Jute products earn Tk 84,002cr in 10 years
Bangladesh has currently suspended exports of raw jute, while its jute products continue to reach 138 countries, Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir told Parliament on Wednesday.
“Currently, the export of jute produced in Bangladesh abroad is halted. Jute is exported from Bangladesh to 30 countries and jute products to 138 countries,” he said in reply to a scripted question from ruling BNP lawmaker Lutfur Rahman of Cox’s Bazar-3.
The Parliament session began at 3:30pm with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad in the chair.
The minister listed China, Iran, Spain, Belgium, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, South Korea, Russia, Poland, Vietnam, Nepal, Tunisia, Thailand, Malaysia, Austria, France, Latvia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia among Bangladesh’s jute export destinations.
Bangladesh earned Tk12,612.07 crore by exporting 19.25 lakh metric tonnes of raw jute and Tk71,390.50 crore from exporting 70.69 lakh metric tonnes of jute products over the past 10 years, according to the minister.
Replying to another scripted question from BNP lawmaker Sarwar Jamal Nizam of Chattogram-13, Abdul Muktadir said 2,923 textile industries are currently registered with the Department of Textiles.
Unregistered textile establishments are also being brought under registration gradually, he said.
There are currently 24 closed textile mills under the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), according to the minister.
The government has taken initiatives to operate 15 of the mills through public-private partnerships (PPP).
“Already, agreements have been signed with selected private partners and the handover process has been completed for four textile mills under the PPP arrangement,” the minister said.
Production has started at two of those mills, while work on the remaining mills is ongoing.
He said agreements had also been signed with selected private partners and handover completed for two textile mills to be operated under the lease system, with production already initiated there.
The minister said 10 of 22 planned industrial plots have been allocated for establishing a textile village at Chittaranjan Cotton Mills, a BTMC-regulated facility in Narayanganj.
The initiative involves selling small industrial plots of approximately one acre each to support small-scale industrial entrepreneurs.
“Already, a modern knitting and garment factory has been established on one of the plots sold there, and production has begun. The products are being exported abroad,” he said.
Initiatives have also been taken to restart Darowani Textile Mills Ltd in Nilphamari and Magura Textile Mills Ltd in Magura through PPP arrangements.
Subject to final approval, agreements will be signed with selected private partners and the mills will be handed over to them, the minister said.
He said reviving government-owned textile mills through PPP arrangements would help increase exports and foreign earnings, create employment, strengthen local industries and the economy, and raise government revenue.
