaints of predatory
pricing some embroiders selling at a very low price to lure customers away and drive others
out of the market.
The level of technological use for this industry is already at its peak they are using the best
sewing machines (better sewing machines are not made regularly, and there is also less
incentive for doing so). Sufficient finance is available to the entrepreneurs. They can easily
borrow money from banks if they have good relationships with them. They can also get loans
from family or friends to invest in business (which is more common). They arent a part of
any association or chamber, and the industry doesnt have any association either.
Almost everyone agrees that this is a dying industry, but some say that since demand is
entirely dependent on customers there is still the opportunity to survive if they can attract
sufficient customers. Some say that the flexible nature of the design and quality of clothes is
a major strength. Major threats include the shopping malls that are setting up all over Dhaka
city. Weakness would be over dependency on customers for survival.

14 | R e p o r t

Image: Embroiders in Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market (1)

Image: Embroiders in Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market (2)

15 | R e p o r t

5. Trip to New Market

The embroidery stalls in the second and third floors of New Market are numerous in number.
It seems to be one for the busiest hubs for embroidery making and trading in Bangladesh. The
customers are usually presented with an array of embroidery designs to choose from and then
they can issue orders to the tailors. Most of the tailors who do the embroider work or
Karigors, as they are called by the shopkeepers there, work in locations nearby the stalls in
New Market (such as in the floor above or in a workstation nearby).
The entrepreneurs are now more aware of the rights and satisfaction of their employees and
customers than ever before, partly because of the heightened consciousness and movement of
the labor market regarding their rights and liberty. Secondly, entrepreneurs have realized the
importance of customer satisfaction and updating their products according to customer
demand to meet profit more sustainably. The SMEs here are very competitive as business
here is very saturated. The rush of customers is observed to be quite a lot in New Market.
Customers seem to be very much aware of this place for embroidery. This rush has
encouraged the embroidery designers to be more aware and up-to-date about customer trends
than before.
While entering business entrepreneurs prime concern remains profit making and customer
satisfaction uses to come last in the order while they tend to make the suppliers and
distributors happy to sustain their business in early phase. However, over time the vital
importance shifts to customers, employee and suppliers satisfaction from making profit.
Proper and expert man power is not much available as much as the market requires.
Sometimes, orders may pile up due to a lack of availability of the required expertise for the
work.
Access to finance is not easy as banks remain conservative towards granting loans to SMEs.
The entrepreneurs believe that government should push the banks to be more open and
flexible in this regard.
Work culture is very sound and efficient. The flow from the Karigors to the seller to the
customers is very smooth. Workers craftsmanship is being given more and more importance
over past few years.
16 | R e p o r t

Labor market unrest and different activities play a pivotal role in recognition of the workers
interest and thus determining wages and work hours is a grave issue which ensures perfect
competition in the market. But competition among the SMEs is not necessarily fair at all
times as cases of design theft are at large.
Large strides have been made in technology in machine embroidery according to the
entrepreneurs there but in New Market, handmade embroidery takes more preference to the
customers than machine embroidery work does.
Globalization has a tremendous influence on customer demand as customers are more
concerned about the quality of the output and latest trend in the national and international
market. So they require updating and modifying their product time to time to meet customer
demand which is immensely influenced through this globalization. Some also complained
about foreign products taking up their market such Pakistani Lawns and Indian designer
clothing.

17 | R e p o r t

6. Sustainable Market Enterprise

Competitiveness

Profit for
Society

Profit for
Value Chain
Actors
Profit for
Employees
Profit for
Customers
Profit for
Owner

Model 1: Sustainable Market Enterprise Competitiveness

1. Profit for Owners

Most entrepreneurs we talked to rated Owners as the most important stakeholders in the
embroidery business. Md. Zakir Hossain, Proprietor of Shourav Fashion Embroidery House,
asked us If I cannot make profit, why would I stay in this business?

18 | R e p o r t

2. Profit for Customers

Customers were also rated as very important stakeholders. The view of the respondents was
that lack of customers would lead to no money. Thus, they need to satisfy the customers in
order to maintain a sustainable business operation.

3. Profit for Employees

Employees might leave if they are not happy. Skilled Karigors are very hard to find in the
embroidery industry. If the employees are unhappy, they may begin to look for other work.
Loss of skilled workers can significantly damage the business and reduce sustainability.

4. Profit for Value Chain Actors

The entrepreneurs we surveyed told us that the suppliers and distributors are very important
for the embroidery industry. Suppliers control the raw materials and if they are not profitable,
it may lead to collapse in the industry. In Joyeeta, the entrepreneurs are dependent on the
distributors to learn about the change in demand. If the value chain actors no longer consider
the embroidery industry as profitable, the industry will be severely damaged.

5. Profit for Society

Md. Zakir Hossain, Proprietor of Shourav Fashion Embroidery House, told us that he
believes that it is not important for embroiders to give back to the society as they are small
entrepreneurs with minimal profit. However, some other respondents replied differently and
said that they try to serve the society in any way they can.

19 | R e p o r t

7. Triple Triangle Framework

Technology and Innovation

Customer

Capital

Organization
Capability
Competition
State and Society

Industry

Culture

External/Macro

Collaboration

Globalization of International Business

Model 2: Triple-Triangle Framework

Organization
1. Capital- The minimum capital requirement to start a small embroidery business
is about 1 lac Tk. However, it takes 6-7 lacs Tk to start a larger embroidery
business.
2. Culture- In Mohammadpur, the industry is run by the Bihari families. There is a
strong sense of community. In Joyeeta, theres also a sense of bond between the
20 | R e p o r t

female entrepreneurs. However, there appeared to be less of a bond between

embroiders in Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market and New Market.
3. Capability- Embroiders in Bangladesh are capable of designing various types of
Saree and other dresses like Salwar-Kamiz, Veil, Lahenga, Shawl, Scart, Maxi,
Bridal veil, Blouse, Panjabi, Fotua, Waist-coat, T-shirt, Sweater, Childs wear
etc.

Industry
1. Customer- The customers of the Embroidery Industry are predominantly
women. The success of the industry depends greatly on maintaining customer
satisfaction.
2. Competition- There is fair amount of competition in the Embroidery Industry.
However, some respondents complained about unfair pricing techniques by their
competitors that lowers the profit margin of the industry.
3. Collaboration- There is often outsourcing and other types of collaboration in the
Embroidery Industry. As small scale businessmen, embroiders depend heavily
on each other to make a profit.

External/Macro
1. Technology and Innovation- The technology in Embroidery is inadequate. The
Embroidery process has remained almost same in the past years. However, there
has been significant innovation in the designs to maintain customer satisfaction.
2. State and Society- Embroiders suffer in times of political instability. However,
social celebrations like Eid increase their profit significantly.
3. Globalization of International Business- Most of the embroiders we talked to
reacted negatively about globalization. Products from foreign countries like
China and India are decreasing their revenue.

21 | R e p o r t

8. Grid of Institutional Mandate

Policy

Knowledge

Advocacy
Business

Networking

Development Collaboration
Services
Model 3: Grid of Institutional Mandate

1. Policy Advocacy- The entrepreneurs told us that the unions and groups are successful
in advocating suitable policies for them. The Bihari community in Mohammadpur
was very vocal about the lack of support from government organizations.
2. Knowledge- We found that the younger Karigors learnt to do embroidery work from
more experienced ones in the older days. However, lack of interest and profit is
slowly decreasing this passing of knowledge.
3. Business Development Services- Some NGOs provide business training to some
extent, but the lack of specialized unions limit the development for the embroidery
industry.
4. Networking and Collaboration- There is networking and collaboration between
embroiders in every cluster. There are trade unions in Joyeeta, Khilgaon Taltola City
Super Market, and New Market for the shopkeepers but nothing specific for the
embroidery industry.

22 | R e p o r t

9. Major Findings

As the field work for the report included four different clusters of the embroidery industry,
findings varied to some extent. To understand the situation and conditions of these four
different clusters, major findings from each are listed separately:

9.1 New Market

The embroidery stalls in the second and third floors of New Market are numerous in number.
It seems to be one for the busiest hubs for embroidery making and trading in Bangladesh. The
customers are usually presented with an array of embroidery designs to choose from and then
they can issue orders to the tailors. Most of the tailors who do the embroider work or
Karigors, as the shopkeepers there call them, work in locations nearby the stalls in New
Market (such as in the floor above or in a workstation nearby).

The entrepreneurs are now more aware of the rights and satisfaction of their
employees and customers than ever before, partly because of the heightened
consciousness and movement of the labor market regarding their rights and liberty.

Entrepreneurs have realized the importance of customer satisfaction and updating

their products according to customer demand to meet profit more sustainably. The
SMEs here are very competitive as business here is very saturated. The rush of
customers is observed to be quite a lot in New Market. Customers seem to be very
much aware of this place for embroidery. This rush has encouraged the embroidery
designers to be more aware and up-to-date about customer trends than before.

Proper and expert man power is not much available as much as the market requires.
Sometimes, orders may pile up due to a lack of availability of the required expertise
for the work.

Access to finance is not easy as banks remain conservative towards granting loans to
SMEs. The entrepreneurs believe that government should push the banks to be more
open and flexible in this regard.

Work culture is very sound and efficient. The flow from the Karigors to the sellers to
the customers is very smooth. Workers craftsmanship is being given more and more
importance over past few years.

23 | R e p o r t

Labor market unrest and different activities play a pivotal role in recognition of the
workers interest and thus determining wages and work hours is a grave issue which
ensures perfect competition in the market. But competition among the SMEs is not
necessarily fair at all times as cases of design theft are at large.

Large strides have been made in technology in machine embroidery according to the
entrepreneurs there but in New Market, handmade embroidery takes more preference
to the customers than machine embroidery work does.

Globalization has a tremendous influence on customer demand as customers are more

concerned about the quality of the output and latest trend in the national and
international market. So they require updating and modifying their product time to
time to meet customer demand which is immensely influenced through this
globalization. Some also complained about foreign products taking up their market
such Pakistani Lawns and Indian designer clothing.

9.2 Khilgaon
Khilgaon Taltola City Super Market holds a large number of embroidery shops on the first
floor. The people over there were working and were pretty busy, but they still took some to
answer our questions.

Most of the people we interviewed didnt have a parent or a grandparent who was a
businessman, and most of them started this business around 10 years ago. The reason
for starting this business was to earn a living, and they choose this industry because it
was easy to set up, cost of starting was low and some entered this because of family
reasons.

Number of people in a shop rarely exceeds 6 these are really small businesses.
Monthly expenditure is under Tk. 1 lac. The business and the industry have been
performing agreeably over the years, but now it is seeing a rapid loss of customers.
The demand for products is entirely dependent on customers, so the businesses
perform poorly when the customers dont come. In times of Eid, Puja or other
occasions they face large orders of clothes, but during the rest of the year they have
comparatively much lower level of work.

The entrepreneurs are in this business to earn a living, so making profit is vital. In
their line if you cant keep customer happy business would wither away, and if you
24 | R e p o r t

dont keep employees they would not perform well, so these two conditions must also
be met. Keeping good relations with suppliers is important but not very much so. And
with businesses of such small size it is difficult for them to serve the society and give
something back. The perceptions regarding these factors has seen some change over
the years, but mostly in customer segment in the sense that they have to keep them
even more happy now since there are now a much wider array of choices available.

The manpower required for this embroidery business is not widely available. In the
older days, employees had apprentices who paid to learn work. Now people are not
interested in working in this sector. The current employees tend to go work for others
if they are paid more, and also tend to switch to other professions.

There is a lot more competition than there used to be. There are more embroiders than
before, and there are so much more shops selling ready-made clothes than before.
There is now availability of more automated machines that can make clothes which
are making embroiders redundant. The competition is fairly ethical, but there are
some complaints of predatory pricing some embroiders selling at a very low price to
lure customers away and drive others out of the market.

The level of technological use for this industry is already at its peak they are using
the best sewing machines (better sewing machines are not made regularly, and there is
also less incentive for doing so). Sufficient finance is available to the entrepreneurs.
They can easily borrow money from banks if they have good relationships with them.
They can also get loans from family or friends to invest in business (which is more
common). They arent a part of any association or chamber, and the industry doesnt
have any association either.

Almost everyone agreed that this is a dying industry, but some say that since demand
is entirely dependent on customers there is still the opportunity to survive if they can
attract sufficient customers. Some say that the flexible nature of the design and quality
of clothes is a major strength.

9.3 Joyeeta
Joyeeta is a long envisioned venture of Government of Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh. It is
a platform to support and facilitate the grass root level women entrepreneurs to market their
own arts, crafts and products. It nurtures the cultural heritage of Bangladesh. It has about 3040 stalls by women entrepreneurs, arranged in different blocks.
25 | R e p o r t

It is a latest government initiative to promote women entrepreneurs and co-operatives

around Bangladesh. Almost 180 small scale entrepreneurs are able to benefit by
selling directly to end consumers under the banner of Joyeeta. The shopping area,
consisting of two top floors (3rd and 4th floor) at Rapa Plaza, Dhanmondi, opened its
door to the public on November 16, 2011. Various stalls here showcase a wide range
of Bangladeshi handicrafts, food, clothing, fabrics, hand-loom and other traditional
products.

Most of the stalls specialize in exclusive traditional and designer Bangladeshi clothing
which are hand embroidered. As a socially aware business, they are committed to
work with cottage industry weavers, jewelers and artisans to ensure a fairer deal for
them. In future they plan to continue to add new products and bring exclusive designs.

Inconvenient location, as customers do not bother to go up to the top floor of the

shopping mall to make purchases.

Joyeeta does not get much exposure as no marketing initiative has been taken to
increase awareness among people about the existence of Joyeeta. So the business
suffers, even though they offer better quality of products and varied designs than
fashion houses.

They are unable to predict the current market trends which results in huge losses. For
example, an entrepreneur stocked up on fatuas for Pohela Boishakh as part of her
seasonal sale, but trend in the market had shifted to long kurtis or traditional sarees, so
sales was less than expected.

9.4 Mohammadpur
At the time of The Great Partition in 1947, a large number of Urdu-speaking Muslim people
migrated from India to the then East Pakistan's territory, which is now Bangladesh. All the
migrated Urdu-speaking Indian people became Pakistani. Many of them had started living in
Mohammadpur area of Dhaka. Since 1971 the community people has almost doubled in
number due to high birth rate in the camps.

There is little economic opportunity for the Biharis in or outside the camps. Jobs in
Bangladesh are scarce, and loans for small business supplies like looms and cloth are
virtually non-existent. A good number of old people have turned to begging and an
26 | R e p o r t

estimated 20,000 unmarried girls are vulnerable to human trafficking and forced
prostitution to make a living.

The embroidery business cluster in Mohammadpur developed mostly because of

livelihood needs and a limited access to other skills and business finance. There were
only a few Mahajons (entrepreneurs) for each of whom about 25- 30 skilled workers
worked day long. They work mostly with personally ordered embroidered clothes and
if the order is any bigger than 30 pieces, they usually outsource it to Savar, where
according to them-theres more manpower and embroidery machines make it cheaper
and faster to perform such medium to large orders.

According to the Mahajons, their employees take the lions share of the pieces the
employees work on. One of the Mahajon said, for example,that if a normal light
embroidery cloth is priced 500 taka, then the employees have to be given atleast 300
taka or in many cases 400 taka.

Entrance of amateur workers at their youth is very limited as the Mahajons usually
prefer already skilled worker over a non-experienced one. Mostly when these people
are very young, 9- 12 years of age, they start to get a hands-on experience with the
craft of embroidery with their parents or with any Mahajons.

Monthly profit varies with the size and type of embroidery crafts the people have
here. It ranges from a mere 6000 taka to about 50,000 taka. The costs of the raw
materials- like thread or chumkis make it harder for them to have an increased profit
margin.

27 | R e p o r t

10. Conclusions and Recommendations

Common issues that the embroiders face and our recommendations to tackle the troubles.

1. A significant issue of the embroiders is that they are not paid on time. For some,
payment is delayed for as long as three months. In addition, a large portion of their
accumulated wages is cut off for customer complaints as minor as a missing tiny
bead. We believe that things could have improved if there was a greater legal support,
for the unions of embroiders cannot sufficiently match up to the strength of the owner
associations.
2. The embroiders are not knowledgeable on the latest designs in the fashion
industry. They do work based on the samples or catalogues provided by the
middlemen or fashion boutiques. Hence, the workers cannot do extra business by
selling independently, as they do not have their own designs to sell. The solution to
this is training on latest fashion trends that could be provided on a part time basis
for them, preferably free of cost.
3. The workers complained that if only there could have been a way of getting them in
direct contact with the consumers of their services. They claim that the lack of
awareness is a strong reason behind the customers going to far more expensive places
to get their designs embroidered instead of coming to them.
4.

We believe that there should be fairs in WVA, Drik Gallery and such places, where
the stalls could be made free for these artisans to showcase their talent directly to
the customers. The cost of the stalls could be raised through sponsorship or through
food stalls.

5. A number of women in Joyeeta complained about how the government is doing

nothing to stop competition from Indian and Pakistani products. They say that not
much is done to promote Bangladeshi embroidery. There are no advertisings, no
newspaper articles, etc. Even the TV fashion shows feature Indian and Pakistani
clothes. Hence, the demand for embroidery that these women are adept, at are falling
every day, resulting in less fashion houses and individual customers approaching them
than as early as five years ago.
6. A large problem is that these women live in poor environment, mostly slums and
lighting conditions is very poor in these places. Hence, they can work only during
daytime and a lot of their free time in evening free time is wasted as they do not have
28 | R e p o r t

access to electricity. Even during daytime, there is poor lighting and working on fine
stitching leads to stress for the workers, which can have long term damage on eyes.
7. The embroiders get a meager fee for their work, which is insignificant, compared to
the price at which the embroidered clothes are sold in the shops. This situation could
be improved if the embroiders had better merchandising skills so that they could
avoid as many middlemen as possible, thereby increasing their share of income. This
could be made possible by providing them training on basic merchandising skills via
part time classes. BRAC and a few other NGOs do provide training, but there is still
scope for greater involvement.
8. Part time training for the workers to train them on all segments of embroidery skills.
For example, some women know only the sewing or hemming, hence they cannot
take orders which involve a combination of appliqu, machine embroidery and hand
embroidery.
9. Multi disciplinary training for the workers, such as candle making, jute bag making
or flower making, so that the workers can switch to another job, or engage part time in
such, should the worker relocate (for example, after marriage, she might move to a
new village).
10. There can be a bar set for the minimum wages paid by the suppliers. For example,
Aarong and Kay Kraft may be asked to pay wages of the workers based on a
percentage of the price of the final product that would be put on display.

29 | R e p o r t