News Report Leaders of the Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturer and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) said the country’s leather goods export would be doubled if the government provides necessary cooperation and the present political situation remains sound. “Although the country’s leather goods industry is a very promising sector, it could not grab its full potential due to the lack of necessary patronizations,” they made the remark at the inaugural ceremony of Common Facility Centre at Bangladesh Paduka Prostutkarok Somiti (BPPS) in the capital on Tuesday. The BPPS Common Facility Centre, funded by the European Union under its Bangladesh INSPIRED Project, will provide necessary trainings to the unskilled workers of this sector. In addition, the newly established centre will be a one-stop service point for the exporters of leather goods. CFC is a center of modern machining production facilities and skill training facilities for the SME clusters of leather goods & footwear to increase their skills and capacity to produce quality products with superior value addition. CFCs are equipped with modern machining production facilities, CAD-CAM design and development facilities and skill training facilities to support SMEs to increased productivity and quality of the products. It is estimated that 400 SMEs will get direct access to two CFCs. This will decrease unit labor cost and the rejection rate as well; which will eventually increase the productivity of SMEs. CAD-CAM cell’s design and development services will allow the SMEs to expand their capacity to design new products considering the trends, fashion and style of present time. Unskilled workforce is a burning issue for SMEs and lead leather products and footwear manufacturers to achieve desired competitiveness in this marketing era. CFCs are planned to cater training for both the existing semi-skilled and unskilled new workforce. CFC training centre will play the duo role in sector development. One is developing skills and the second will create employment opportunity. President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) Syed Nasim Manzur presided over the inaugural ceremony. Additional Secretary of Ministry of Industries and Director of Bangladesh INSPIRED Project Sushen Chandra Das attended the function as the chief guest. while Minister Counsellor of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Jurgen Heimann was present as special guest. Among others Senior Vice-president of Lathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) Abdul Momen Bhuiyan, Executive Director Kaxi Roushan Ara, President of BPPS Sakhawat Hossain Belal, Team Leader of Bangladesh INSPIRED Programme Component 1 and 2B Ali Sabet, President of BPPS CFC Nasir Uddin also speak the meeting. Citing the Export Promotion Bureau’s data at the function, the sector’s entrepreneurs said they earned US$ 110.07 million from the leather goods during the first half (July-December) of the last fiscal year 2014-15. The export earnings from this sector were moved up by 60.68 percent to $176.86 million during the first half of the current fiscal year 2015-16. The earnings also surpassed the target, set by the government for the period (July-December) of 2015-16, by 42 percent. There is a possibility of raising the current export figures substantially if the government supports and the present sound political situation remained, the sector’s leaders said.
