Bangladesh is rolling out special measures to expand its apparel market in Japan as garment exports to the East Asian country continue to grow. With local manufacturers already surpassing the $1.0-billion mark in exports to Japan in recent years, the industry is now aiming to capture a larger share of Japan’s nearly $25 billion annual garment import market, industry insiders said on Tuesday.
According to the International Trade Centre (ITC) and TexPro, Bangladesh currently accounts for only 5.5-5.6 per cent of Japan’s apparel imports, leaving significant scope for further expansion. To facilitate this expansion, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is set to open a dedicated ‘Japan Desk’ at its headquarters at Uttara in the capital to attract more apparel buyers.
“We will open a desk at the BGMEA office on Wednesday (today), with the Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh slated to attend the inaugural event,” BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan said. “We want to diversify our market. So, we have targeted non-conventional markets like Japan. Japan is very potential for us. We are working to facilitate Japanese buyers at our BGMEA complex through setting up the desk,” he said at a recent programme.
Recent statistics from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) highlight a positive trajectory. During the first two months (July-August) of the current fiscal year (FY2026-27), garment shipments to Japan rose by 1.33 per cent to $227.2 million, up from $224.2 million in the same period last year.
In the last fiscal year (FY2026), total apparel and textile exports to Japan stood at $1.134 billion. Although this reflected a modest 4.28 per cent decline from the $1.185 billion recorded in FY2025, BGMEA leaders emphasise that non-traditional markets beyond the US and Europe remain highly lucrative.
Bangladesh first crossed the $1-billion mark in RMG exports to Japan in FY2018-19, with exports reaching $1.091 billion that year, EPB data show. Japan imported slightly more woven garments than knitwear from Bangladesh in FY2026. Knitwear exports stood at around $560 million, while woven garment exports exceeded $570 million, according to official data.
Garment exporters noted that the institutional push is being supported by government incentives and private-sector initiatives aimed at encouraging exporters to explore non-traditional markets such as Japan.
