Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday assured the country’s furniture industry of providing incentives to help increase exports to the global market.
“We do not want to confine ourselves to limited products for exports,” he said, inaugurating a three-day Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decoration (BFID) Expo – 2014 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
The minister said the government is giving priority to diversify products and explore new markets to boost export basket. At present, the country exports 737 products.
The labour-intensive furniture industry can serve as a foundation for building a bridge between Bangladeshi manufacturers of furniture and home furnishing products, and the global marketing players.
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA), Bangladesh Handicrafts Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Banglacraft), Bangladesh Jute Diversified Products Manufactures and Exporters Association (BJDPMEA) and Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association in collaboration with Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) are jointly orgainsing the fair.
Tofail said Bangladesh has competitive edge in producing furniture and home furnishing products due to her inherent skills and cost competitiveness, which could obviously open up new avenues both for producers and buyers of these products.
Export Promotion Bureau Vice President Shubhashish Bose said foreign furniture buyers are looking for new sourcing country due to rising labour cost in China. “We have to grab this opportunity to boost furniture exports.”
BFEA President KM Akhtaruzzaman said the competitive advantage due to low-labour cost could play a vital role to compete in international market.
He said Bangladesh’s hourly furniture wage rate is $0.06-0.04, which is less than China –the largest furniture exporter. “We have competitive advantages that can be harvested easily.”
He requested setting up of a furniture institute to develop skilled manpower to help develop the sector like RMG.
A total of 51 furniture makers are taking part in the fair to display their furniture products. The fair with no entry fee will remain open from 10 am to 8 pm everyday for the visitors.
Earnings from furniture export have seen a 32% rise to over $25m in the first eight months of the current fiscal due to increased demands in the global markets, according to EPB.
The government has set a furniture export target of about $38m with 20% growth for the current financial year while the total export target set at $30.5bn.
At present, the country exports office furniture, metal furniture, seats with metal frames, bedroom furniture, wooden furniture, and furniture of plastic, parts of furniture, mattress supports, sleeping bag and lamp and light fittings to various destinations of the world.