‘No prior notice from India‘
FROM PAGE B1
But Bangladeshi exporters are not faring well. Export earnings fell 5.84 per cent year-on-year to $19.3 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year -- mainly because of lower shipment of apparel items.
The receipts between July and December were also 12.77 per cent lower than the half-yearly target of $22.12 billion, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
“Basically our export is garment, which accounts for 84 per cent of the shipments. And there is a downward tendency in the international garment market. Hopefully, it will pick up in this quarter.”
Asked why he is so confident about exports picking up this quarter, he said: “Export of our value-added items has declined, which is why exports fell. But we got news that new value-added work orders are being placed to Bangladesh again.”
Besides, the government is working towards breaking into new markets.
“Now 15 per cent of our exports go to new markets. If we could send 10 per cent more then we could have overcome this current unstable situation,” he said, adding that the new markets in sight are Brazil, Eurasian and ASEAN CIS countries, and Russia.
The Russian market is shut out at present for problems surrounding settlement of financial transactions.
“Bangladesh Bank is trying to find a workaround. Our new ambassador is going to take care of these things. A delegation of businesspeople will go to Russia. Considering all these things, we are very hopeful that this market will be in our hands.”
And the government is also thinking of giving incentives to garment exporters -- to boost export earnings figures.
Garment exporters have sought Tk 5 extra for each dollar of their retained export earnings -- a demand that has been met with contempt by various quarters. But Munshi, who is in garment trade, can see where the apparel exporters are coming from.
“Whether garment exporters are given more incentives or not is the finance ministry’s decision. But I, as the commerce minister and a businessman, think the government should save this trade, as it covers 84 per cent of exports.”
The government has a target to hit $60 billion in exports by 2021, which will not be possible if the current downward trend continues.
“So sometimes we have to help.”
In 1984-85, when Munshi started out in garment business, there was a project called XPL under which the government gave extra for every dollar.
“Had we not gotten that facility, our garment sector would not have come to this stage today. I started with 95 workers and because I got a helping hand then, today I have 6,000 workers.
This is the position of everyone. The time has now come again for the government to consider some form of support to cross these problems.”
The garment exporters’ demand will cost the government Tk 3,900 crore.
“This is not too big an amount but can save this sector of 45 lakh workers.”
The decision lies with the prime minister and the finance minister. “But I think it will be given -- this is just my personal feeling.”
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has dispatched finance ministry officials to Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India -- all Bangladesh’s competitors in global apparel trade -- to probe whether the governments are providing such facilities to their garment exporters to give them a leg up.
“If they are, we will too,” Kamal told The Daily Star on December 29 last year.
Bangladesh is on course to becoming a developing country in 2024; after a three-year grace period all the duty benefits that the nation currently enjoys as a least-developed country will be gone.
As the commerce minister until 2024, one of Munshi’s major tasks is to sign bilateral and free trade agreements (FTAs) for a soft landing for Bangladesh.
“Now is the right time to start work to face that crisis.”
But before signing any FTAs the government must do its assessment on whether it will be beneficial for the country.
“But we must do FTA. With some countries the immediate impact might not be too good but the long-term impact is good. We have to consider all these things on a case-to-case basis.”
The countries being considered for trade agreements are Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand, Munshi said, adding that negotiations with Indonesia are going on in full swing.
“For now, we are working with these countries, and we are hopeful that by June we will sign FTAs with at least 2-3 countries.”