Clothing cos may see Bangladesh as ‘no-go-zone’

Nervous clothing companies are advising against travel to Bangladesh after the Dhaka massacre, which The Daily Mail called as a potential disaster for a country heavily reliant on its garment exports.

The UK newspaper ran a story titled “Dhaka massacre prompts clothing companies to declare Bangladesh a no-go zone”.
It mentioned that Japanese clothing firm Uniqlo had already announced it was suspending all travel, as well as advising its staff in Bangladesh to stay at home.
But now, the newspaper pointed out, the list of nervous companies is increasing - with chains like H&M advising against all but essential travel in the wake of the attack targeting foreigners, while insiders reveal at least one official at a 'top label' has refused to visit in recent days.
The British newspaper wrote, “All of this has led to fears that companies may go one step further, and reconsider basing their factories in the country, harming its vitally important $26billion garment industry.”
'There'll definitely be an impact on the garment industry,' Sudhir Dhingra, head of Orient Craft, based in the Indian city of Gurgaon, was quoted to have said. 'I was just speaking to a top label which said its official who was supposed to visit Bangladesh to inspect an order has refused to go.'
'I have so many big brands I do business with and in the last 48 hours, they've all called me. They're afraid, they're scared,' according to Robert, an American who has lived in Bangladesh for seven years. He did not wish to disclose his last name or the name of his firm, said the newspaper report.
Shovon Islam, the head of Sparrow Group, which supplies top brands like Marks & Spencer and Gap, was said to have added: 'Obviously this is generating a lot of concern with all the brands my company works with.'
In fact, said the report, companies across the globe had been quietly avoiding travelling to Bangladesh for some time before 19 foreigners - including Americans, Japanese and Italians - were hacked to death at a cafe after a group of 'well-educated' terrorists stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery.
As the report said, Mr Islam revealed that after the murder of an Italian aid worker, and then a Japanese farmer, in Bangladesh last year, some overseas companies pared back travel to the country.
They even asked for meetings to be held in Bangkok, New Delhi and Hong Kong instead of Bangladesh, added the report.
'This time the intensity of the threat is much higher and we will definitely see companies altering their plans,' Islam was quoted to have said.
So far, a number of companies have reportedly said they are changing their advice to staff, including Toshiba, which has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10. Staff already based in Bangladesh have already been warned against travelling outside the country.
H&M confirmed to MailOnline that it 'recommends our employees don't make non-essential trips'. However, the spokesman was said to have added nothing had been cancelled.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Marks & Spencer was quoted to have said: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and our priority, as it always is in situations like this, is the safety of our employees.'
Also, the report said, a spokesperson for Walmart said only that the US retail giant was also monitoring the situation.
The clothing industry accounted for more than 80 per cent of Bangladesh's outbound goods last year - and is thought of as the life blood in a country where a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line.