Israeli clothing manufacturer Bagir Group has shipped its first tailored trouser exports to the U.S. from its new factory in Ethiopia, completing an order for Swedish fashion giant H&M.
Bagir plans to make Ethiopia its main production base thanks to Ethiopia’s ability to “produce top quality garments for less,” Bagir’s CEO Eran Itzhak told
“To produce formal trousers for export to the U.S. is an important milestone achieved for the Ethiopian site,” Itzhak said.
The factory is making 600 trousers per day and intends to increase this to 3,000 per day in the next 18 months, with jacket lines to follow. Production is expected to grow to 4,000 suits a day within three years
Bagir supplies customers in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Australia and South Africa, including the U.K.’s Arcadia Group, whose brands include Burton and Topman
Ethiopia offers manufacturers cheap labor, incentives for investors, low energy costs, proximity to the European market and duty-free export status for sales to the E.U. and U.S., according to Stock Market Wire
Ethiopia’s garment sector has no minimum wage, Wall Street Journal reported. Garment workers in Ethiopia start at about $21 a month as of 2014, the Ethiopian government said.
That compares to Bangladesh’s minimum wage of $68 per month and China’s average wage of $500 in the Chinese textile sector, DW reported.
Bagir spent more than two years getting up to speed in Ethiopia, where it invested $1.5 million in a 50-percent joint venture with Nazareth Garments, whose factory produced uniforms for the Ethiopian police and Ethiopian airlines.
[afkinsider.com]