In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in a factory located in a quiet suburb surrounded by fields of crops, black dresses exported to Japan are neatly arranged.
This is a factory opened by Japan’s Kojima Clothing Company three years ago. Employees dispatched from Japan provide detailed guidance. As a result, the production capacity of 2.5 pieces per day increased to 5 pieces. Bangladesh has more than 5,000 garment factories, but few companies can produce gowns that require high technology.
Looking at the share of each country and region in Japan’s imported clothing in 2012 (calculated by value), we can find that China has dropped below 80% for the first time in 10 years. Sewing and decorating complex garments requires high technical prowess and is still monopolized by China, which is geographically close to Japan.
Recently, emerging market countries, represented by Bangladesh, are catching up. In Myanmar, Japanese women’s clothing manufacturer Honeys will expand its factory in April next year.
The pace of rising labor costs in China has not stopped. Due to the depreciation of the yen, the cost of clothing imports has increased by 20-30% compared with last year, and the presence of other emerging economies in Asia will increase.
