TCF POST Desk
Marubeni, a leading Japanese global trading conglomerate, has committed to partnering with Bangladesh’s garment industry to diversify and bolster exports to the Japanese market.
A recent meeting at the BGMEA office in Dhaka between Marubeni Corporation officials and leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) resulted in an actionable roadmap to elevate the trade relationship. Central to this strategy is a transition from traditional transactional sourcing toward a structured, strategic partnership anchored by the “Model Factory Programme.”
The two organizations agreed that Marubeni will share its three-year sourcing projections, while the BGMEA will curate a list of SME factories specifically equipped to meet Japanese apparel standards. To fortify trade trust, the BGMEA will act as a mediator for a newly established “Tri-Party Claim Recovery Window” designed to resolve trade grievances efficiently. Furthermore, BGMEA leadership stressed the necessity of leveraging the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and utilizing product-specific market intelligence to craft more effective, targeted commercial proposals.
Arif-uz-Zaman of Marubeni (Bangladesh) emphasized that for the industry to remain competitive, it must shift away from a reliance on low-cost mass production, focusing instead on reliability, technical innovation, and functional fabric capabilities.
The meeting was attended by M. Ijaz Ahmad Saadi, Md. Merajul Islam, and Manabu Sugawara from Marubeni, while Mohammed Sohel, Faisal Samad, Nafis-Ud-Doula, Kazi Sarwar Habib, and Ms. Tania Ahmed participated on behalf of the BGMEA.
