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Move to train leather sector employees

Aims to ensure international standard processing


Talha Bin Habib | August 21, 2019 00:00:00


The government has moved to train leather sector employees so that they could process leather of international standard at the Savar Tannery Estate, officials said.

The Ministry of Industries (MoI) and the World Bank (WB) are set to take up a project for providing the necessary trainings and develop the industry.

The MoI has been discussing the issue with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the WB, for jointly providing the training to the employees and tanners initially at the Savar Tannery Estate in Dhaka, according to the MoI.

"We (MoI) have been discussing the issue with the IFC," a high official at the MoI, who is involved in the process, told the FE.

He said the MoI is hopeful about being able to impart training to the stakeholders soon for the first time. Initially, the IFC would provide US$ 300,000 for this purpose, he added.

The official further said the workers, employees and the people responsible for operating the central effluent treatment plant (CEPT) and the tanners will come under the training programme.

The proposed project will certainly help develop the country's leather sector and ensure compliance, according to the sector insiders.

The leather and leather goods industry is the second biggest source of earning foreign currencies for the country.

The government has set a target to earn US$ 5.0 billion through exporting finished leather and leather goods by 2024. And to achieve the target, the MoI has taken up a time befitting roadmap/ strategy for the development of the leather sector.

The ministry has prepared a draft 'leather and leather goods development policy- 2019' for increasing export of finished leather and leather goods.

The export earnings from leather and leather goods and footwear were $ 1.08 billion during the fiscal year 2017-18, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Bangladesh mainly exports finished leather and leather goods (leather garment and footwear) to the European Union, the US, Australia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

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