‘Leather and leather goods are prominently placed as the second largest export earning sector after readymade garments (RMG) and the sector has a strong backward linkage which has been offering an inherent source of external competitiveness for Bangladesh’ The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) will hold a stakeholder consultation program today with the intent of influencing high-level policymaking on leather and leather goods exports from Bangladesh.The event will be held at 02:30pm at Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka, confirmed a BEI press release.A study paper on the sector under the name of “Leather and Leather Goods Exports from Bangladesh: Performance, Prospects, Policy Priorities” has been prepared for the event with the purpose of facilitating discussions and improving policymaking.Former head of international trade policy at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and leader of BEI’s project Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque is scheduled to present a keynote speech at the event, while BEI President and CEO Farooq Sobhan will be on the chair.The event will be attended by Dhaka University Development Studies department Chairman Prof Dr Abu Yusuf, Apex Footwear Limited Managing Director (MD) Nasim Manzur, Picard Bangladesh Limited MD Md Saiful Islam, and Fortuna Footwear and Leather MD Fayaz Taher as the designated discussants, with others also present.According to the press statement: “Leather and leather goods are prominently placed as the second largest export earning sector after readymade garments (RMG) and the sector has a strong backward linkage which has been offering an inherent source of external competitiveness for Bangladesh.”“Recognizing the sector’s immense potential in driving overall export earnings, promoting export diversification, and generating employment opportunities, the sector has been considered a thrust sector.”The press statement also read,: “Against an ambition of realizing $5 billion export earnings from this sector by 2021, actual earnings in the last fiscal year stood at just $1.23 billion.“Clearly, it is high time to build momentum to materialize the genuine potential of this sector.”BEI has been implementing a project to facilitate a sustained and impactful private-sector oriented trade policy discourse, the release said, with a number of sector-specific studies being undertaken to identify the constraints inhibiting export potential and to consider the private sector’s recommendations for dealing with them.
