View with images and charts Issue of Investment in Sports Shoes Industry in Bangladesh with special reference to Excelsior Shoes Ltd. Bangladesh Investment Scenario 1.1 Background Bangladesh came into existence in 1971, when Bengali East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan. Situated on the northern coast of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is surrounded by India, with a small border with Myanmar in the southeast. The country is lowlying land of 144,000 sq. km. traversed by the many branches and tributaries of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Its current population is 140 million with per capita income of USD 380. All of the above is reflected in Bangladesh being ranked 139 [of 175] in the Human Development Index of 2003. Economic reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at many levels of Government. Progress also has been slowed due to opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The present government has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so have been lacking in key areas. However, there is one very encouraging note about Bangladesh, and that is, its steady growth rate of 5 percent for the past several years. Sports Shoes Industry has grown in Bangladesh territory since the colonial era although its modernization took place only in the late 1990s. During the Pakistan period, there was no Sports Shoes manufacturing firm producing on a mass scale in East Bengal. However, traditional cottage type Sports Shoes industry with limited production facilities existed in a skeleton form in the district towns at this time. Various types of Sports Shoes were imported, mainly from Calcutta. Many new footwear manufacturing units have been established recently. Notable among them are Excelsior Shoes Ltd., Meenhar Sport Shoes Ltd., Desma Shoes Industries Ltd., Continental Footwear Ltd., Papella Ltd., Youngone Sport Shoes Ltd., UFM (BD) Ltd. and Impact Shoes Ltd. The number of production units established in the country now represents 8. Three of the units are, however, small and medium in size, and 5 of them are relatively large and have mechanized and semi-mechanized production technology. The annual production capacities, combining all of the industries are about 46 million pairs of footwear. Whereas, the production capacity of ESL itself exceeds 6 million pairs, of this more than 75% are produced by mechanized and semi-mechanized units. The shoes produced annually find their way mainly into the export market. The industry provides direct employment to about 10,000 people. Nearly 50% of them are engaged in mechanized and semi-mechanized units and are classified, on the basis of employees, as large, medium, and small. Women workers are predominant (55%-60%) in the mechanized sector. About 80% of all footwear manufacturing units are located in Chittagong. Production of small units is processed manually on the average.
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