Japanese fashion group to invest $0.1m to set up joint venture textile company

• Miscellaneous
• 13th July 2010
• YC

Mashiur Rahaman

Japanese fashion group 'Fast Retailing' is going to set up a joint venture in Bangladesh to create a textiles company, investing some US$0.1 million in October.

The operator of the Uniqlo casual-clothing chain decided to form the venture with Grameen Healthcare Trust of the Grameen Bank Group, aiming to help poor women to gain financial independence, official told the FE.

Fast Retailing, which already has manufacturing bases in the country, said the business will produce clothes using materials procured within Bangladesh and sell them at prices affordable for the poor. 

Officials said the microfinance specialist Grameen Bank will take a 1.0 per cent stake in the venture. The new company will source materials and make garments in Bangladesh - including women's underwear, school uniforms and blankets.

Fast Retailing said the objective of the joint venture was to "help solve social problems, including poverty, sanitation and education issues in Bangladesh through the planning, production and sale of clothing".

The joint venture will be called 'Grameen Uniqlo' and be located in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, he added.

'Grameen ladies will become their own business owners by selling the clothing products in visits to neighbours' houses,' said Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Fast Retailing in a news release.

A statement by the company said: "Bangladesh is expected to experience economic growth, with much of it driven by the textile industry, but it's people still face an abundance of social problems, including poverty, sanitation and education.

"Utilising our unique SPA (specialty store retailer of private label apparel) know-how, we will plan, produce and sell clothing at a price point that is affordable to people living below the poverty line while still maintaining product quality.

"This joint venture will also create jobs, thereby improving the lives of the Bangladeshi people," the statement said adding that the company plans to generate work for 250 people in the first year, increasing this figure to 1,500 within three years.

On the retail front, Fast Retailing also plans to use Grameen's borrower network of 8.0 million people to create jobs selling clothes door-to-door in the country.

 

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=106041&date=2010-07-14