After quitting European Union, the United Kingdom is set to launch the Developing Countries Trading Scheme to replace the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) which will offer lower tariffs and simpler rules of origin requirements for exporting to the UK.
The new measures to be introduced by the UK government will, particularly Bangladesh’s exports of readymade garments to the UK. According to a study by Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), its export to the UK may increase two and a half times to $11 billion by 2030.
RAPID chairman Dr. Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, while presenting the report highlighted the rationale of this forecast, and said that the average annual growth rate of Bangladesh’s apparel export to the UK in the last decade was 8 percent. However, he pointed out that the UK government has relaxed some conditions and the Chinese are regularly losing market share in the UK, the RMG export growth from Bangladesh could reach 10 percent by 2026. He narrated other factors that would accelerate RMG export growth to 1 percent from 2026 onwards. That could take Bangladesh’s total annual apparel exports to the UK to $11 billion by 2030, he added. According to RAPID data, Bangladesh has gained most of the share lost by China in the UK market.
Bangladesh RMG sector to benefit from a change in UK policy
