RMG exports from Bangladesh to the European Union (EU) saw 9.93 percent growth during the fiscal year 2022-23 — from $21.40 billion in FY 2021-22 to $23.52 billion in FY 2022-23, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). Read: Bangladesh to retain duty-free access for 98% of exports, including RMG as UK introduces new scheme However, exports to some major markets in the EU region, such as Germany and Poland, have declined significantly, said BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel quoting the facts. In FY 2022-23, apparel exports to Spain, France, Italy, Denmark and Netherland were worth US$ 3.37 billion, US$ 2.94 billion, US$ 2.27 billion, US$ 1.28 billion, and US$ 1.85 billion respectively. Read: Elevated Expressway’s Airport-Farmgate section to open in September: Quader Export to USA, the top apparel export destination of Bangladesh, declined by 5.51 percent to US$ 8.51 billion, from US$ 9.01 billion in FY 2021-22, in the mentioned period. At the same time, RMG exports to the UK and Canada increased by 11.78 percent and 16.55 percent respectively. During the mentioned year, Bangladesh’s exports to non-traditional markets has achieved significant growth of 31.38 percent. Read: RMG exports in FY23 almost $47bn, 85% of total exports Among the major non-traditional markets, exports to Japan, Australia and India crossed the one billion dollar milestone. The share of non-traditional markets in total RMG export also increased by 17.82 percent in FY 2022-23 from 14.96 percent in FY 2021-22.

A total of 10.74 lakh workers went abroad for employment till June of the current fiscal (2022-23), which is 15.59 percent more than the same period of the previous  fiscal year. Expatriates’ Welfare Minister Imran Ahmad told this in parliament replying to a tabled question from ruling Awami League MP elected from Bhola Ali Azam. The minister said that during the same period of last fiscal year (2021-22), a total of 9.7 lakh workers went abroad. MoU signed between ICT Division and ‘Ami Probashi Limited’ to assist migrant workers In response to a query of AL MP Habibar Rahman from Bogura, the Expatriates’ Welfare Minister said that there is a plan to sign agreements with new countries for manpower export. He also said that process is underway to sign agreements with Libya, Malta, Albania, Romania and Serbia in this regard. In response to the question of another AL MP Nurannabi Chowdhury from Bhola-4, the Minister said that since the establishment of Expatriate Welfare Bank, Tk 2081 crore have been distributed among around 1.14 lakh expatriate workers as loan for migration purposes. Responding to a query from AL MP AKM Rahmatullah from Dhaka, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said earlier the domestic demand of tea in the country was less than the production and that’s why more tea was exported. Keep markets of Bangladeshi migrant workers open for all recruiting agencies: BAIRA  At present the demand of tea in the country is about 100 million kg, he said adding that as people's purchasing power increases, all the tea produced in the country is used to meet domestic demand, leaving little surplus for export. In order to increase the export of tea, the government as well as the tea board has taken various steps to increase the production of quality tea. In reply to a query from AL MP Nizam Uddin Hazari of Feni, the commerce minister said that there are trade missions of Bangladesh in 23 cities of 21 countries of the world. Bangladeshi Migrant Workers: Destination countries “must act against perpetrators” of HR violations They are: Canberra, Brussels, Beijing, Kunming, Paris, Berlin, New Delhi, Kolkata, Tehran, Tokyo, Yangon, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Seoul, Singapore, Madrid, Geneva, Dubai, London, Washington DC and Los Angeles. He said that in the near future, there are plans to set up commercial wing in Brasilia, Turkey, Ankara, Mexico, Mexico City and Africa. Besides, there are plans to set up missions in Indonesia and Thailand. 4.43 lakh migrant workers return to country in one year until May, 2021: Minister     

Aslam, a student of class seven from Sabujbagh area in the capital is the hope for his poor family to end their struggles by getting a decent job after completing his education. Four of the six of Aslam’s family members are aged above 40, in ten years who are likely to become financially dependent on him solely. This heavy burden of dependency on Aslam’s young shoulders actually depicts the future demographic dividend (ratio of working age population to dependent population) waiting for Bangladesh by 2050. By 2050, a smaller number of working-age populations who are children today will need to support a much larger number of dependent populations.  As the percentage of children in the total population has been declining, the current higher ratio of more working age people compared to dependent population is only transitory and the window of current demographic dividend will start to close by 2040. The children of today will be the savior and breadwinners of tomorrow so investing in them is actually an investment into the country's future economic aspirations. But regrettably there is no way to measure how much the government is allocating for children in Bangladesh as for the third consecutive fiscal year the Child Budget report was not published. The government on June 9 published the Budget for FY 2022-23 with cautious measures considering the current global economic crisis induced by Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Considering the current economic context a frugal budget deserves to be praised but it cannot be avoided that children should have been in focus more than ever in light of the same backdrop. What is ‘Child Budget’? The whole budget allocation of a Fiscal Year has shares for all so the necessity for a separate budget for children can be questioned. To answer that at first the notion of child budget should be cleared. It is not a separate budget for children rather a report on estimations of how much the related ministries are spending from the total public expenditure of a FY. In FY 2015-16 former Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit for the first time unveiled a child budget report on the budgetary allocations of five ministries linked to the development of children in Bangladesh. In neighboring India a similar kind of budget report on children was introduced way back in 2008.   The last report on budget allocations for children was published in FY 2019-20. For the children who constituted two-fifths of the population, allocation in the total budget was only 14.1 percent in FY 2018-19 and 15.3 percent in FY 2019-20 budgets, according to the Ministry of Finance data. While it was recommended to raise this share to 20 percent by 2020 in the budget speech of FY 2018-19, the government decided to not highlight the child focused allocations for the next three budgets after FY 2019-20. According to a study conducted by Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) partnered by UNICEF found that the budget of the selected 15 ministries/divisions with child-related development initiatives in FY 2021-22 has increased by 15.8 percent compared to the pre-Covid FY 2019-20 budgets. Yet the share of the child budget in total public expenditure had remained more or less the same, the study concludes. Reason GoB should refocus on Child Budget According to experts, investment in children generates the highest return when done in the early stage of life as it facilitates later growth in learning and other skill development and cuts the cost of future investments too. CPD Distinguished Fellow, Professor Mustafizur Rahman said ensuring the well-being of children is a development issue and also a rights issue enshrined in our Constitution and embedded in various government policies. According to him in last budget the allocations for children only about 1 per cent gone toward child protection while issues such as child labour, child marriage, learning losses and violence had acquired urgency during the pandemic. In Bangladesh, 37 million children had their education disrupted by one of the world’s longest pandemic school closures of nearly 18 months, according to a report published by the World Bank on January 23. The World Bank estimates that learning loss from Covid-19 could cost USD 17 trillion in life-time earning loss globally for the affected students. This amounts to 14 percent of the world's GDP today. According to Covid-19 orphan hood tool developed by the Imperial College London, estimates of children who lost one or both parents during pandemic in Bangladesh up to June 10, 2022, topped 29,000. Another budget not reflecting Childern's interest of severely malnourished children seeking treatment in hospitals increased by 72.0 per cent in 2021 compared to previous year, according to government data. In this scenario, releasing the child budget along with the national budget can allow the concerned entities to monitor and assess the priority that the children deserve in terms of policies and allocations, said Prof Mustafizur Rahman.  To ensure children like Aslam don’t get pushed toward an uncertain future of carrying a nation’s faltering economy ahead, ill-equipped or unequipped, the government refocusing on publishing child budget on a regular basis is rudimentary, he said.  

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that US$ 80 billion is being planned for investment by 2030 to achieve climate resilience. Presenting his plan in parliament in his budget speech on Thursday, he said the government is going to implement the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’, which is essentially a strategic investment framework for climate financing to move from climate risk to sustainable climate prosperity. The investment will be funded by both domestic and external sources, he added. He said that considering the immense importance of environmental protection, the government has made it mandatory to follow a pragmatic and inclusive environment-friendly plan in all development activities while addressing the risks of climate change. As part of the implementation of the global carbon emissions reduction target, the country’s updated ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ was finalised in August 2021. By 2030, the target of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions has been set at 6.73 percent with the country’s own financing and technological capabilities. Also read: Budget FY23: Tk5,000 crore earmarked to combat pandemic Another 15.12 percent of this emission reduction has been provisioned subject to the availability of international funding and technical assistance. On the other hand, the process of formulating a ‘National Adaptation Plan’ to determine the long-term integrated adaptation strategy together with an action plan to tackle the country’s climate change is at the final stage. He said the updating of ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ formulated in 2009 is in progress. In addition, steps have been taken to make all existing industries and newly established industries environment friendly. Following this, new decisions have already been taken on installation of 10 coal-fired power plants worth 12 billion USD with the generation capacity of 8,600 MW. Of these plants 4 have been canceled and the remaining 6 will be renewable or gas-based, on the basis of a feasibility study. We are working on ensuring availability of 40 percent of our energy resources from renewable sources by 2041. So far, 13 areas of the country have been declared as Environmentally Critical Areas on the basis of the finding of scientific studies aimed at conserving biodiversity and the natural environment, said the finance minister. In the last 13 years, a total of 35 new protected areas have been created, including 9 National Parks, 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 3 Eco-parks, 1 Botanical Garden, 2 Marine Protected Areas, and 2 Special Biodiversity Conservation Areas, bringing the total number of protected areas in the country to 51, said the financial minister.

The Government has allocated Taka 1,282 crore for the Youth and Sports Ministry in the proposed annual budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, little-changed from the amount in the outgoing 2021-22 fiscal’s revised budget of Tk 1,264 crore.      Of the proposed allocation of Tk 1,282 for the next financial year,  Tk 876 crore shown as operating cost and Tk 406 crore shown as development expenses. The budget allocation for the 2021-22 fiscal was Tk 1,122 crore, which was later raised to Tk 1,264 crore in the revised budget, which is a rare occurrence since allocations are usually revised downwards.  Also read: Budget FY23: Laundered money to be legalized by 7-15 pc tax In a budget speech at the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday (June 9), Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the government has been constructing and developing various sports infrastructures including modern stadiums, gymnasiums, and swimming pools, with the aim of improving the quality of sports and augmenting sporting and athletic opportunities. There are 8 (eight) ongoing projects in Fiscal Year 2021-22 for construction and development of sports infrastructure, one of which is the construction of Sheikh Russell Mini Stadium as an Upazila Level project.  Side by side, the government seeks to invest in training for the players by skilled and experienced coaches with the aim of producing skilled players, improving the quality of rural sports and provision of long term trainings for talented players, selected through talent hunts). In addition, regular financial grants and sports equipment are being allocated to various sports federations/associations/organizations for organizing sports events and participation in domestic and international sports events. The Sheikh Kamal National Sports Council Award has been introduced to promote the sports, which is being awarded to the eminent athletes/organisers.