The Bangladesh Tariff Commission has identified 150 products that have great export potentials to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and recommended the commerce ministry to request the Middle Eastern country for providing duty-free and quota-free market access for the products. ‘The products including apparel items have tremendous demand in the Arab country while Bangladeshi exporters have also the highest capacity to grab the market,’ said a report prepared by the BTC.
Bangladesh’s export will increase manifold if the country provides DFQF facility to the products and removes non-tariff barriers, it said.
‘Saudi Arabia has an import demand of around $2 billion apparel items every year. Bangladesh should pay attention to expand the market of readymade garment in the country,’ a senior BTC official told New Age on Tuesday.
In 2011-12 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported knitwear and woven garment worth of $22,303 and $15,736.
Relatively high tariffs on apparel, processed food, vegetables, leather and footwear are impediments to expansion of Bangladesh’s export, the report stated.
In Saudi Arabia, exporters are to pay 5 per cent to 12 per cent for RMG and home textile items and 10 per cent to 12 per cent duty for footwear items.
The report containing the list of potential export items was sent to the ministry on Monday with a set of recommendations to follow with a view to increasing export to the country, tariff officials said.
The BTC conducted the research following a request from the ministry to prepare a list of products for seeking DFQF facility from Saudi Arabia and indentify non-tariff barriers in export to the country.
Commerce ministry officials said that at the 10th meeting of the Joint Economic Commission of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia held in February, the government proposed the country to provide DFQF facility to Bangladeshi products and remove the existing NTBs.
In response, Saudi authorities wanted to know the name of products and the type of NTBs Bangladesh were facing.
In this context, the commerce ministry requested the BTC to prepare the product list and identify the NTBs.
According to the BTC, in broad categories woven garment, knitwear, terry towel, home textile, leather products, footwear, processed food, printed materials, spices, mustard oil, cut flower and foliage, betel nut, fruit and fruit juice, cosmetics and toiletries, jute and jute products and handicrafts are the main potential export items of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia.
There are some other products that enjoy duty-free facility in export to the country but Bangladeshi exporters face problems due to different kinds of NTB, the BTC officials said.
The government may request the Saudi authorities to relax the certification requirement for processed food and vegetables as the both kinds of items face problems in export due to restrictions related to certification, the report stated.
Bangladesh may request Saudi Arabia to remove NTBs imposed on various export potential products of Bangladesh such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, perfumes and chemical.
The BTC also recommended the ministry to establish a joint business forum to identify bottlenecks in two way trade and to suggest measures for trade expansion.
-With New Age input
