Dhaka urges Khartoum to repay $169m export bill

FE Team | Published: March 31, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

FE Report
The ministry of textiles and jute Monday urged non-resident Sudanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Hassan E El Talib to pay off US$ 169 million outstanding export bills of jute goods.
Textiles and Jute Minister Mohammad Emaze Uddin Pramanik made the request when the visiting Sudanese ambassador met him at the latter's secretariat office.
The Sudanese ambassador, however, assured the minister that he would apprise his government of the matter for taking steps to pay back dues. He also invited the minister to visit Sudan.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) under the ministry of textiles and jute (MoTJ) made shipment of jute goods, mostly jute sacks, worth about $ 25 million to Sudan in 1992. After one year of the shipment, the Sudanese government paid only $ 11 million. Now total dues with interest have stood at $ 169 million.
The amount of export bills has remained unpaid over the last two decades. The government has taken a set of initiatives to realise the outstanding export bills from the Sudanese government. Besides diplomatic efforts, high-level delegations visited Sudan several times to settle the issue. But no progress in this regard has been made yet.
Sudan imports a huge quantity of jute goods, especially jute sacks from Bangladesh every year for packaging food materials. Apart from jute and jute goods, readymade garments, ceramics and pharmaceutical products have good demand in Sudan.
The non-resident Sudanese ambassador to Bangladesh, stationed in Delhi, also discussed various bilateral issues and expressed his interest to supply raw cotton for textiles and jute sector of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh, the second largest apparel exporter of the world, meets 90 per cent of its demand for raw cotton through import mainly from India, central Asia, the USA, Brazil, Australia and Africa.
The Sudanese envoy also said Bangladesh can take out lease on farmland in Sudan to grow crops aimed at ensuring food security of both the countries. Bangladesh and Sudan can jointly produce rice, lentil, oil, cotton and other crops on the leased land and share the produce between the two countries.
State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam, BJMC Chairman Major General (Retd) Humayun Khaled, BTMC Chairman Brigadier General Md. Bayezid Sarwar attended the meeting.
The Sudanese envoy said there is a vast area of land in Sudan and Bangladesh could invest in agriculture sector to help ensure food security.
"There is a scope for cultivation of our agricultural lands through joint venture. We will welcome Bangladeshi people to come to Sudan and cultivate our agricultural land on a lease basis that will help attain food security in both the countries," the envoy said.
Bangladesh and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August 2012 to take a 10-year lease on Sudanese farmland to grow crops aimed at ensuring food security of both the countries.
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