The export-oriented ready made garment industry of Bangladesh is now at a critical juncture, having to come to terms with changes in global trading conditions that now pose most severe competitive pressure it has ever experienced. Taking advantage of the reserved market shielded by the Multiform Arrangement (MFA) regime, the industry grew rapidly – from an almost unknown sector, exporting less than $ 100 million in 1985 to emerging as the country’s principal export product – currently fetching more than $ 9 billion, accounting for three- quarters of all merchandise export receipts, 30 per cent of manufacturing investment, and, perhaps more significantly, providing direct employment to about 3 million people – 80 per cent of whom are women. The discontinuation of the MFA system from the beginning of 2005 followed by the removal of safeguard measures against the world’s leading supplier, China, in the Eu and USA, which is to take place by the end of 2008, is expected to bring in heightened competition, causing concern for a number of suppliers, including Bangladesh.

This book brings together a number of empirical papers based on suitable analytical structures that study the factors associated with the future export prospect of ready made garments along with the poverty and welfare consequences for Bangladesh. It deals with such issues as international competitiveness, potential effects of duty-free access, implications of discriminatory tariff preferences, impacts of multilateral liberalization, and consequences of adverse export shocks. While the analyses and results presented would be useful for policymakers and the concerned stakeholders, this volume would also be of interest to analysts involved in applied trade policy research.

Writer Discription
With a Ph D from the University of Sussex, Dr Abdur Razzaque is a faculty member of the Department of Economics at Dhaka University, who is currently on leave and with the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, UK, as an Economic Adviser. His primary research interests lie in the area of international trade and trade policy analysis. Dr Razzaque’s most recent publication s include several chapters in a book titled Commodity prices and Development (published by oxford University Press : UK), a chapter in WTO at the Margins (published by Cambridge University Press : UK), an edited volume, Global Rice Trade Liberalisation : Implications for South Asian Countries (published by Commonwealth Secretariat and Academic Foundation) and two other edited volumes (with Selim Raihan) : WTO and Regional Trade Negotiations outcomes : potential Implications on Bangladesh and Trade and Industrial policy Environment in Bangladesh with special Reference to some Non-traditiona Export Sectors (both published by pathak shamabesh). Dr Razzaque has also done research on poverty and labour issues, and is a co-author of the book Documenting the Undocumented : Female Migrant workers from Bangladesh (pathak Shamabesh). Dr Razzaque has contributed to research projects commissioned by, amongst others, Asian Development Bank, Bangladesh Institute of Development studies (BIDS), Commonwealth secretariat, International Development Research centre (IDRC), CUTS International, ILO, Planning commission of Bangladesh, UNCTAD, UNDP, and world Bank. He has also presented his works in various national and international conferences and workshops.

Selim Raihan
Dr. Selim Raihan, a faculty member of the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, holds a PhD from the University of Manchester, UK. Dr Raihan’s research works focus on issues related to international trade, macroeconomic policies, and poverty. Dr Raihan possesses expertise in micro- and macro-econometric modelling techniques and computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models. One of Dr. Raihan’s recent published books is Dynamics of Trade Liberalisation in Bangladesh: Analyses of policies and practices. Some of other recent published books of Dr Raihan include (along with co-authors): WTO and Regional Trade Negotiations outcomes : potential Implications on Bangladesh, Trade and Industrial policy Environment in Bangladesh with Special Reference to some Non-traditional Export Sectors, and Export Diversification for Human Development in the Post-ATC Era (published by UNDP Regional Centre Colombo). Dr Raihan contributed several chapters in competitive Advantage and Competition Policy in Developing Countries (a book published by the Edward and Elgar, London in 2007). He was also a co-author of a chapter in poverty and the WTO: Impacts of the Doha Development Agenda (a book published by the World Bank, Washington in 2006). Dr. Raihan has worked for several national and international organisations including Asian Development Bank, UNDP, World Bank, PEP, Commonwealth Secretariat, ILO, IDRC, CUTS International, CPD and BIDS, and has also presented his analytical works in a number of national and international conferences.