Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association hope that the countrys textiles and apparel shipment to Japan would be worth around $250 million by the end of the current year.
   Shipment of apparels and textiles to Japan amounted worth $149 million in eight months of the year, said officials of the countrys apex forum of garments exporters.
   The growth of shipment in term of value is more than 82 per cent year-on-year.
   Out of the total export earnings, ready-to-wear clothing shared $100 million and the rest was earned by fabrics, yarn, cotton waste, home textiles, bags and carpets export.
   Apparel and textiles shipment to Japan will amount at least $250 million this year, BGMEA president, Abdus Salam Murshedy, told New Age on Sunday.
   He said that confidence of Japanese importers on Bangladeshi suppliers is strengthening in recent times as local exporters are making successful shipments to highly sensitive Japanese market.
   He said that a BGMEA delegation would visit Japan in mid-January next year to attend a mega fashion fair there.
   Recent growth in apparel shipment to Japanese market show that that there is a huge opportunity there for us... So we must have more interactions with potential importers there, the BGMEA chief said.
   Japans market of imported apparels is worth $28 billion annually. At present, China controls more than 80 per cent of the market share while Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar are other significant players.
   For more than two decades China is ruling the Japanese market of imported apparels. But rising cost of production in China, strengthening of currency and rapid expansion in her domestic apparel market are the eroding competitive edge of Chinese exporters, explained one Bangladeshi exporter supply jeans and causal trousers to Japan.
   Japanese importers are looking for cheaper sourcing destinations like Bangladesh, he said.
   But the Japanese importers follow very sensitive parameters in terms of fabric quality, flawless stitching and use of chemicals in washing and dying of fabrics. These are tough jobs but achievable.
   The exporter said that at present shipment of woven or cut and sew garments share major portion of the apparel exports to Japan but he sees much potentials for knitted wear in the country of rising sun.
   Exporters point out that lead time still remains a major discouragement to many Japanese apparel importers while sourcing products from Bangladesh.
   He said Chinese exporters enjoy much shorter lead time than the Bangladesh exporters.