As it is, Bangladesh’s export operations based on a few products and unchanging destinations of these goods, pose for it risks. Any worsening of the terms of trade of these few export commodities could lead to big drops in export earnings causing serious adverse repercussions on its economy.
There is a very pressing need for Bangladesh to increase the number of its export commodities. Equally important for it is to diversify its export markets among many countries so that unhappy experiences in some importing countries can be offset by better ones in other countries.
There has to be vigorous search for new export markets. New exportable products or non traditional export goods must be developed. According to an estimate, Bangladesh can earn over a billion US Dollars by exporting fruits alone. Thailand with its lesser array of fruits than Bangladesh earns presently several billion US$ from fruit and fruit products . Bangladesh has immense export prospects in a wide range of horticultural and floricultural products. Furniture, jewellery and crabs can soon be well earning export products with entrepreneurs taking an interest in them. Kitchen items ranging from chillies to vegetables can be exported in much greater quantities. But the exporters in these new fields will have to be facilitated at the outset by official supports.
The increase in the number of unconventional export goods can happen quicker if the government starts a programme of new export product development to develop these products and get some exporters to start
exporting them. In such new product development, stress must be on quality and good packaging because both of these factors are extremely important to make a favourable initial impact on the markets and to sustain it. In the areas of traditional export items, leather for instance, there exist much scope for increased earnings. The export-oriented leather industries presently earn less than 300 million US$ annually when this sum can be as high as US$ 720 million provided government takes some helpful steps to reduce duties on chemicals and capital equipment and lower the cost of funds for leather sector entrepreneurs.
There can be no substitute, of course, to exporters themselves coming forward on their own to export more and diversify export products. But government can certainly create a higher degree of enthusiasm for export activities among them by adopting a series of measures. Exporters have repeatedly suggested to the government a series of facilitation measures . The adoption of the same, as far as possible, may create a big stimulus for stepped up export activities. The exporters’ main demand is reducing the interest charged on export loans to a maximum of 5 per cent. They would like to see much faster port operations and much reduced port charges. They want power at concession rates and extension of the same facilities to 80 per cent export-oriented industries now being given to 100 per cent export -oriented ones. Exporters also look forward to complete reorganisation of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to make the same dynamic and effective and the establishment of a trade facilitation centre to provide various advisory and technical services . Duty free import of capital machinery and 10 per cent of spare parts every two years is another major demand of the exporters.
Undoubtedly, the government’s acting promptly and favourably in relation to these and other suggestions from the exporters can lead to a major expansion of export activities in the near future.