In accordance with our recent economic endeavours, it is encouraging to see that Bangladesh earned $3.98 billion through exports in the first month of the fiscal year 2022-23, registering a 14.72% year-on-year growth. Export earnings also experienced a growth of 1.65% from the target set at $3.92bn for July of FY 23.
Bangladesh has made impressive strides when it comes to its economic growth in recent years, performing so well that we are on the verge of graduating from our LDC status. We have the joint collaboration between the public and private sectors to thank for this tremendous success.
At the same time, we cannot be complacent. As Bangladesh goes ahead with its plan of inaugurating different economic zones, we will have to rely on both foreign and domestic investments to maintain our momentum.
Plenty of our foreign partners are still of the opinion that the business environment of Bangladesh is too risky and unpredictable. This is something that has been voiced by our local businesses as well. The authorities need to sit down with these stakeholders and inaugurate a road map for overcoming these obstacles once and for all.
The authorities also need to put more focus on local industries and entrepreneurs. While most of our focus has been on the RMG sector, and they will remain a cornerstone of our economy for the foreseeable future, we have to expand our scope and bring in all kinds of businesses.
The IT sector in particular is showing a lot of promise, and this directly ties in with our ambition and necessity of not only diversifying the economy, but creating an economy that is fit for the needs of the 21st century and the changes brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
All in all, if we want to maintain our economic growth, it would be best for us to take a critical look at the current situation and strive for improvement wherever we can. Only then we can turn the record from the export earnings into the status quo.
