WASIM BIN HABIB

In a small house in Sylhet’s Balaganj upazila, Alta Begum weaves shital pati as generations before her have done for centuries. Known for its natural cooling properties, the handcrafted mats sell locally for a fraction of the prices that similar products fetch abroad.

Now in her mid-60s, she never imagined her craft could become part of the country’s economic strategy. But that may be about to change.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, while delivering the fiscal year 2026–27 budget speech yesterday, announced a dedicated allocation for the creative economy -- an unusual step in Bangladesh’s budget history.

The government has set aside Tk 300 crore directly, with an additional Tk 500 crore expected from Bangladesh Bank’s corporate social responsibility funds. Together, this signals a wider commitment to a sector spanning handloom and pottery to filmmaking, OTT platforms and fashion design.

As defined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Creative Economy Outlook 2024, the creative economy includes activities that generate and distribute goods and services rooted in creativity and intellectual capital, such as advertising, architecture, arts, design, music and film production, publishing and video games.

In Bangladesh, the sector has largely grown informally, driven by small craft entrepreneurs, independent filmmakers and boutique fashion brands, often with limited state support. The new allocation aims to bring this grassroots growth into the formal economic mainstream.

The government’s ambition goes beyond funding. It has set a target of raising the creative industry’s share of GDP to 1.5 percent through coordinated initiatives, a goal drawn from the BNP’s election manifesto.

SEE PAGE 12 COL 2