Tanners air concerns over sector’s green credentials
Representatives of Bangladesh’s leather and footwear industries have held talks with the country’s finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam to air their concerns over the failure to implement more environmentally-friendly production processes.
Although the construction of a government-approved project leather park is already underway in Savar, which will house a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) and a dumping yard, the project is already well behind schedule and will not be finished until 2010.
Led by chairman of the Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leathergoods and Footwear Exporters' Association (BFLLFEA), Mohammad Tipu Sultan, and comprising representatives of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA), the delegation put forward its concerns for the industry, highlighting the fact that Bangladeshi leather and leather goods would lose their position in international markets if steps were not taken to improve the industry’s ‘green’ credentials. They also called for financial assistance for manufacturers, in the form of low cost loans, in order to allow them to relocate to the new leather park and reduce pollution in urban areas.
In spite of these concerns, the industry is continuing to grow. According to the latest statistics released by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the country’s leather sector generated earnings of $177.72 million in the first five months of this fiscal year (July-November 2007), 12.53% higher than the $157.93 million recorded in the same period of the prior year. Finished leather exports increased 9.26% to reach $112.17 million, up from $102.66 million; leather footwear exports climbed 18.55% from $51.53 million to $61.09 million, while exports of leather bags and purses grew 19.253% to hit $4.46 million, up from $3.74 million in corresponding period last year.
