The Ambassador advised a senior official of a brand of Ski Goggles to increase Bangladesh's competitiveness through investment. During this time, he highlighted the government's investment policies and incentives.
Ambassador of Bangladesh Mr. Mohammad Julkar Nayen attended the Munich Trade Fair. At this fair, he tried to find primary information to create and consolidate Bangladesh's position in the production and export of various Eyewear products, along with conventional clothing and footwear products.
The eyewear industry includes general glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses, ski goggles, etc. According to Euromonitor, the eyewear market had a foreign trade of about 221 billion US dollars in 2025. The scope of this market will grow at a rate of 9.7 percent per year for the next five years (until 2030).
Of this, the current global market value of ski and snow goggles is 8 billion dollars, which is growing at an average rate of about 8%. This market is expected to grow gradually as Asian consumers become more interested in eyewear.
Bangladesh produces and exports a few types of lenses of very high quality in the global market, but ultimately imports a lot of eyewear and lenses. Therefore, if domestic and foreign joint ventures or single-venture OEM/ODM factories can be established, Bangladesh will be able to enter a huge export market. In addition to lenses, the production and marketing of plastic, carbon nano and metal structures of glasses is very important. Eyewear design is also very creative and important. Young designers can play an active role in this regard.
There are Bangladeshi students and experts abroad in the field of optical science, they can also take initiatives in this regard. If any advice is needed in this regard, the Bangladesh Board of Investment (BIDA) can be contacted. As part of the latest incentive from BIDA, if any Bangladeshi can bring equity investment to Bangladesh from abroad, his company will be eligible for an incentive of 1.25 percent. This is undoubtedly encouraging.
Some of the famous lens manufacturers in Germany include ZEISS, Rodenstock, Wetlich Optik Prazision, Fielmann Group AG. Although Germany is one of the largest exporters in the global market, it imported various types of lenses worth about 240 million US dollars in 2024. Alpina Sports GmbH, Uvex Sports, SOGGLE GmbH, California Sports, Tomsen Sports GmbH, Bergfreunde, all these German companies manufacture and import goggles at the same time.
For Bangladesh to successfully enter the global eyewear market, it is necessary to come forward to increase domestic and foreign investment. For this, a detailed feasibility study is needed, which includes a financial return on investment and risk analysis, and with its help, fruitful discussions with potential investors can start a positive relationship.
At the same time, human resource development is very important in this sector because we are seeing the innovation of several new technologies gradually. In addition to conventional UV protection and anti-glare technology, many new technologies are coming to the fore. These include:
• Magnetic Lens Swap Systems (Now the Industry Standard) ...
* Photochromic & AI-Adaptive Lenses. ...
* Augmented Reality (AR) Ski Goggles. ...
* Anti-Fog 2.0: Ventilation Engineering. ...
* Sustainable Materials & Bio-Based Frames. ...
* Integrated Electronics & Connectivity.
For this, it is urgently necessary to introduce modern curricula on optical engineering fields, material science, CNC, Auto CAD designing, etc. at technical training institutes and university levels. In addition, there must be a system for providing hands-on training at the institutional and factory levels.
Several educational institutions in Germany such as Aalen University, EAH Jena, TH Brandenburg, Hochschule Munchen, TH Mittelhessen and in the Czech Republic Czech Technical University in Prague, Palacky University Olomouc, Masaryk University, provide engineering education on optometry and optical devices. Mechanical and materials engineering will be relevant for those who want to get training in eyewear structure and materials. Our young students can show proper interest in this subject.
Famous companies like Oakley, React, Bliz, Athletes Eyewear, Greatland etc. participate in this fair.
