Bangladesh’s exports to major countries have shown "encouraging growth" during July-November of FY2022-23, says a BGMEA director. During the mentioned period, our apparel export to the European Union increased by 16.27%, from US$ 7.81 billion to US$ 9.07 billion in July-Nov 2022-23, according to Md. Mohiuddin Rubel, director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Quoting the statistics of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), he said Germany is the largest European market fetching US$ 2.71 billion with 1.88% growth compared to the same period of the previous year. Read more: Bangladesh seeks zero tariff on apparel exports to US at 6th TICFA meeting Exports to Spain and France also increased by 19.15% and 38.87% respectively. Exports to other major EU countries such as Italy, Austria, Netherlands and Sweden have shown growth by 50.95%, 48.87%, 34.39% and 22.90% respectively. On the other hand, he said, export to Poland has shown 19.61% year-over-year negative growth during the mentioned period. The RMG export to the USA during the mentioned period was US$ 3.47 billion, registering 4.07% Y-O-Y growth. “Besides, our exports to the U.K. and Canada have grown by 11.71% and 30.25% respectively compared to the same time of the previous fiscal year,” Rubel said. Read more: Bangladesh’s exports crossed $5 billion in November raising hope of easing forex crisis, say official figures At the same time, exports to non-traditional markets increased to US$ 3.19 billion from US$ 2.47 billion in the same period of time. Among the major non-traditional markets, our export to Japan reached 597.83 million dollars with 38.11% Y-O-Y growth during July-Nov of FY2022-23. The other non-traditional markets having high growth were Malaysia 100.21%, Mexico 49.68%, India 48.78%, Brazil 44.53%, and South Korea 30.35%.

Despite the ongoing global crisis and inflation, Bangladesh exported over USD $4.6 billion worth of goods in August with a record 36.18 percent growth. Bangladesh's export worth in August also exceeded the set target. The export target for the second month of the current financial year (2022-23) was $4.3 billion, Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) revealed the data today (September 4, 2022). According to the statistics, the export earnings growth of Bangladesh has reached to 25.31 percent at the end of the first two months of the current financial year. The total export in two months was $8.59 billion, which is 4.52 percent over the target. Also read: All export-oriented industries should get equal facilities: Salman F Rahman According to EPB, in FY2021-22, goods worth $3.38 billion were exported in August. Compared to the last financial year, $1.22 billion more in exports have been made this year. On the other hand, in July, the first month of this fiscal year, the export of goods worth Tk $3.98 billion was 14.72 percent more compared to the same period of the previous year. Readymade garment products, home textiles, and other apparel products have played a significant role in exports as always. Garment exports in July and August were worth $7.11 billion. The growth is 26 percent. Read: Exports to China can grow with extension of duty-free access to 380-plus new products At the same time, the export of leather and leather products was worth $22.32 crore. The growth is about 28 percent. And the export of jute goods was $15.66 crore, where the growth is about 23 percent.

Bangladesh should adopt a plan to prepare the country’s stakeholders to face and overcome the challenges that will emerge after its graduation to a developing economy in 2026, a discussion was told on Tuesday. Speakers at the meeting called for starting intense negotiation with the country’s big trade partners like EU, USA, China and India as well as with global organizations to continue with the existing trade facilities for a few more years. Read: WTO Ministerial: Bangladesh’s focus should be on transition period extension The Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) organised the workshop at its office ahead of ‘12th WTO ministerial conference’, scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 3, in Geneva in Switzerland. Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Additional secretary of the ministry and director general of WTO Cell Md Hafizur Rahman and former member of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission participated in the workshop explaining different rules of WTO, facility and policy of international trade. Read: WTO rules to help Bangladesh more after graduation: Hasina ERF president Sharmin Rinvy presided over the function while SM Rashidul Islam, secretary of the organisation moderated the program. Replying to a question Tapan said that Bangladesh’s exports to the USA, EU nations and India have increased even during the pandemic thanks to government’s policy of supporting businesses, production and export.