The country's export of plastic goods marked a 21 per cent rise in the first half of the current fiscal year (FY) over the corresponding period of last fiscal.
The plastic sector fetched US$ 56.54 million during the July-November period of FY 2018-19 compared to the first half of 2017-18 FY 46.63 million US$.
The target export from the sector was 100 million US$ for the 2018-19 fiscal year. In 2017-18 FY, the country exported 98.48 million US$, according to available data of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The sector insiders attributed such a significant export growth to higher demand for Bangladeshi plastic products in the global market.
Bangladesh is gradually capturing more space in global market as it moved for more diversified plastic goods, said Bengal Group of Industries Vice Chairman Jasim Uddin.
Jasim Uddin, also BPGMEA President said that China limited its plastic export trend which has created huge possibility for Bangladesh to expand its plastic sector and gear up export.
Bangladesh is doing better for last five years or so, BPGMEA has set a target to snare 3.0 per cent of the global market by 2030, he added.
"But there are some issues need to be addressed urgently."
"Relocation of the plastic factories from old Dhaka to a plastic industrial area is our prime demand for the sector to expand further, and to grab buyer and foreign investment we need modern factories," he added.
Insiders also viewed that the 10 per cent cash incentive is not helping enough certainly to the exporters in this sector.
On the other hand, environment friendly factories are also needed to get order from foreign buyers, and to do so, the sector needs modern recycling system to set up, said insiders.
Echoing the same Jasim Uddin added that "Recycling could help the sector to take a big jump."
Demand for the plastic goods will rise further in accordance with people's per-capita income in the local market, and infrastructure building could take the sector to be a leading sector for Bangladesh, business observed.
"Bangladesh is doing better in the sector. Currently Bangladesh is exporting its plastic products to European countries as China is not interested to export plastic goods," said director for marketing at Pran-RFL Group Kamruzzaman Kamal.
Apart from expansion of other local industries demand for plastic will increase further. Besides, establishment of linkage and backward industries will also impact positively to the growth trend, they added.
The country exports its plastic products to 23 countries including the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Poland, Spain and Canada.
Besides, home decorating items, automobiles, medical equipment including sorts of export-oriented goods, plastic toys made in combination with technology, are also in the export list.
As per BPGMEA data, around 5000 factories in the country are producing plastic products in about 15 categories and around 150 items.
The 12th highest earning export sector has also created job opportunities for many people thanks to the rapid expansion of the market and production, insiders said.
nsrafsanju@gmail.com