Bangladesh recording a 7% year on year growth for its exports is certainly welcome news, especially at a time when the economy continues to face challenges. With the $4.5 billion earned in January, compared to $4.2 billion in the same month a year ago, total exports have now surpassed $29bn in the first seven months of the current fiscal year -- a 12% overall growth.
This increase in exports, together with steady remittance earnings - January once again saw remittance exceed $2bn for the month - gives us hope that despite the numerous issues our economy continues to face, we are persevering and successfully moving away from the negatives.
While the economy looks to be trending in a positive direction, such a change should not be taken for granted; Bangladesh continues to be overly reliant on its RMG industry for export earnings, and while it will not happen overnight, we must get policies that begin to emphasize diversifying our exports.
This will not happen without investing resources in propping up other industries, while having the right incentives to ensure that these industries can become successful. While we have seen little progress in terms of diversification, it is something that we simply cannot overlook if we want to take our economy to the next level.
Equally important is the continued support for our migrant workers, especially with regard to upskilling them for higher paid opportunities in host nations. Bangladesh must eventually look to shed its tag of only delivering cheap labour and cheap goods -- once again, it is with the right incentives, investments and policies that this can be a reality.
Our positive trends when it comes to the economy are good news. We must now ensure that this continues to be the case.