Earnings from vegetable export posted a negative growth of 15.81 per cent in the first five months of the current financial year as the competing countries gained edges in the major export destinations. Vegetable export earnings stood at $49.03 million in the July-November period of the FY 2014-15 against $58.24 million in the same period of the FY 2013-14, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.
Exporters attributed the negative export earnings growth to losing of competitive edge by Bangladesh due to high freight cost and detection of salmonella bacteria in the betel leaves exported from Bangladesh to the EU countries.
‘Our competing countries India, Pakistan and Nepal gained their abilities in the major markets — Middle East and EU — due to low freight cost, putting a negative impact on the export from Bangladesh,’ SM Jahangir Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association, told New Age on Saturday.
He said that the buyers from the Middle East and EU preferred to import vegetable from Pakistan and Nepal as they (the buyers) could import vegetable from the countries at lower cost.
Mohammad Monsur, owner of Monsur General Trading Co, said ‘We are suffering a lot in the EU market as most of the buyers are not willing to import vegetable from Bangladesh after the detection of salmonella bacteria in the betel leaves exported from the country.’
‘We had to export betel leaves with vegetable to the EU as the block (EU) imposed a precondition that vegetable export from Bangladesh must be done alongside the export of betel leaves,’ he said.
Monsur said now the EU buyers were unwilling to import only vegetable from Bangladesh as the export of betel leaves remained suspended due to the presence of bacteria.
‘Pakistan and Nepal are eating into our market share in Dubai due to their competitive prices and Thailand and Malaysia replaced Bangladesh by supplying betel leaves to the EU market,’ he added.
-With New Age input
