Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The fallouts from the coronavirus pandemic caused a dip in apparel shipments from Bangladesh to three promising Asian markets -- India, Japan and China -- in the last fiscal year, official figures showed.

The disbursement of allowances for retrenched workers in the export-oriented garment, leather and footwear sectors will begin once the associations concerned provide the list of employees, according to a senior official of the finance ministry.

The leather sector in Bangladesh is turning into a hotspot for foreign investment due to the country’s low manufacturing costs, availability of cheap raw materials and its eligibility for trade benefits on exports, said industry insiders.

Bangladesh needs to sign comprehensive trade agreements with its major partners in order to retain preferential access to key international markets after graduating from the least developed country (LDC) status, according to experts.

The wait for a Covid-19 vaccine, a second wave of infections in the western world and the upcoming US election may lead to hiccups in the recovery of Bangladeshi garment shipments, according to local exporters.

Small and medium garment factories are yet to see the rebound in apparel shipments as they have not received as many export orders as the bigger units have, pointing to an uneven recovery in the sector.

Bangladesh has demanded zero-duty benefit on export of 140 products to Nepal as both governments look towards finalising a preferential trade agreement (PTA) on the third week of next month, Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin said yesterday.

Earnings from merchandise exports grew by 3.53 per cent year-on-year to reach $3.01 billion in September thanks to an increasing number of orders for garment items, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) released yesterday.

Earnings from the merchandise export grew by 3.53 percent year-on-year in September to $3.01 billion on high shipment of garment items, according to the data released by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) yesterday.

Bangladesh may continue to enjoy duty-free trade benefits in the European Union for a few more years even after its graduation from the group of least developed countries (LDCs) as the pandemic fallouts have ravaged the economy, government officials said.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic will strengthen the garment sector in Asia well into 2021 and beyond as companies will accelerate adoption of technology to ensure faster and more efficient production amid the economic fallouts, according to a new study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Due to its strong consumer base, Bangladesh is considered a major investment and trading destination for many US companies, some of which are interested to invest in a few key sectors such as agro-processing and pharmaceuticals, according to a senior official of the US embassy in Dhaka.

Spinners’ plans to pour in hundreds of crores of taka to expand domestic capacity and slash reliance on foreign markets have been pushed back by the coronavirus pandemic, forcing local exporters to continue footing more than $5 billion in annual import bills for yarn and fabrics.

Nine small and medium-sized garment factories are in big trouble as a German retailer is not paying them on the pretext of being hit by the coronavirus pandemic although the buyer received the goods before the crisis began.

The local dyeing industry has begun recovering slowly from losses as garment work orders started to pick up thanks to the reopening of retail stores in the West.

The government has decided to import one lakh tonnes of onion as soon as possible to rein in skyrocketing prices in the local markets, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told The Daily Star yesterday.

Bangladesh’s exports to Bhutan would get a huge boost once the two sides sign the proposed preferential trade agreement, said exporters and experts yesterday.

The government has finalised a draft of a preferential trade agreement (PTA) to be signed between Bangladesh and Bhutan within the next month.

Small garment factories in Bangladesh are finding it tough resuming operations following the prolonged Covid-19-induced layoff even though work orders from international buyers are slowly making a comeback, according to industry insiders.

A ray of hope has emerged for the laid-off, disabled and insolvent workers of export-oriented garment, leather and footwear manufacturing factories as the government has initiated a scheme to extend financial support to them.