Star Business Report

Bangladesh has targeted exporting $51 billion worth of merchandise and services this fiscal year.

It is 12.37 per cent higher than that attained in the immediate past fiscal year of 2020-21.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi announced the new target at a virtual meeting yesterday with business chamber leaders, manufacturers, exporters and government high-ups.

Local manufacturers and exporters believe the target was attainable, reasoning the rebounding of the global economy with the reopening of stores in the Western world.

Merchandise is set to bring in some $43.50 billion, up 12.23 per cent from last fiscal year’s achievement.

Some $7.5 billion is expected to be earned from the services sectors, which is similarly 13.15 per cent higher.

Like previous years, readymade garments (RMG) is aimed to comprise the bulk of the merchandise.

Hopes are for it to grow 11.72 per cent to some $35.14 billion.

This will comprise around $19.51 billion from knitwear (up 15 per cent) and $15.62 billion from woven (up 7.8 per cent).

The government has taken some aspects into consideration when setting the target, said Munshi.

This includes the Covid-19’s fallouts on global and local businesses, goods diversification, the situation in major export markets, the global garment supply chain and the government’s policy supports, including financial ones.

The government has been working on getting preferential trade agreements (PTAs) signed with three countries, including Nepal and Indonesia, within this year, said the commerce minister.

Bangladesh has already signed its maiden PTA with Bhutan last December.

“We are slow in signing PTAs and free trade agreements (FTAs) as import duty is still one of the major sources of government revenue,” said Munshi.

Despite this, the government is intending to sign either PTAs or FTAs with 11 countries to counter the downsides of making the United Nations status graduation from a least developed to a developing country after 2026, he said.

Export diversification is coming about, albeit slowly, he said.

The contribution of products other than garments in exports increased to 18 per cent from 16 per cent in the immediate past fiscal year, he pointed out.

Jute, leather and goods made out of them, footwear, light engineering products, home textiles and a few other value added goods are bringing changes, he said.

Three important state offices -- bond, customs and ports -- need to deliver services faster to retain Bangladesh’s competitiveness in the global export markets, said Md Siddiqur Rahman, a former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Business is affected when these offices make abnormal delays in releasing goods and documents, he said.