Shipment of more than two dozen products declined in July-April period of the current fiscal, stung by recent political turmoil and currency depreciation in key export destinations, exporters and experts said.
State-owned Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed out of 27 products, exports of 10 have been persistently falling in the last few years.
The exporters and experts said the fall has dealt a blow to the government's efforts to widen export basket.
Products like rubber, pulp, finished plastic goods, wood and wooden products, cut flower and foliage (betel leaf), cement, printed and paper materials, stainless steel ware, copper wire, silk, cotton and cotton-made products, umbrella, walking sticks, manmade filaments and staple fibres were seen as potential items for diversification, but export of the products had been slowing in recent years.
Export of traditional items such as shrimp and other frozen fish, vegetables, dried fish, tea, raw jute, leather and leather products (excluding leather footwear), terry towel, furniture and petroleum by-products dropped during the ten months of July to April last compared to the corresponding period of FY '14, the data showed.
And exports of pulp, silk, petroleum by-products, copper wire, stainless steel ware, cement and salt, cut flower and foliage declined by 100 per cent, 90 per cent, 62 per cent, 47 per cent, 35 per cent, 21 per cent, 71 per cent respectively in the July-April period the 2014-15 financial year, compared with same period a year ago.
However, shipment of items like chemical fertiliser was zero in the current fiscal year indicating its exclusion from the EPB-set export basket.
For exports the country largely depends on ready-made garment (RMG) and home textile which fetch over 83 per cent of the total earnings.
The country earned US$ 25.303 billion (2,530.3 crore) in the last 10 months of the current fiscal. Of the amount, over $ 21.232 billion came from RMG ($ 20.56 billion) and home textile sectors, according to the EPB data.
Besides, other traditional sectors including jute, leather, agriculture and frozen food fetched $ 2.629 billion. It means the country earned only $ 1.44 billion by exporting nearly 700 items, according to the EPB statistics.
Exporters' Association of Bangladesh president Abdus Salam Murshedy told the FE that export of RMG in the current fiscal year was not satisfactory.
He said political turmoil in the country from January to March last added to the depreciation of the euro against the US dollar. It was one of the major reasons for lower export growth in the garments sector in the current fiscal year, he added.
Mr Murshedy said the government earlier took many measures for diversification of exports, but it did not work properly. "The project 'one district one product' taken up by the commerce ministry should be promoted to produce good results."
He said products like organic tea of Panchagarh, crab of Khulna, Nakshikantha of Faridpur, handloom products of Tangail, clay tiles of Satkhira, pineapple of Khagrachhari, betel leaf of Chuadanga, hilsa fish of the River Padma, curd of Bogra and agricultural machinery were selected for export.
"But export of such items is not satisfactory except for crab," he added.
Economist Prof Gazi M Jalil said the government never showed any stinginess in taking up good programmes, but it always remained penny-pinching in terms of implementation.
He said the ministry of commerce with financial support of the World Bank launched an export diversification project in 1999 to promote and diversify exportable items.
But the project was later abandoned due to poor performance.
He said last year the government through the EPB took measures to provide policy support to eleven products' exporters. "The sectors should come under review over their performance."
Mr Jalil said Bangladeshi products were also lagging behind because of the lack of bargaining capacity in the global context.
"It took India only six months to clear all barriers to the entry of Alfonso mango to the EU market, but two and a half years have passed, our betel leaf is still awaiting the go-ahead," he said.
EPB vice chairman Shubhashish Bose said they selected products including ship, medicine, furniture, electric home appliance, paper, rubber, ICT, frozen food (shrimp and fish), home and specialised textiles, jute and jute goods, printed material and packaging last year to give policy support.
Many of the products under their project and policy support were performing well, he said, adding that the export diversification process would continue and the shipment basket would further expand.
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com
Export fall in 27 products threatens diversification
Yasir Wardad | Published: June 02, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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