Badrul Ahsan :
Bangladesh’s export earnings in the just concluded financial year (FY) fell short of target mainly due to poor performance of the main earning sector-RMG, data shows.
The country’s overall export earnings stood at $34.83 billion in FY’17 against target of $ 37 billion, less than the target by 2.17 billions, but 1.68 percent higher over the previous FY export performance.
According to provisional data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh’s export earnings from the RMG sector stood at $28.14 billion, posting 0.20 pc growth in the past fiscal year.
In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $28.09 billion from the clothing industry.
Of the total amount, Knitwear products earned $13.76 billion, which is Three pc higher than $13.35 billion in the same period a year ago. Woven products earned $14.39 billion, down by 2.35 pc, compared to $14.73 billion a year ago.
However, trade analysts and businessmen have blamed average price fall of products, ongoing structural reforms in the apparel industry, economic slowdown and sluggish demand in export destinations, devaluation of Euro and appreciation of BDT against US dollar, for the lackluster export growth. “The meager growth is a reality in the Bangladesh RMG sector. It comes as no surprise as the apparel industry is going through many challenges, including remediation, devaluation of Euro and labour unrest,” Exporters Association President Abdus Salam Murshedy told The New Nation. RMG manufacturers are working hard to face the challenges by introducing production engineering and technological upgrade, but it is not enough, said Abdus Salam. In continuation with the existing policy support, the government should offer special incentives, including five pc cash incentives on the value of Freight on Board (FoB) for at least next two years, the former BGMEA president said.
On the other hand, to bring about sound export growth, the government has to come up with long-term policy support, including tax holiday for 10 years, for new investors to attract investment.
“The average price fall of products and slow demand for products in the global market has led to sluggish growth in export earnings while our competitors are doing better in the global arena,” Prof Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The New Nation Bangladesh has to develop competitive edge by increasing workers’ productivity as there is pressure for hike in workers wage, he said. The CPD fellow suggested that the country should focus on RMG product diversification, and to do that, the businessmen, as well as the government, need to come up with newer efforts.
“Our export earnings, stood at about $35 billion in the just concluding fiscal. In the current fiscal year, Bangladesh will see a sharp rise in export as the clothing industry is very close to the end of the remediation process,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told The New Nation .
“Export earnings, especially from clothing products, have witnessed meager growth due to price fall and devaluation of Euro and Pound,” Bijoy Bhattacharjee, Vice-Chairman of EPB, told The New Nation.
Bangladesh has to focus on quality products and EPB in the current fiscal year will work on the issue, he said, adding that on the other hand, the government is working very hard to diversify products and market in line with its Seventh Five-Year Plan.
