Asif Showkat Kallol, Dhaka: A leading public-private dialogue platform BUILD has identified several potential export products for the Chinese duty-free and quota Free (DFQF) market that will take Bangladesh’s receipts from the current one billion dollars to $25 billion, an official of the commerce ministry said.
The think tank believes that plastic products, apparel, live fish, broiler chicken and iron rods could be export boosters for Bangladesh.
So far, major export items are frozen fish, leather, vegetables, jute and garments.
Experts of both China and Bangladesh trade and commerce said Bangladesh has the opportunity to increase its exports to China as Beijing has approved a DFQF facility in 2020 for most of Bangladesh’s products.
Some 8,256 products enjoy duty-free facilities in the Chinese market because of Bangladesh’s least developed country (LDC) status, they said.
According to a report, Bangladesh’s exports to China, the world’s second-biggest economy, may grow to $25 billion if local suppliers can grab only an additional 1 percent share of the Chinese market by 2030.
Bangladesh’s exports to China exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2021, registering a year-on-year growth rate of 30.9 percent, according to China Customs data.
BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum said in a recent meeting that BUILD has prepared a policy paper on how to tap the facilities from the DFQF China market.
At a meeting in October that was held at the commerce ministry advised the government to implement BUILD recommendations to substantially raise the country’s export receipts in the Chinese market.
The meeting was presided over by senior commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh.
Several decisions were made which included convincing the Chinese government about the country’s popular export items to incorporate in the DFQF list.
As per the meeting decision, Bangladesh exporters will participate in the Chinese export fairs and the Commerce ministry will take initiatives to attract more Chinese importers.
The Commerce ministry will also take initiatives to introduce non-financial incentives for the local exporters so that they ship more products to China.
Senior research associate of BUILD Kanis Fatama said well-known export items of Bangladesh are out of the DFQF list.
“So we need to ask the Chinese government for including those products in the DFQF list,” she said.
Mohammad Hatem, Vice President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) told the Business Insider Bangladesh that there is a huge demand for high-value fashion apparel in the Chinese market and Bangladesh’s exporters should take this advantage.
