Jagaran Chakma

The shipment of plastic products rose 41 per cent year-on-year to $100.17 million in the first six months of the current financial year as orders surged following the post-pandemic recovery and manufacturers made a foray into new export destinations, official figures showed.

The Mongla Port Authority’s plan to undertake a massive development work to expand, modernise and build the capacity of the port has received a major boost as uncertainty over funding is set to disappear. 

Motorcycle sales in Bangladesh did not show any growth but rather shrunk in 2022 as the ongoing economic crises, such as rising inflationary pressure, contributed to an overall decrease in local demand, according to industry insiders.

Doing business in Bangladesh may not be all smooth sailing this year as the global economy will continue struggling with sanctions centring the Russia-Ukraine war and ripple effects of Covid-19, according to businesspeople.

Around a dozen local companies supplied materials such as rods, steel products and cement for the construction of the country’s first metro rail, signifying that products made in the country are achieving international standards.  

Bangladesh welcomed 2022 on a strong footing and was about to recover from the coronavirus pandemic in full swing and fire on all cylinders. In fact, economic activities were almost back to the pre-Covid level.  

Exports and domestic sales of Bangladesh’s synthetic and athletic footwear sector have been witnessing some of the highest growths among those of other sectors, according to a market assessment of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

Despite the raging global economic crisis, Bangladesh’s leather and leather products sector witnessed a 17.56 per cent year-on-year growth in export earnings in the first five months of the current fiscal year on the back of orders shifting away from competitors.

Walton Digi-Tech Industries Ltd, a concern of Walton Group, has launched Bangladesh’s maiden electric bike in the market, jumping on the bandwagon of a global shift towards eco-friendly transportation.    

Industrial demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has shot up around threefold in the past couple of months, which market insiders believe resulted from industries trying to reduce their reliance on diesel for a hike in its price. 

When Bangladesh embarked on a journey to set up 100 economic zones across the country in 2015, the government’s aim was to attract both foreign and local investments as it looks to accelerate industrialisation, create one crore jobs and export $40 billion worth of goods and services from the enclaves in the next 15 years.

Nearly half a year ago, farmers harvested the dry Boro season paddy. Then they took home Aus season paddy in August. And now, they are harvesting rain-based Aman season paddy and preparing to cultivate the next season’s Boro paddy.

The government should expand social safety net programmes immediately to support the people reeling under escalated food prices, said Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem).

Firms, both local and foreign, have put on hold their investments in Bangladesh owing to the surge in the dollar price, the energy crisis, the escalated cost of production, and the deep uncertainty caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Twelve private economic zones in Bangladesh have received good responses from investors drawing investment proposals involving $4.27 billion from local and foreign entrepreneurs in the past six years.

Initiatives expected over the manufacture of automobiles in Bangladesh is yet to become visible in spite of the unveiling of a policy by the government for the first time in 2021 to develop the sector. 

Reconditioned car imports surged by more than 75 per cent year-on-year in July-October despite the ongoing economic uncertainty and the government’s efforts aimed at discouraging the purchases of luxury items from external sources, traders say.  

Bicycle exports from Bangladesh declined year-on-year in the first four months of the current fiscal year apparently for shrinking demand in Europe propagated by the war-induced cost-of-living crisis.

With sugar prices making new records almost every day for a supply crunch at home and abroad, pushing up the cost of making sweetener-based foods, state-run Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) can’t increase the supply to provide some relief to consumers. 

Bangladesh’s steel industry is set to see the entry of a couple of large business houses while several existing steelworks are looking to expand their capacities in order to gain from the rising demand for the key construction material.