DBL Group exported garment items worth $480 million in 2021 and expects 25 per cent higher shipment this year

DBL Group, one of the leading local garment exporters, is going to invest in Vietnam to produce thread as many international clothing retailers and brands have nominated the group's product to stitch clothes.

"We will invest in Vietnam to produce our branded sewing thread Eco-Thread as our buyers are demanding for supplying more thread to them," said MA Jabbar, managing director DBL Group.

"We are already supplying a lot of sewing thread to many international retailers and brands," he said.

The group has a plan to start running the Vietnam unit within the next two or three years.

"Setting up a sewing thread factory is one kind of a support for our buyers as many Western buyers are sourcing from Vietnamese garment factories," said Jabbar.

"The buyers have nominated our sewing thread," he said without mentioning the amount to be invested in Vietnam.

Currently, the DBL produces 10 tonnes of sewing thread in a day of which 80 per cent is sold to other garment manufacturers and the rest used by the group's own garment factories.

Earlier, DBL Group invested in the garment sector of Ethiopia but was now facing trouble running that unit because of a war in the landlocked African nation.

As a major exporter, DBL Group exported garment items worth $480 million in 2021 and at the end of this year the group is expecting 25 per cent more export earnings from garment shipments, Jabbar said.