Bangladesh will not repeat the strategic and policy mistakes made in the jute sector in managing its textile industry, Textile and Jute Ministry Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin said on Wednesday, stressing that all future decisions will be based on economic realities rather than emotion.
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled “Resilience and Reinvention: Creating Skilled Professionals for the Textile and Apparel Sector of Bangladesh”, held at the Jute Diversification Promotion Centre in Dhaka to mark National Textile Day, Bashir highlighted the crucial role of the textile sector in driving the national economy.
“We aim to export $100 billion. To reach this target, we need strong convergence—coordination among industry, academia and policy support. I believe we will not repeat the mistakes we made in the jute sector,” he said.
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Efficiency the Only Path Forward
Describing textiles as a commodity-based industry, the adviser noted that raw material costs account for nearly 80 percent of total production costs, leaving only 20 percent as potential profit margin.
“There is no alternative to efficiency,” he said, adding that the industry has already undergone massive technological upgrades. Over the last 20–25 years, spinning and weaving machinery capacity has increased from 150–200 spindles to nearly 2,000, significantly reducing production costs and enhancing competitiveness.
Referring to industrial history, he warned that failure to invest in skills could once again place the sector at risk. “During Manchester’s industrial revolution, our local handloom industry collapsed due to a lack of skills. If we fail in capacity development now, the industry will again fall behind,” he cautioned.
Education–Industry Gap a Major Concern
Bashir also raised concerns over the quality and relevance of textile education, pointing to a growing disconnect between academic institutions and factory requirements.
“Textile education is entirely functional. But due to the lack of strong industry-academia linkage, 52 percent of students want to switch professions after graduation,” he said.
He further noted that many laboratory instruments used at universities are not compatible with advanced factory machinery, leaving graduates underprepared for real-world industrial demands.
The adviser emphasized that without urgent reforms in education, training and skill alignment, Bangladesh risks slowing the momentum of its textile and apparel sector at a time when global competition is intensifying.
