Apparel giants in Bangladesh expanding business in other sectors

As happened in Pakistan the textile tycoons after a while slowly ventured into new economic fields, in the same way, textile and garment leaders in Bangladesh have started plowing their surplus wealth into new sectors to tap the potential of an economy.

There is a difference though most Pakistani textile players that expanded their business in other sectors belong to basic textile. We see the likes of Nishat, Sapphire, Lucky, and Crescent now dominating the banking, power, energy, cement, dairy, hospitality, insurance, capital market, and real estate sectors.

But no garment or knitwear player has diversified in other fields.

But in Bangladesh, successful garment and textile millers have expanded into sectors such as electricity generation, real estate, agriculture, dairy, hospitality, banking, tea estate, computer chips making, insurance, capital market, health, education, leasing, e-commerce, construction, pharmaceuticals, and economic zones.

Textile and garment manufacturers have been contributing nearly 85 percent to national export earnings for more than three decades.

Currently, over 100 textile and garment factories register an annual export turnover of 0 million.



Ha-Meem Group, one of the top garment and textile manufacturers has expanded in the banking, insurance, media, and tea estate. All garment exporters started small and have graduated into other sectors after making money from garments exports.

DBL Group, one of the largest textile and garment manufacturers in Bangladesh, has invested hugely in the tiles, ceramic, and pharmaceuticals sectors as well as in digital technologies, agricultural and dairy products.

Ananta Group, another textile and garment group, has plowed money into real estate, e-commerce, hotel, and leasing companies. A textile and garment entrepreneur whose company makes high-end value-added garment items for Western buyers says he has already invested several millions of dollars to generate electricity.

Bangladeshi textile and apparel entrepreneurs are benefitting from the country’s healthy economic growth. New opportunities are emerging in the growing economy. Currently, the risks in the export markets are higher and there is fierce competition in the international markets as well, while the domestic market offers more opportunities more so because Bangladesh is expected to be the ninth-largest consumer market globally by 2030, leaving behind the United Kingdom and Germany, said a report by HSBC Global Research last year. In 2021, the country was the 16th largest consumer market worldwide.

The world’s second-largest apparel shipper, Bangladesh’s share in the global garment trade increased to 7.9 percent in 2022 from 6.4 percent in 2021, according to the World Trade Organisation.

Large groups’ foray into the new sectors does not mean that they are deserting the old garment and textile sectors.

Instead, they have invested millions of dollars to set up green factories.

Currently, Bangladesh is the global champion in green building having 200 LEED-certified factories while another 500 units await a similar recognition.