Government support for furniture export

It gives me immense pleasure to say that Bangladesh aims to increase exports by diversifying its export basket and exploring new markets. Earlier Bangladesh used to rely on a fewer number of export products. But now there are several products in Bangladesh playing a significant role in earning foreign exchange. The government should focus on five important issues-products, market, quality, service and regional value chain. Furniture is a labour-intensive industry by which owners can earn more profit in a short time. The price of any piece of furniture is considerable and people of our country can purchase it at one's own sweet will. But it is also necessary to export such furniture to foreign countries after fulfilling our local demand.
Bangladesh has potential to increase furniture exports due to its cost competiveness. Asian countries are the biggest supplier of furniture to the global market compared to other countries. Most of the leading furniture export countries in Asia, including Japan, Korea, China and India usually export furniture to the USA and contribute a lot to their economic development.
Bangladesh has a huge possibility to earn more foreign exchange through exporting furniture. Good chain management among the owners and buyers can play a significant role in earning profit in furniture business. Besides, the standard of our furniture is as good as the other best quality furniture exporting countries of the world.
The USA is the key market of furniture. Usually all Asian countries choose the USA as a source of earning money. If the country can grab at least 10 per cent of the global furniture demand, the size of such export may be raised more than USD 30 billion.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Bangladesh, exported furniture worth USD 31.41 million in 2012-13 FY increased to 15.73 per cent this year. But it is a matter of regret that there is a great deficiency of trained manpower in this sector. There are only a few trained workers in our country compared to the other countries. Bangladesh should establish institutions to develop this sector. If students learn some practical knowledge after receiving degree on this specific field, they will be able to do their best to develop this sector. So, institutions and trained manpower are a crying need to develop this sector.
Md Maskurul Alam
Department of Statistics
Islamic University, Kushtia, Bangladesh
maskurulra@gmail.com