Staff Reporter :
Despite overall merchandise exports, especially Ready-Made Garment (RMG) products, fetching the country $38.45 billion, marking a growth of 3.71 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2023-24, there is concern over the downward trend in non-traditional items exports, which could impact the country’s economy.
According to the latest data published by the Export Promotion Bureau on Monday, during the July-February period of FY 2023-24, RMG exports, which contribute more than 80 percent to the total exports, amounted to $32.85 billion. This included $18.59 billion from knitwear and $14.26 billion from woven garments, reflecting a growth of 4.77 percent.
However, there has been poor performance in non-RMG sectors such as frozen and live fish, leather and leather footwear, jute and jute goods, engineering products, and home textiles. These sectors have experienced challenges in maintaining export growth during the same period.
The decline in export earnings from various sectors in FY24 is a pressing issue for the country, especially as the country prepares to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status in 2026. Export diversification is crucial to achieving this status, making the current situation concerning.
According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), receipts from the shipment of frozen and live fish, including shrimp, experienced a significant decline of 14.1 percent year-on-year, amounting to $273 million in the first eight months of the fiscal year. This is a notable decrease from the $318 million recorded in the previous fiscal year.
Similarly, export earnings from leather and leather goods have witnessed a substantial decline in the first eight months (July-February), totaling only $712 million in this period, reflecting a 17.93 percent year-on-year reduction. Industry insiders attribute this decline to decreased demand for leather and leather goods in the global market, driven by high inflation and reluctance among global buyers to source these products from Bangladesh due to environmental compliance issues.
Additionally, merchandise exports from the jute and jute goods sector have declined for the third consecutive year, raising significant concerns for this promising industry. Jute is one of the few sectors in Bangladesh for which raw materials are locally available, making its decline particularly worrisome..
Exports from the historically significant jute sector amounted to only $581.55 million in the first eight months of the current financial year of 2023-24, experiencing a dip of 6.85 percent year-on-year. Experts attribute this decline to shrinking global demand, increasing domestic production costs, poor trade diplomacy regarding jute and jute goods, aggressive marketing by rival countries, and the persisting anti-dumping duty imposed by India.
Bangladesh primarily exports raw jute, jute yarn and twine, sacks and bags, and jute-made products in the global market.
Another sector facing challenges is the home-textile sector, which witnessed a decline of 29.94 percent during the July-February period of FY24, with earnings amounting to $539.35 million. Additionally, engineering product exports reduced by 3.26 percent during this period.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, expressed concern over the decline in exports in the non-garment sector, emphasizing the necessity of export diversification to reduce dependency on apparel. Moazzem warned that if this trend continues, it may impact employment as manufacturers may need to cut jobs to address the challenges.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh had set a target of $62 billion in export earnings for the current fiscal year. However, during the July-February period, the overall export figure was 6.48 percent lower than the target, standing at $41.12 billion.
