After food, a basic need of people is cloth. Bangladesh has had a proud tradition of producing cloth that included the very fine fabled muslin worn by the rich and powerful in far-away countries centuries ago. Bangladesh could not revive the muslin tradition but in the present time has attracted the world's attention by building up a strong export-oriented apparel industry. Bangladesh is now a leading exporter of all kinds of cheap garments in the world. The textile industry here is also oriented to meeting fully the country's own needs.

Cloth of various types made in Bangladesh are largely satisfying the needs of its people although the population has doubled since the time of independence. This alone speaks of the growth trend of the textile-oriented enterprises in Bangladesh. The textiles produced for local consumption are not only the ones produced in local mills. A great deal of the textile products are produced by handloom or cottage industry-type of factories. The home textile products produced in these include skull caps, bed sheets, the traditional lungis worn by men, gamchas (towels), etc. The same are also being exported to many countries where there are Bangladeshi users of these textile products. Even foreign consumers of these handloom products from Bangladesh are seen to be increasing in number abroad.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the TEXBANGLA, an exposition of textile products on Saturday. She observed on the occasion that after agriculture sector the prospects of employment are the greatest in the textile sector. There are the export-oriented garments industries where a huge number of people are employed. The establishment of more garments industries would create scope for further large-scale employment. Spinning and weaving mills to produce yarn and cloth respectively, and also dyeing mills, are contributing towards employment creation. The handlooms are similarly absorbing labour, specially in the countryside.

The rate of job creation in the textile sector will rapidly increase if the government can quickly extend the supportive services. For example, the textile sector, like all other industries, is now seriously handicapped by the long-standing power crisis. Not to speak of expansion, the industrialists are finding it really difficult to run their existing mills and factories. Steps taken to improve energy supply to them could lead to further investments in these industries. The garments industry is looking for governmental support in other areas such as maintaining law and order in their production zones with specially raised 'industrial police'. They are also keen to get support from the government in the form of direct cash incentives, concession rates in the consumption of energy, higher tax rebates while importing capital equipment and raw materials, etc. The spinning and weaving sectors are also keen to get such governmental supports to become more competitive.

The government should actively consider the meeting of the legitimate demands of the textile sector as a whole and thus create a strong stimulus for investments in this sector which will lead to greater employment. The handloom sector is under a pressure from the competition of smuggled yarn, lack of institutional credit on easy terms, difficulties in importing chemicals, dyes and other raw materials through import. They also highly deserve planned extension of governmental support to them to increase production and, thus, employment.