Traders demand forming separate ‘Leather Board’ to protect industry
The Leather Industry Development Foundation of Bangladesh (LIDFB) has proposed the establishment of modern leather collection centres, expansion of the use of leather goods in the domestic market, and stronger international marketing initiatives to enhance the competitiveness of the country’s leather industry in global markets.
At the same time, LIDFB called for easy loans to preserve raw leather, solving complications in chemical imports, removing obstacles to obtaining international certificates and developing modern waste management.
These demands were raised at a seminar titled ‘Leather Industry in Existential Crisis: Searching for Ways Out’ held at the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) auditorium in the capital on Saturday.
The seminar was organized by the Leather Industry Development Foundation of Bangladesh.
The meeting was presided over by the convener of the organization, Sadat Hossain.
He said that although the country has a tea board for the tea industry and a separate ministry for the textile sector, there is no effective guardian institution for the leather industry. As a result, this promising sector has been suffering from policy neglect for a long time.
He complained that even though the leather sector has more than 40 per cent value added, this industry does not get the desired support. On the other hand, the ready-made garment sector is enjoying large-scale incentives despite adding relatively low value.
Therefore, it is necessary to quickly form a national leather board to make the leather industry export-oriented and competitive.
Speakers at the seminar said that tanneries in Bangladesh are failing to achieve the desired certification due to their inability to meet the conditions of environmentally friendly production in the international market.
To solve this problem, it was proposed to set up small-scale ETPs (Effluent Treatment Plants) in tanneries with the help of the World Bank. In addition, it was called for ensuring long-term credit facilities for entrepreneurs, so that they can repay the loan in easy installments within 20 years.
Speakers also said that every year during the Qurbani season, a large amount of raw leather is not stored properly, which causes major losses.
For this, they demanded easy loans for field-level traders, adequate salt supply, facilitation in the import of chemical products, and construction of cold storage.
The concerned also emphasized the expansion of the domestic market. They proposed to adopt an incentive policy for the use of leather shoes and bags for school students. In addition, a call was made to build new leather industrial cities in different parts of the country.
At the seminar, Prof Abdul Muttalib of the Leather Engineering and Technology Institute of Dhaka University said that the size of the global leather and leather products market is about $560 billion.
If Bangladesh can capture even 1per cent of this market, the export income of this sector could be more than $5 billion.
He said that despite various limitations, the leather industry in Bangladesh still has huge potential.
Sarwar Tushar said at the meeting that the leather sector could have been a ‘gold mine’ for the country.
But due to political and policy weaknesses, the potential of this industry is not being fully utilized. He alleged that leather is being smuggled illegally through the Khulna-Jessore border.
