Bangladesh is missing a lot of opportunities to diversify its exports because of the faulty appointment system of commercial counsellors in missions abroad, sources said.
In most of the cases the officials who are appointed and posted after two months' training to promote and brand Bangladeshi products and attract foreign direct investment (FDI), fail to get used to the diplomatic environment in those countries, a former ambassador to the US said.
He said the existing approach of appointing these officials is not business friendly. As a result the missions are not getting the right persons.
He said the procedure of the ministry of commerce is faulty and the appointed officials take time to feel the trade pulse of the countries they are posted in and by the time they are able to do so, their tenure expires.
Though Bangladesh's RMG export growth is satisfactory but in the last twenty years no other products could grab export market as alternatives, said an Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) official.
The source said commercial counsellors failed to explore the market and brand other leading products like pharmaceuticals, software, light engineering, shrimp.
Data available from different sources say except a few cases, the commercial counsellors in different stations across the world hardly give any effort.
A group of entrepreneurs who visited some African countries couple of months back said, "We went there to study the market for our products, but we did not get enough support from our missions."
The visiting group leader said demand for Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals is there in Africa. Light engineering products are becoming popular in that continent due to high quality and cheaper cost.
He said, "When we contacted the mission officials in those countries they could not brief us about the market. Even they do not have an idea about their own country's (Bangladesh's) products."
A former FICCI president told the FE if the commercial counsellors' appointment and activities are monitored and their appointment system changed, the country could easily add $50 billion in export earnings.
He said businesspeople going abroad do not get enough support from the trade counsellors of different missions and it becomes difficult for the entrepreneurs to explore new export markets.
Humayun Kabir, a former ambassador to the US, said the current appointment system for commercial counsellors is faulty as both the ministry of commerce and the ministry of foreign affairs are working individually and do not have any coordination.
Bangladesh can tag the foreign office with the ministry of commerce. In many countries of the world the two are tied together to facilitate the businesspeoples' ventures in other countries, the veteran diplomat pointed out.
He said though the commercial counsellors are trained but it is not enough and it is difficult for them to feel the pulse in foreign lands.
An official in the ministry of commerce regarding the appointment system said, "We select the best officers from different departments and we provide them two months' training before posting them as commercial counsellors in different countries."
Another former diplomat who served in Nepal blamed Bangladesh's entrepreneurs that they do not spend money when they visit foreign countries for exploring business opportunities.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
