Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman thinks Bangladesh should make its industries ready in the next five years for the challenges of graduation from least developed country (LDC) status.
He came up with the statement at a virtual dialogue on “Challenges and way forward on export diversification of Bangladesh upon LDC graduation”, arranged by the DCCI, on Wednesday, reports UNB.
Rizwan Rahman said Bangladesh will also face different duty and non-duty tariff-related challenges during the post-graduation period.
He mentioned that Bangladesh includes 1750 goods in its export basket and 81 per cent of these items come from the RMG sector.
“Our small and medium scale industries -- like jute, agro-processing, leather goods, footwear, pharmaceuticals, light engineering, ICT -- will also face various competitions in the international market after graduation," he said.
Besides, Bangladesh will face the challenge of competing in the international market, maintaining quality, adopting changed consumer behaviour, cost of research and innovation, Rizwan added.
Experts at the virtual dialogue called for adequate policy support to the non-RMG sectors to help them diversify exports after graduation. They also stressed policy reforms and skill development for export diversification during the post-graduation period.
Noted economist and a distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Prof Dr Mustafizur Rahman said, “RMG is a success model to us. But now it is the high time to give focus on other potential non-RMG sectors like agriculture, pharmaceuticals, light engineering, ICT, leather goods and jute sector.”
At present, 70 per cent of the exports are under preferential market access. After LDC graduation, compliance will be a big issue. “We have to enforce domestic regulations WTO compliant. In that case, industry readiness is more important. Our labour may be cheap….so we have to make our labours productive,” he said.
Dr Rahman stressed the need for innovative finance, forging a comprehensive economic partnership with potential partners, and enhancing legal capacity to deal with larger commercial disputes after graduation.
Vice-Chairman and CEO of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) AHM Ahsan said although LDC graduation is a pride for Bangladesh, it will create some challenges for the country.
“But the government is taking necessary strategies for smooth and sustainable LDC graduation,” he said.
“Not only products diversification, but we also have to focus on geographical (export market) diversification as well,” he said.
“Service sector contributes about 60 per cent to our GDP. So, we have to prioritise this sector. Last year 81 per cent of export earnings came from the RMG sector alone. After LDC, we cannot rely only on one specific sector. We have to follow the RMG success model to other promising sectors and also nourish those sectors in this breathing space,” he added.
“It is high time we work on how to reduce the cost of production, develop skills, enhancing marketing policy, promoting products,” said the EPB chief executive officer.
President of Bangladesh Association of Software & Information Services (BASIS) Syed Almas Kabir, President of Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh Saiful Islam, Managing Director of Sonali Aansh Industries Ltd Mahbubur Rahman Patwari, President of Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association Abdur Razzaque and General Manager of Incepta Pharmaceuticals Ltd Naimul Huda, among others, spoke at the dialogue.
