Speakers in a discussion said that the role of Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) is crucial in attaining high export target of $100 billion by 2025-26. They said this in a discussion meeting on the occasion of International Accreditation Day-2023 jointly organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB) at DCCI auditorium on Sunday. Also Read: NBR-private sector partnership crucial to achieve high revenue target: DCCI President Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, MP was present here as the chief guest while Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana and DCCI President Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar were present as special guests. Director General (Additional Secretary) of BAB Md. Monwarul Islam chaired the program.  Also Read: Target $100 bn export earnings by 2026: Commerce Minister Nurul Majid said that the motto of this year’s accreditation day is “Accreditation: Supporting the Future of Global Trade” which is a very timely selection. He said, “if we can maintain the quality of products and services, we can grab the international market easily. For the sake of the country and to create confidence in our products in the global competitive market, BAB is working relentlessly to create awareness.” DCCI President Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar said that in the international market Bangladesh’s total trade was $141.42 billion. Bangladesh is gradually progressing to an export oriented country from import dependent country. In the last fiscal year, Bangladesh’s export was more than $52.08 billion. And for this export accreditation is a very important tool. To show the quality of specific products, there is a need for internationally accredited certificates and these certificates play a pivotal role in boosting exports, he said. Also Read: Bangladesh’s apparel export to cross $100 bn by 2030: experts Accredited products or services can enter into any MRA “Mutual Recognition Arrangement” country easily. At present Accreditation is not an auxiliary but it is now a must for world trade. BAB has taken initiative to get the membership of International Accreditation Forum (IAF), said Monwarul Islam, DG of BAB.  

PRAN-RFL Group a leading business conglomerate of the country, has targeted to export products worth $1 billion by 2025 and $2 billion by 2030. Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the group, made the announcement at a press briefing event titled “25 years of PRAN-RFL export: Taking Bangladesh to the world” at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. Also read: Pran-RFL opens Amjad Khan Chowdhury Nursing College To achieve the aim Pran-RFL wants to export all the products it manufactures. PRAN-RFL exported worth $532 million in 2021-22 fiscal year. Mentioning that the country’s export sector has done well despite the global crisis due to corona and Russia-Ukraine war, Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, said, "We had a chance to do better but we have not been able to fully attain that opportunity due to various reasons including non-availability of liner service on particular routes, abnormal increase in freight cost rate and not having enough containers”. Read Pran-RFL opens Amjad Khan Chowdhury Nursing College He sought government’s attention to solve these problems to increase the country’s export products.

To achieve the $80 billion export target of the government for the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the export development fund (EDF) should be raised to at least $10 billion and made accessible to all exporters, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Md Saiful Islam said Monday. As per the Export Policy 2021-2024, the export target is $80 billion for FY24, yet the current EDF is only $7.5 billion, he added. Saiful was addressing the MCCI-Policy Research Institute (PRI) post-budget discussion "Bangladesh from Vulnerability to Resilience and Rapid Inclusive Development" in the capital. Read: Reliable accreditation infrastructure crucial for strengthening export Planning Minister MA Mannan was the chief guest at the event, Dr Shamsul Alam, state minister for planning, and Dr Zaidi Sattar, chairman of PRI, were special guests. "Many areas in the proposed budget for FY23 have a lot of room for improvement as far as the business community's needs are concerned. The allocation of social safety nets is one such area," he noted. There has been an increase in the allocation from Tk107,614 crore in FY22 to Tk113,576 crore considering the twin blows of the Russia-Ukraine war and the pandemic. Read: Govt urged to provide policy support to plastic toy industry for its export-earning potential "Also, natural disasters such as floods, which we are going through right now, will also be another challenge for the country," Saiful said. "So, we are suggesting increasing the social safety net budget from the current level to a reasonable amount." "Also, the personal income tax thresholds have remained unaddressed, which we thought should have been subject to changes, especially the tax-free threshold," the MCCI president said. Read WTO Conference: Bangladesh speaks against sudden ban on food export "Considering the increase in per capita income to $2,824, we believe the personal income tax threshold should be increased to Tk400,000."