Lack of skilled manpower and capacity for diversification of jute goods are putting a promising earning sector of the country in global competition backward.
Despite huge potential, depending only on the jute sacks and raw jute export, the country could not utilize the golden fiber. Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JPDC) is yet to play a leading role due to a financial crisis, design, research and product marketing.
However, the government is about to resume closed jute mills operations under public and private partnership soon.
Privatisation of the country’s jute sector is beginning this year through inking a lease agreement of five state owned jute mills with five private companies.
Rashedul Karim Munna, convener of the Bangladesh Multipurpose Jute Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told Bangladesh Post, “The entrepreneurs are being deprived of effective benefits due to lack of necessary manpower and legal framework of the only parent organization to diversify jute products in Bangladesh.
Although there is huge potential for this versatile product in the world market including Europe, the desired benefits from domestic and foreign markets, we are not able to meet.”
He said that in order to diversify the jute industry for the development of the jute industry, a market analysis could be done by the Ministry of Commerce on an urgent basis as per the demand of the world market so that entrepreneurs could take initiative to produce the right product keeping in view the market demand.
For this, a supportive research institute could be set up, where new commercial products based on jute would be developed according to the demand of the world market.
Apart from this, in the interest of the industry, utmost importance should be given to human resource development and building institutional structure to acquire the capacity to produce efficient modern technology-based multipurpose jute products.
However, about the skilled manpower, executive director of JDPC Abul Kalam informed that the draft law to enhance the capacity of JDPC is nearing completion. The draft will be sent to the cabinet this month to be finalized.
Meanwhile, according to JDPC sources, around 135 of 600 entrepreneurs regularly sell products through JDPC outlets. In 2021, more than Tk 1 crore products were sold through this center. Besides, exports increased by more than 15 percent in the 2019-20 fiscal year.