Finance and commerce adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said on Sunday that the interim government would provide support to the leather sector that had potential to diversify the export basket dominated mainly by readymade garments.
After a meeting with leaders of Bangladesh Finished Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association and Bangladesh Tanners Association at secretariat, the adviser said that the lather sector was a promising sector.
Calling the industry indigenous, the adviser said that the sector entrepreneurs collected raw materials from domestic sources and not relied on imports like that of RMG exporters who had to import cotton and yarn.
Besides, the sector has links-ups with fisheries and livestock, added the adviser,
The adviser, however, said that the sector was facing many problems which were described by the businesspersons during the meeting.
In 2023, the export of leather and leather products of Bangladesh was $1107.35 million which was 16.02 per cent less than past year 2022.
The export earnings from the sector has remained stagnated as most of the leather product exporters in Bangladesh have failed to obtain Leather Working Group certification, an internationally recognised standard, due to the industry鈥檚 inability to meet environmental and social compliance requirements.
As a result, many of Bangladesh鈥檚 factories are unable to directly export leather products to markets including the European Union and America, which industry leaders believe is contributing to the decline in export earnings.聽
Relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh to Savar was expected to improve conditions. But the Central Effluent Treatment Plant is still not fully functional, and leather waste continues to pollute local rivers, posing environmental risks.
The adviser said that they also discussed prospect of the sector.
The leather sector of Bangladesh includes 200 tanneries, 3,500 micro, small and medium enterprises, 2500 footwear making units and 90 large firms.
It holds a distant second place in the county鈥檚 overall annual export basket dominated by the RMG holding around 86 per cent.