With the surplus production capacities of garment accessories and packaging products, Bangladesh is making efforts to explore export potentials of the items worldwide.
The government has asked the country’s 18 missions abroad to explore potentials to increase earnings from the subsector that mainly supplies to local readymade garments factories as deemed exporters, and has recently started exporting directly to the RMG factories in other countries.
Efforts in this regard are being made to mitigate possible shocks after the country’s LDC graduation, sources at the Ministry of Commerce said.
The MoC has recently instructed the commercial councilors, ministers (commercial), economic minister (Geneva) and first secretaries (commercial) to send home detailed reports on demands for the backward linkage products in various countries and export opportunities.
It has assigned the officials to convey possible buyers that Bangladesh manufactures various high-quality accessories and packing items, a senior official said.
He expected the move to contribute a lot to diversify exports and expedite economic growth.
He also pointed out that Bangladesh is now taking preparations to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) status in 2026. There is a growing need to diversify its economy and find new sources of accelerating growth to face possible challenges after graduation.
Textile fabrics and accessories are two major inputs of the RMG industry. Some 1,900 accessories and packaging makers meet almost the entire demand of the export-oriented RMG sector, industry insiders say.
As many as 15 accessories and packaging products are now being exported to 21 countries and regions, including the Netherlands, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Middle-East, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Italy, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Germany, and Austria.
In FY 2021-22, the subsector earned about US$7.67 billion (deemed and direct export), including direct export worth around US$1.0 billion.
It has set an export target of $12 billion by the end of 2025. More than 0.7 million employees are working in the sector, including 20 per cent women, according to the association.
The Tk 350 billion packaging and accessories sector’s value addition is around 40 per cent, according to Bangladesh Garments Accessories & Packaging Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGAPMEA).
The sector insiders said the government should take steps to provide cash incentives for the accessories and packaging sector to help boost export earnings.
They also stressed the need for bonded warehouse facilities to facilitate exports.
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