To keep up our GDP momentum, it is imperative that we maintain a steady growth in our export earnings and continue to grow the economy as a whole. As such, that earnings of our Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have crossed $8 billion mark in FY 2021-22 is welcome news.
Even more significant is the fact that this is the all time high growth of the EPZs in their operation of 40 years.
This is especially significant given the fact that we have just entered what can be termed as the first year of the post-Covid recovery period. During the Covid-19 crisis, a large portion of our export orders were either cancelled or deferred, and even when the orders were delivered, there was still the issue of delayed or absent payment from the buyers.
While this mainly happened in the RMG sector, given that the RMG sector is the primary driver of our economy, this had a debilitating impact on us.
The fact that the sector has been able to make a turn around and make a comeback such as this is truly extraordinary. However, given that RMG exports accounted for 85% of export earnings, we still need to focus on diversification.
The success has also attracted a record investment of over $400m in FY22, no doubt a signal of the potential of this sector. Given that Bangladesh has issues with business friendliness, ironing those kinks out to facilitate more investment would be beneficiary.
All in all, Bangladesh has done a tremendous job with the EPZs. To keep up our stellar economic growth, this momentum must be maintained and further exceeded.
