Outgoing US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena yesterday said leather goods export to the US market will be huge like apparel products within the next five years.
“I see within five years leather export market will be massive like that of the RMG,” he said.
Mozena was addressing the media following a courtesy call at the secretariat with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed.
“I talked about coming revolution in leather and shoes sector of Bangladesh. I also visited new tanneries and saw that brand new massive ETPs coming up fast,” the ambassador said.
He added that 150 tanneries have been established which would be completed by the end of next year and produce shoes and leather products of international standards.
The leather industry will open up market in the USA and other parts of the world for shoes, belt, wallet and other leather products, said Mozena.
Tofail said: “We will promote our business relations with the USA through Ticfa agreement and the next course of action would be how to increase trade volume and attract more foreign direct investment to the country.”
Bangladesh investment climate will be more attractive and investment worth billions would come from the US, the US ambassador hoped.
He also focused on the pharmaceutical sector, saying Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies will have a huge market in the US and the drug companies are in the process of getting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
“A team from Free Trade Agreement will be here in Bangladesh to inspect new factories soon and the generic pharmaceutical export to US would be huge.”
Talking on the RMG sector, Mozena said Bangladesh is making a great progress to transform the apparel industry into a premium brand or best brand in the world but it needs more to do.
The progress includes amendment of Labor Act 2013, publicly accessible database, recognising more trade unions, dealing with unfair labour practices and ensuring workers’ voice in the EPZ.
Urging the owners to ensure factory safety, the ambassador said: “Go through remediation and resolve work to resolve disputes regarding the safety issues and make real progress to address real concerns.
