NEW DELHI (AP) – The bloody weekend attack by Bangladeshi militants that left more than two dozen dead was also an attack on the country’s vital garment industry.
Clothing manufacturing, the Southeast Asian nation’s top export industry, had been recovering after a disastrous factory collapse three years ago shook up the industry, forcing workshops producing for foreign brands to improve working conditions.
Now, the industry, which is reliant on foreign investment, is in turmoil again after Friday’s attack, in which armed extremists besieged an upscale restaurant, taking dozens of diners hostage and later killing 20 in an attack that targeted foreigners. Among the dead were a group of Italian designers and buyers for European stores.
The fallout has been almost immediate. On Monday, as people returned to work, companies were rethinking travel plans to the garment manufacturing hub.
Japanese “fast-fashion” clothing brand Uniqlo halted all non-essential travel to Bangladesh through the end of July and would continue to monitor the situation, said Aldo Liguori, a spokesman for corporate parent Fast Retailing, which has about 10 Japanese employees in Bangladesh who oversee manufacturing by local factories and supervise its four shops.