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In an ambitious macroeconomic strategy designed to insulate the national economy against post-LDC graduation tariff shocks and dismantle its overwhelming reliance on readymade garments, the Ministry of Commerce officially designated 18 high-potential global destinations for an aggressive export diversification drive on Tuesday (September 29) morning. The targeted markets span dynamic economies across East Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East, including Japan, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Vietnam, Australia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Commerce Ministry officials revealed that the specialized roadmap will deploy targeted diplomatic trade missions, customized preferential tariff negotiations, and streamlined cargo clearance mechanisms to boost shipments of non-garment goods, aiming to capture an incremental $15 billion in annual non-textile export receipts over the next four years.
According to the strategic policy blueprint formulated jointly by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI), the diversification strategy prioritizes seven high-growth manufacturing and knowledge sectors: pharmaceuticals, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), leather and footwear, light engineering and electronics, processed agro-commodities, jute composites, and information technology services. Commerce officials highlighted that while garments currently generate more than 84 percent of Bangladesh's $55 billion export basket, looming trade preference erosions under WTO graduation in late 2026 make expanding high-value alternative exports an existential economic necessity. The government plans to negotiate bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) specifically tailored to the tariff structures of these 18 chosen partners.
Speaking at a high-level stakeholder consultation at the EPB auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday, trade economists and multilateral policy analysts underscored that services exports must be granted equal fiscal and institutional priority alongside traditional physical goods. Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), emphasized that software development, business process outsourcing (BPO), cross-border freelance engineering, and digital logistics possess massive untapped export potential that requires targeted bandwidth subsidies, simplified intellectual property protections, and liberalized foreign exchange repatriation rules. Economists also urged the interim administration to establish bonded warehouse facilities and duty-drawback regimes for non-apparel export manufacturers to level the playing field with garment factories.
Business chambers and sectoral trade associations welcomed the focused 18-country roadmap, while urging the interim government to address crippling structural impediments at home, including bureaucratic customs delays, congested seaport logistics, and erratic industrial gas supplies. Representatives from the leather and footwear sector pointed out that despite immense international demand, Bangladesh's leather goods exports have struggled to breach the $2 billion threshold primarily due to non-compliant effluent treatment plants (CETP) in Savar, which bar domestic tanneries from securing Leather Working Group (LWG) environmental certification. Industry leaders stressed that achieving the 18-country targets requires resolving domestic environmental and compliance bottlenecks simultaneously with foreign trade negotiations.
Addressing trade reporters and chamber executives in Dhaka on Tuesday morning, Commerce Ministry Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan reaffirmed the government's unwavering commitment to executing the diversification strategy through measurable quarterly milestones. Addressing the trade assembly, Commerce Ministry Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan stated, "We can no longer afford the vulnerability of a single-sector export basket; this 18-country initiative establishes a pragmatic framework to transform Bangladesh into a multi-sectoral global export powerhouse before our LDC transition." He announced that bilateral commercial wings stationed in the 18 priority countries will be assigned binding annual export growth targets and instructed to organize dedicated single-country Bangladeshi trade expositions starting early next year.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/business/1f1bbc57-90e7-6ca0-95f4-08fdcd424199