It is welcome news to learn that the government plans to dedicate a separate authority to oversee the leather industry, with hopes that this could be a pivotal step in revitalizing what has long been our second largest export sector.
It is safe to say that as far as our leather industry goes, we have repeatedly failed to maximize its potential. Indeed, in the first 11 months of FY24, the sector's exports reached $961 million, which was a 14.17% decline compared to the same period the previous fiscal year.
Suffice to say, the industry was in need of change. This newspaper has editorialized time and time again on the need to build other industries to complement RMG which continues to carry the export load for us. With an industry bringing in over $1bn, and with potential for so much more, a focus on the leather industry is prudent and a long time coming.
To that end, it is also encouraging to see Md Sakhawat Ullah, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association, speak positively about the establishment of this separate authority body. What is vital now is to implement the necessary best practices so that the industry does not keep floundering.
This is not the first time efforts have been made to revitalize leather as an export sector that grows steadily, but with LDC graduation upon us, together with our ambitions over the next two decades, we can no longer afford to fail with these efforts.
It is thus expected that this new authority will learn from our previous mistakes and use that knowledge to finally turn this sector around so that its growth matches our ambitions of becoming a high-income nation in the next two decades.
