The government has taken a number of initiatives to popularise Jamdani to the international market, including training of the artisans and providing incentives on export of the product.
Besides, there are moves for quality packaging of the popular product and showcasing them at Bangladesh missions abroad.
Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Industries (MoI) Zakia Sultana said this as a chief guest of the inaugural ceremony of five-day 'Jamdani festival 2024' at the Bangladesh National Museum in the city's Shahbag area on Sunday, according to a statement.
The inaugural ceremony was held on Sunday though the trade event began a day earlier jointly organised by Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) and Bangladesh National Museum.
Secretary of the Ministry of Culture Khalil Ahmad and Director General of Bangladesh National Museum Md. Kamruzzaman joined as special guests at the opening function, while BSCIC Chairman Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik presided over the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion, Zakia Sultana said, "Jamdani is a unique product due to advance weaving techniques, marvelous designs and unique features, as well as it is extremely comfortable."
Once Bangladesh's muslin was famous worldwide, she said adding that: "Now it's time for Jamdani to be recognized worldwide as an alternative to muslin."
Presently there was no alternative to Jamdani, which was also very popular among international buyers, she said.
Khalil Ahmad said the Ministry of Culture had been working for inclusion of more and more cultural heritages in the list of UNESCO cultural heritages.
The ministry was determined to include Tangail sarees in this list as well, he said.
Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik said, "BSCIC has been working as the main patron of traditional product Jamdani for many days.
A Jamdani industrial estate was established on 20 acres of land at Rupganj upazila of Narayanganj in 1993 under the supervision of BSCIC." Jamdani got Geographical Indication (GI) certification in 2016 as the first Bangladeshi product, he added.
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