Accidents in apparel industry of Bangladesh unlikely to benefit Sri Lanka and Vietnam

There have been a couple of accidents in the apparel industry of Bangladesh recently. Sri Lanka, which is a neighboring competitor, and Vietnam, are however unlikely to get any benefit from these incidents. Industry experts suggested that these accidents in Bangladesh would not shift retailer's preference to switch to Sri Lanka or Vietnam where better labor standards are practiced, and thus would also not increase the country's revenue from apparel industry.

Global retailers prefer to keep their expenses low, while Bangladesh provides significantly cheap labor. This is the main reason for which retailers would be reluctant to shift their preference to Sri Lanka and Vietnam where the labor cost is higher. Shifting there would mean increase in the expenses and a cut in their profit margin.

Yohan Lawrence, Chairman of Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association, recently said that so far there has been no change in the country's apparel industry due to the current situation in Bangladesh. He also added that it is unlikely that any difference would be seen because of the price point differentiation. He also commented that Sri Lanka does not have any competition with the price point that is offered in Bangladesh, and that it is unlikely that there would be any shifts in the country's apparel markets unless the end customers are willing to pay more for the products.