After four years and almost Tk10 crore in investments, a wing created under the Commerce Ministry to expand the country's export diversification has failed to meet its deadline due to the slow pace of implementation.
The project has only 11% progress after a three-year original schedule and a one-year extension.
The project director was changed a total of six times during the four-year duration, and although six officials could have been recruited for the task, not one person aside from a project director was appointed.
The ministry has failed to implement the project at a time when the country is still dependent on the readymade garment (RMG) sector, which accounts for about 82% of total exports, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
The project's goal is to continue assisting in export diversification and expanding the export capacity of select sectors, namely garments, food-processing and active pharmaceutical ingredients, while also reducing import dependency.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) cell under the Commerce Ministry is implementing the initiative, which is being funded by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF).
The EIF under the United Nations is the only multilateral partnership dedicated to assisting least-developed countries in using trade as an engine for growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction.
According to its technical assistance project proposal, the work on the project began in August 2018 and was supposed to be complete by July 2021.
Later, the project deadline was extended to July 2022.
The project could not be completed on time due to the weak feasibility study, a lack of supporting human resources, frequent change of the project director and the outbreak of Covid-19, according to a report of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Ministry.
The actual physical and the financial progress was 11.5% as of April this year, it said.
In the implementation of the project, 11 out of 17 technical activities were yet to begin operations.
During the formulation of the project, the authorities did not take proper opinion from the stakeholders, IMED findings showed.
A number of training programs were supposed to be conducted under the project, which would also appoint local and foreign experts in the garments, pharmaceuticals and food processing sectors.
It is yet to appoint an expert for branding and web development in the apparel industry and procure chemicals for pharmaceutical labs or enterprise solution software.
If the project is implemented properly, there is an opportunity to create some skilled and trained manpower in the country's garments, food-processing and medicine sectors, the IMED report said.
On the other hand, if the project is not implemented properly, there is a risk of discouraging development partners from financing the project, it added.
