NEWS reports mention the fact that despite many local fashion houses making quality clothes for sales in the Eid market, foreign made clothes are largely dominating the shopping. The city's upscale fashion retailers including Texmart, Shoppers World, Zaara or Vasavi are having a peak boom in Eid sales which are dominated by Indian and Pakistani made clothes such as selwar, kameez, saree and panjabi. The scene is equally noticeable in the districts. Around 80 to 90 per cent of the total demand in the Eid market is captured by foreign goods, especially clothes from India. These are brought into the country, mostly through informal channels evading taxes and tariffs.
Eid shopping has gained momentum in the city with about two lakh shops and over 100 shopping malls running the windows open up to midnight. Shoppers are increasingly crowding the malls while the city traffic is taking the brunt of the hectic transport schedules. The Eid ul-Fitr has a significant impact on business. Besides clothing for men, women and children, shoppers run bumper sale of items such as footwear, cosmetics, jewelry and electronic gadgets. This is not only the biggest Muslim festival but also an occasion that spurs business. People from all walks of life from the poor to the rich go on a spending spree to buy clothes for family members and collect gifts for friends and relatives. The Eid shopping stands at around Tk 20,000 crore annually, according to some estimates.
But much of the spurs to the local economy quickly pass to the Indian business as smugglers import clothes in eyecatching designs and fashion from across the border. Thus illegal trade flourishes as a byproduct of Eid shopping. It also causes the government to lose enormous revenue, besides having a negative impact on local manufacturing which looks forward every year to a booming Eid market. We see that the law enforcers are keeping idle this year as there is no raid to appropriate illegal stocks in shops selling such items. There is no heightened vigilance of police and BGB at border and on the highways to check smuggling, no concomitant BNR activities to plug the holes.
The Eid shopping has one feature, it sells clothes at a 'social cost' which is many times higher than the real cost of the items on sales. Retailers make no secret that they make exorbitant profits to stay in business throughout the year when sales often do not cover their operating costs. During this period Indian businesses also launch advance sales teams in the city and sell clothes on credit. Their men live in hotels and recover the sales proceeds. We believe that open market should not mean an open border to allow illegal trade at the cost of local trade or manufacturing. Eid must bring happiness to all but we can't at the same time ignore the cause of the local economy and the need to give protection to it.