A three-day furniture and interior home decoration fair will begin in Dhaka tomorrow to attract both local and international buyers.
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) along with several other organisations has organised the event styled as “Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decoration (BFID) Expo-2015.”
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed will inaugurate the Expo at the Jamuna Future Park shopping mall in the city’s Baridhara area, said EPB vice chairman Shubhashish Bose at a press conference yesterday.
“Only seven products are the source of 92% of the country’s export earnings. We need to diversify export products. Furniture fair is the part of efforts to reduce dependency on few products and promote other sectors,” Bose said.
He said they had recommended cash incentives for the furniture exporters and received positive response.
“We are very hopeful that the offers can be made from the next fiscal year.”
EPB vice chairman said they had contacted a number of global buyers who complained about supply chain problems.
He said they were trying to fix the problems.
In reply to a question, Bose said furniture export did not decline but exports of some other products under the furniture HS code suffered downward trend.
“But the downward trend was the result of the economic recession in the destination countries.”
In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $22m exporting furniture, 13% less compared to the same period of last fiscal.
In the past year Bangladesh exported furniture products worth $42.5m, showed EPB data.
The Expo is being jointly organised by the EPB, Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association, Bangladesh Handicraft Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Banglacraft), Bangladesh Jute Diversified Products Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association in collaboration with Jute Diversification Promotion Center.
A total of 50 exhibitors from furniture and home furnishing sector will showcase a wide array of products.
The products will include home furniture, office furniture, kitchen furniture, curtain, cushion, quilt, felt products, table mat, mattress, showpiece, table lamp, waste baskets, table runner, carpet, floor covering, different types of decorative items, bed cover, nakshi kantha, laundry basket, tapestry etc.
The press conference was also attended by Mafruha Sultana, director general of EPB, Nasima Begum, executive director of Jute Diversification Promotion Center, KM Akhtaruzzman, president of Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association, SU Haider, president Banglacraft, Selim H Rahman and president of Bangladesh Furniture Industry Owners Association.
