Young and dynamic leader Ekram Hossain, Director AZ Group recently sat with The Bangladesh Today and discussed about the present state of the garments industry, as well as the AZ Group’s vision and objectives.
Ekram Hossain’s academic career began in Australia with a finance degree. Throughout it all, he has developed himself and attained skills toward becoming an ideal entrepreneur, including communication, management, data analysis, rapid thinking, problem solving, and a variety of others. He is currently integrating himself as a Director in our family business which is apparel manufacturing business, situated in Bangladesh.
TBT: What is the state of the RMG industry in 2022?
Bangladesh’s RMG sector achieved a great rebound in terms of exports in 2022, after a rather memorable and rollercoaster 2020-2021. It is because global demand for apparel is rising sharply, as evidenced by a sharp rebound in clothing retail sales in the United States and Europe.
TBT: What are the current challenges you’re dealing with?
Despite the fact that the number of orders has increased, we readymade garment (RMG) producers are having difficulty covering our operating costs due to the sharp increase in cotton prices, which is driving up production costs and impacting profitability. Furthermore, buyers are unwilling to pay the price compared to the cost increase.
TBT: What are the products of your production units, and where do you export them?
We focus on product diversification as a sustainable knit and woven clothing maker in response to market developments. We make a wide range of products, including denims,basic pants,shorts,jackets, outerwear,swim shorts,casual wear, and various top and bottom items. Because the market is so aggressive and competitive, it’s difficult to thrive on just one product, so working on numerous items is crucial. Furthermore, we are working with a number of renowned brands from the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.
TBT: What are the prospects of the second-generation ownership in the RMG sector?
As a second-generation entrepreneur, I’ve got access to my father’s wisdom accumulated over decades of ardent experience, I began my career from merchandising section, which helped me to learn, inventory management, sample section, cutting, production, and finishing units. The younger generation should concentrate on developing technical abilities. To begin, as a 2nd generation owner, I believe it is important to understand the production environment. Being young It is normal that we want to make radical changes, but it will be tough for the individuals in the sector to adapt who has been working in the industry for more than 2 decades.As a result, it is significant to understand the people’s pulse and then make some modifications in the ongoing system.
TBT: What are AZ Group’s Long-Term strategies?
My long-term goal is to boost production on our existing units, which is already underway, as well as to establish a new environmentally friendly green factory. Furthermore, we intend to focus on R&D in order to meet the needs of our customers. Another strategy is to employ ERP software to automate processes.