Economic Reporter :
The government plans to cultivate more jute in the country to restore the previous glory. The government is sincerely working in this regard to meet the local demand as well as increase the export volume for the betterment of the economy, said Textiles and Jute Minister Emaz Uddin Pramanik on Sunday.
“There is a huge demand of the jute products in the global market. We want to promote the jute sector to grab international market”, said the minister while addressing at a press conference at his secretariat office in city on Sunday.
Addressing the press conference, State minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam said that the three -day long ‘Jute Products Fair’ is going to begin on March 6 with a view to promoting the sector in local as well as global market.
The jute fair will kick off at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the city. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the fair and hand over awards to 38 eminent persons in 11 categories, said the State Minister.
The officials, individuals and institutions will be honored for their mentionable role in implementation process of Mandatory Jute Packaging Act.
Actually, the country’s jute sector is currently undergoing a depression as the result of a gradual decrease in raw jute production, with farmers failing to meet their production costs because of a downhill demand in the domestic and international markets.
Over the last four years, the country’s raw jute production decreased by 10 lakh bales, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
The country’s jute sector failed to achieve the export target in the first seven months (July to January) of the current fiscal 2015-16.
The government has set the export target of jute and jute products for $534.11 million during this period. In the seven months, the export earning from jute sector was $494.52 million. Country’s jute export declined by 7.41 per cent, according to the latest data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Experts said, export of raw jute has also experienced a decline in recent years. The country’s jute sector is currently undergoing a depression as the result of a gradual decrease in raw jute production, with farmers failing to meet their production costs because of a downhill demand in the domestic and international markets.
Actually, the farmers are losing their interest to cultivate jute in recent years, as they have not been getting fair price of their production because of lessened demand in the market.
The jute mills of state owned-Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and private owners’ body Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association are the major consumers of raw jute in the country. But most of the mills did not procure any raw jute from the market in recent years, as they remained idle during the time.
Market insiders said, the downtrend was caused as the popularity of plastic and other synthetic-made products was outweighing the demand for jute-made products worldwide.
Foreign buyers including major players like China had stopped procuring raw jute and jute-made products from the local market in recent years.
BJMC sources also claimed that Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Iran, Egypt and Iraq, which were major buyers of jute products from Bangladesh, had stopped buying finished jute or jute products because of the political turmoil and instability in their respective countries.
The government-owned mills have been facing huge fund crunch as well as system loss in operating their daily activities.
A good number of countries including members of the European Union have introduced restrictions on plastic and other synthetic-made products. The government could seize this opportunity to create a market for jute products in the countries, which imposed restrictions on synthetic-made products.
According to the industry insiders, the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) operates 26 jute mills and employs about 60,000 workers. At the moment the mills are running at half of their capacity. The problem of the corporation is that it cannot buy raw jute in time. This is because it has no money. It depends on government funding. When the government disburses funds, the market price of jute increases 40/50 per cent.
Historically, jute has been a vital sector for our economy. About 45 million people of the country depend directly or indirectly on jute farming, trading and employment in jute manufacturing. This important sector has been suffering for decades for lack of proper planning and appropriate decision.
The government plans to cultivate more jute in the country to restore the previous glory. The government is sincerely working in this regard to meet the local demand as well as increase the export volume for the betterment of the economy, said Textiles and Jute Minister Emaz Uddin Pramanik on Sunday.
“There is a huge demand of the jute products in the global market. We want to promote the jute sector to grab international market”, said the minister while addressing at a press conference at his secretariat office in city on Sunday.
Addressing the press conference, State minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam said that the three -day long ‘Jute Products Fair’ is going to begin on March 6 with a view to promoting the sector in local as well as global market.
The jute fair will kick off at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the city. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the fair and hand over awards to 38 eminent persons in 11 categories, said the State Minister.
The officials, individuals and institutions will be honored for their mentionable role in implementation process of Mandatory Jute Packaging Act.
Actually, the country’s jute sector is currently undergoing a depression as the result of a gradual decrease in raw jute production, with farmers failing to meet their production costs because of a downhill demand in the domestic and international markets.
Over the last four years, the country’s raw jute production decreased by 10 lakh bales, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).
The country’s jute sector failed to achieve the export target in the first seven months (July to January) of the current fiscal 2015-16.
The government has set the export target of jute and jute products for $534.11 million during this period. In the seven months, the export earning from jute sector was $494.52 million. Country’s jute export declined by 7.41 per cent, according to the latest data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Experts said, export of raw jute has also experienced a decline in recent years. The country’s jute sector is currently undergoing a depression as the result of a gradual decrease in raw jute production, with farmers failing to meet their production costs because of a downhill demand in the domestic and international markets.
Actually, the farmers are losing their interest to cultivate jute in recent years, as they have not been getting fair price of their production because of lessened demand in the market.
The jute mills of state owned-Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and private owners’ body Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association are the major consumers of raw jute in the country. But most of the mills did not procure any raw jute from the market in recent years, as they remained idle during the time.
Market insiders said, the downtrend was caused as the popularity of plastic and other synthetic-made products was outweighing the demand for jute-made products worldwide.
Foreign buyers including major players like China had stopped procuring raw jute and jute-made products from the local market in recent years.
BJMC sources also claimed that Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Iran, Egypt and Iraq, which were major buyers of jute products from Bangladesh, had stopped buying finished jute or jute products because of the political turmoil and instability in their respective countries.
The government-owned mills have been facing huge fund crunch as well as system loss in operating their daily activities.
A good number of countries including members of the European Union have introduced restrictions on plastic and other synthetic-made products. The government could seize this opportunity to create a market for jute products in the countries, which imposed restrictions on synthetic-made products.
According to the industry insiders, the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) operates 26 jute mills and employs about 60,000 workers. At the moment the mills are running at half of their capacity. The problem of the corporation is that it cannot buy raw jute in time. This is because it has no money. It depends on government funding. When the government disburses funds, the market price of jute increases 40/50 per cent.
Historically, jute has been a vital sector for our economy. About 45 million people of the country depend directly or indirectly on jute farming, trading and employment in jute manufacturing. This important sector has been suffering for decades for lack of proper planning and appropriate decision.
