German fashion and lifestyle company s.Oliver yesterday opened its new office at Gulshan to strengthen outsourcing from Bangladesh.
s.Oliver’s Asian Chief Operating Officer Bernd Hanemann said his company has been expanding business in Bangladesh because the country has a reputation of producing quality clothing items.
“We are taking some new initiatives — like opening our new office and employing new staff,” Hanemann said.
German Ambassador in Bangladesh Holger Michael said exports to Germany from Bangladesh increased 16 percent in the last six months.
Interaction between the German trade bodies and the local trade bodies also increased, which indicates that business between the two countries is on the rise.
Mohammad Abdullah, manager of finance and general affairs of s.Oliver in Dhaka, said the company opened its liaison office in Bangladesh in 2004 to outsource clothing items.
Abdullah said s.Oliver outsourced garment items, mainly T-shirts, worth more than $50 million in 2009, while operations are growing 16 percent a year. The company has an annual turnover of more than 1.2 billion euros a year.
In the near future, s.Oliver will outsource more value-added items, such as basic shirts, denim jeans and jackets, he said.
s.Oliver has liaison offices in China, India, Indonesia and Hong Kong in Asia and more than 350 stores globally.
Abdullah said orders from China are shifting to Bangladesh because China is suffering from a shortage of workers.
Moreover, Bangladesh is in an advantageous position globally in regards to price competitiveness, he said. Lead-time has also been reduced remarkably because backward linkage industries have developed, he added.
Christine Schumm, global sourcing director of s.Oliver, was also present at the inauguration of the new office.
