An Interview Of An Importer About Major Challenges/

Opportunities On Export Or Import Trading Due To Being

Affected For The COVID-19 Period?

Course Name: Export Import Process

Course Code: EIB-551

Semester- Spring 2020

Submitted To
Hazera Akter

Assistant Professor,
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka

Submitted By
Name Roll
Rifatul Mursalin 801826004

Submitted Date: 21/08/2020

Company Profile
Company Name Trim Solution Bangladesh
Company Chairman Md. Muhsinul haque
Year of Establishment 1997
Address House-680 (E1), Road-09, DOHS, Mirpur-12,
Dhaka -1216, Bangladesh.
Area of Export Garments trims & Accessories supplier
Yearly Turnover Around $6.3million USD

"Trim Solution Bangladesh", is a well-established reputed garments trims & Accessories

supplier in Bangladesh. They had an experienced and hardworking sales, procurement & quality
control team, which can provide you with a complete service supplying quality accessories at
competitive prices. They are working in this trade for more than twenty years for USA, Canada
and EEC with good reputation. "Trim Solution Bangladesh" from Bangladesh offers its
international buyers, the ultimate solution for sourcing excellent quality Textiles, Apparel
Accessories, Handicraft Gift items, Antique Furniture and 100% Cotton Terry Towels from
Bangladesh. Their valued expertise and experience in sourcing and technical fields for over three
decades have helped us gain an in-depth understanding of textiles, Apparels, Fashion
Accessories Home Décor, Handicraft Gift items and Antique Furniture.

Products

 Hand tag
 price tag
 barcode label/sticker
 main label(printed/woven)
 size label(printed/woven)
 care label(printed/woven)
 leather patch badge (metal & plastic)
 twill tape/cotton tape
 ribbon & tapes
 button
 sewing thread
 gum tape
 poly bag
 tag pin/log pin
 tissue paper
Key Strengths

QUALITY CONTROL

Their primary concern is to achieve the maximum satisfaction of the buyers by ensuring world
class quality. They have trained workers, imported machineries and suitable environment that
ensure the best quality of products

STRONG BUSINESS ETHICS

These thing define their business ethics Honesty, Integrity, Promise keeping & Trustworthiness,
Loyalty, Respect for others, Reputation, Moral and Accountability

TRANSPARENCY IN DEALS

They build Open and Honest Relationships With client to ensure Transparency.

DELIVER ON TIME

They know the value of time. Time is money. So They give top priority on the time to time
delivery on your premises. With the proper co-operation of our devoted employees They try their
best to deliver the product in time

NO SUPPLY ISSUES, WASTAGE OR PILFERAGE

They are free from supply shortage, wastage & pilferage. With our well organized people, high
quality machineries and hard work they ensure the maximum uses of products. So anyone can
get relief from this kind of problem that often occur in case of imported accessories.

COMPETITIVE PRICES

Being one of the largest accessories limited Trim Solution gives us the most competitive price.
Comparing to the others they are very much concerned about the price level.
Their Experienced Customer
As Bangladesh will see a sharp decline in export earnings following the suspension of all trade activities
across the globe amid the coronavirus onslaught, economists have underscored need for devising proper
strategies and an effective economic diplomacy to tackle the situation in the coming days.

According to the data released by Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(BGMEA) on April 9, 1,123 factories reported that orders for 967.01 million pieces of clothes worth
$3.11 billion export were either cancelled or held up affecting 2.24 million workers.

Similarly, export earnings from other sector remained halted amid the existing situation.

Our discussion Outcome

 Difficulties on shipment

International shipping is impacted due to the global Corona virus. In some countries services are severely
disrupted and flights are cancelled globally.

Hundreds of ship sailings have been cancelled as first ports in China, and then across the globe, have seen
trade fall away - with millions of workers and consumers in lockdown.

Faced with the rippling disruptions to supply and demand around the globe, shipping firms have been
scaling back operations. So far, 384 sailings have been cancelled, and the first half of 2020 could see a
25% fall in shipping, with a 10% drop for the year overall, says Sea-Intelligence.

In their case, due to national lockdown transportation services on air, river and land are hampered rapidly
which effects the raw material transportation and shipping of their foreign orders.

 Unemployment risks

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has engendered not only an unimaginable global health
crisis but also an unprecedented economic crisis in the modern history. How the impacts of Covid-19
crisis in the rest of the world influence the economy of Bangladesh critically depends on the degree of
integration of the country with the world economic system.

The evolution of the Covid-19 health crisis and its impact on an economy is full of uncertainties, which
can be divided into three main categories.

The first set of uncertainties is related to the nature of the disease itself and its evolution over time
and across countries.
The second one is related to development of therapeutic solutions and invention of vaccines and
development of immunity among people.
The third set is related to policy responses of a government in tackling the spread of the disease
and mitigating economic crisis.

The economic crisis can deteriorate further if tensions between global economic powers escalate with
regard to Covid-19 leading to further uncertainties.
The RMG sector that employs more than 4.00 million people and accounts for 13% to the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of Bangladesh is under severe stress. Deferral or cancelation $ 2.00 billion
worth export orders will not only put the future of manufacturers and workers to anguish it will affect the
entire socio-economy of the country.

In their case, they also reduce our workers to meet the breakeven point and stopped the entire circular
due to lack of orders. In this pandemic situation, they gave our loyal workers full salary, safety and
workers under 3 years joining get their basic salary. Their main customers are European and US and their
demand decreased. Their aim to sustain in this pandemic not to profit.

 Order Cancellation

Major apparel brands delay & cancel orders in response to pandemic, risking livelihoods of millions of
garment workers in their supply chains.

More than $2.6 billion worth of orders in Bangladesh’s garment sector has been cancelled and new
cancellations are coming up, commerce minister Tipu Munshi told CNBC.

Ready-made garments comprised 84.21% of Bangladesh’s total exports worth $40.5 billion in its 2018-
2019 fiscal year, according to data posted on the website of trade body, Bangladesh Garment
Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). More than 60% of the garments were shipped to the
European Union.

So, most of their order are hang on some unavoidable circumstances. With less sell the production
declines and demand on accessories are also in risk. It affects us greatly.

 Raw Material insufficiency

As Bangladesh has multilateral trade relations with China, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has voiced
worry over importing raw materials from the country following the serious outbreak of coronavirus.

Bangladesh’s apparel sector, the country’s top foreign currency earner, is being hit by coronavirus-related
supply chain disorder, with prices for raw materials soaring.

As materials from China fail to arrive in time, prices of local stocks of items have gone up by nearly 50%
in some cases. Some factory owners have been forced to bring raw materials in by air to meet
manufacturing deadlines. And the sector is gearing up for a prolonged crisis as the virus continues to
spread worldwide, with fears that destination markets in the US and Europe will be affected.

Recommendations
COVID-19 is the black swan that poises extemporaneous challenges for the overall economy, businesses
and employment. The disruption is unfolding so fast that the quantum and dynamics of its implications is
difficult to measure which made it difficult for the business leaders and policy makers to navigate during
the crisis.

Following is a set of best practices recommended by experts and business leaders across the globe as a
guideline for the crisis management that can be helpful for all kinds of businesses:
1. Ensuring employee protection, giving them sense of shared purpose

2. Forming a high power cross-functional Crisis Management Teams lead by the Managing Director or
CEO that would focus on mainly (but not limited to) employees, financial stress-testing and contingency
plan, supply-chain monitoring, marketing and sales and other relevant issues.

3. Running financial stress testing

4. Maintaining sufficient liquidity for the rainy days, or at least identifying the potential sources for fund

5. Preparing business contingency plan

 Succession for all major executives

 Documenting critical functions and processes so that in case of absence or quarantine
team
 members can carry on the operation
 Identifying the critical functions and roles

6. Supply chain stabilization

 Monitoring the suppliers for potential impacts and risk assessment

 Considering alternative suppliers if possible to develop a tier-2 supplier base
 Look out for other alternatives before cancelling an order

7. Customer Engagement

 Maintaining close relationship with customers to gauge their behaviours and financial
health
 In case of deferral or cancelation of order negotiate effectively to explore the other
potential
 options and/or compensation packages
 Invest in bargaining units and legal advisory
 Preparing for storage

8. Preparing for transportation, communication and bureaucratic delays

9. Supporting pandemic efforts where possible

 Initiating alternative product line to meet the urgent necessity

 Utilize the CSR fund

Conclusion
The thump of novel coronavirus pandemic is so intense that no economy or business sector in the world
can remain immune from that. The immediate and post shock measure would determine how fast we can
recover. An extensive economic bailout program that would address needs the effected/priority sectors as
well as the sectors found opportunities from the crisis would be very beneficial for the economy in the
long run. This is the total explanation with some extra references which are included above.