Govt looking for new markets for agro exports

Business Desk :
The government is exploring global export markets for its agricultural products to increase earnings from the sector, as well as cushioning economic blows after the country’s LDC graduation.

As part of the move, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has asked the Bangladesh mission in Seoul, Korea to plan the next course of actions regarding the issue, sources said.
Experts said now Bangladesh is taking preparations to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) status in 2026.
There is a growing need to diversify its economy and find new sources of growth to face possible challenges after graduation.

The government needs to take required strategies for building a strong country brand for its agricultural products in the international market. It can take assistance from the countries that have achieved remarkable development in the agri sector. In this circumstance, the MoA can learn from the approaches of Thailand and Australia to build a country brand for Bangladeshi agricultural products worldwide, sources added. According to the MoA letter, Bangladesh is capable of producing a variety of crops with global top ranking in items like jute and jackfruit (1st), mango (7th), guava (8th), rice and vegetables (3rd), and potato (7th). The government is very pro-agriculture and offers a range of generous incentives in the forms of tax rebate, low interest rate, and export incentives to make local products competitive in the global export market, it noted.

It is addressing Agriculture Transformation Process (ATP) for supporting diversification towards high-value crops while maintaining a strong focus on ensuring food and nutrition security as well as building long-term resilience to climate change in accordance with the government policies.