Agriculture Class March

Bangladesh as it became a new nation are well known and documented. Even then it was one of
the world's most densely populated and impoverished countries. It was characterized by:
(1) extremely low per capita income and relatively high population growth;
(2) the literacy rate was low as was the education level;
(3) the agricultural sector had low productivity and employed traditional technology;
(4) the industrial base was small with practically no mineral assets;
(5) the geography of the nation with its extensive rivers and flood plains made travel difficult,
especially in combination with a totally inadequate transport, communication, and power
infrastructure; and,
(6) the nation faced chronic balance of payments problems.

Started its journey with;

(1) the growth of both agriculture and the general economy;
(2) the trade balance and agriculture's role in import demand and export earnings;
(3) the degree to which agriculture has provided adequate nutrition for the populace;
(4) the demand for nonfarm products by rural residents to support the broadening and deepening
of the development process; and
(5) the nature and structure of the agricultural labor market including the sector's capability to
provide adequate labor for agricultural production while permitting the efficient flow of people
to nonagricultural employment.

Present objectives are to be achieved;

The mid-term implementation review of the 6thFYP summarized the broad objectives related to
the agriculture sector as follow (GED 2014)
Achieve an average of 4.5% real growth in agricultural sector over the 6thFYP period;
Raise farm productivity and real income of farm families in rural areas on a sustainable basis;
Attain self-sufficiency in food grain production along with crop diversification within cereal as
well as toward horticultural crops;
Expand application of technology and mechanized cultivation;
Ensure sustained agricultural growth through more efficient and balanced utilization of land,
water and other resources;
 Encourage research in adaptation to change and proper use of genetically modified technology
in agriculture; and
Promote non-crop agricultural activities related to forestry, livestock and fisheries.

Bangladesh Agriculture

Bangladesh’s rural economy, and specifically agriculture, have been powerful drivers of poverty
reduction in Bangladesh since 2000. Indeed, agriculture accounted for 90 percent of the
reduction in poverty between 2005 and 2010.
More than 70 percent of Bangladesh’s population and 77 percent of its workforce lives in rural
areas. Nearly half of all of Bangladesh’s workers and two-thirds in rural areas are directly
employed by agriculture, and about 87 percent of rural households rely on agriculture for at least
part of their income.
Bangladesh has made commendable progress over the past 40 years in achieving food security,
despite frequent natural disasters and population growth (food grain production, for example,
tripled between 1972 and 2014, from 9.8 to 34.4 million tons). With one of the fastest rates of
productivity growth in the world since 1995 (averaging 2.7 percent per year, second only to
China), Bangladesh’s agricultural sector has benefited from a sound and consistent policy
framework backed up by substantial public investments in technology, rural infrastructure and
human capital.
But Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, which poses a long-
term threat to the country’s agricultural sector, particularly in areas affected by flooding, saline
intrusion, and drought.
Faster and more inclusive rural growth with job creation will require greater agricultural
diversification together with more robust rural non-farm enterprise development. A shift in
production from rice to higher-value crops will significantly reduce malnutrition, trigger more
rapid growth in incomes, and create more and better on-farm and non-farm jobs, especially for
women and youth. Livestock and fisheries also offer tremendous potential for reducing
malnutrition and increasing incomes and jobs in a severely land constrained economy, but
struggle because of inadequate government support.
Investment in and expansion of the rural non-farm enterprises (or RNFEs) is a parallel priority
for Bangladesh. RFNE’s can help households become more resilient to climate shocks through
income and livelihood diversification. And they can be a potentially powerful source of job
generation, especially for youth and women, through more efficient and competitive value
chains.

Agriculture in a Nutshell

Bangladesh has a primarily agrarian economy. Agriculture is the single largest producing sector
of the economy since it comprises about 30% of the country’s GDP and employs around 60% of
the total labor force. The performance of this sector has an overwhelming impact on major
macroeconomic objectives like employment generation, poverty alleviation, human resources
development and food security.
Most Bangladeshis earn their living from agriculture. Although rice and jute are the primary
crops, wheat is assuming greater importance. Tea is grown in the northeast. Because of
Bangladesh’s fertile soil and normally ample water supply, rice can be grown and harvested
three times a year in many areas. Due to a number of factors, Bangladesh’s labor-intensive
agriculture has achieved steady increases in food grain production despite the often unfavorable
weather conditions. These include better flood control and irrigation, a generally more efficient
use of fertilizers, and the establishment of better distribution and rural credit networks. With 35.8
million metric tons produced in 2000, rice is Bangladesh’s principal crop. National sales of the
classes of insecticide used on rice, including granular carbofuran, synthetic pyrethroids, and
Malathion exceeded 13,000 tons of formulated product in 2003HYPERLINK \l “cite_note-. The
insecticides not only represent an environmental threat, but are a significant expenditure to poor
rice farmers. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute is working with various NGOs and
international organizations to reduce insecticide use in rice.
In comparison to rice, wheat output in 1999 was 1.9 million metric tons. Population pressure
continues to place a severe burden on productive capacity, creating a food deficit, especially of
wheat. Foreign assistance and commercial imports fill the gap. Underemployment remains a
serious problem, and a growing concern for Bangladesh’s agricultural sector will be its ability to
absorb additional manpower. Finding alternative sources of employment will continue to be a
daunting problem for future governments, particularly with the increasing numbers of landless
peasants who already account for about half the rural labor force.
Rice and jute are the primary crops, maize and vegetables are assuming greater importance. Due
to the expansion of irrigation networks, some wheat producers have switched to cultivation of
maize which is used mostly as poultry feed. Tea is grown in the northeast. Because of
Bangladesh’s fertile soil and normally ample water supply, rice can be grown and harvested
three times a year in many areas. Due to a number of factors, Bangladesh’s labor-intensive
agriculture has achieved steady increases in food grain production despite the often unfavorable
weather conditions. These include better flood control and irrigation, a generally more efficient
use of fertilizers, and the establishment of better distribution and rural credit networks. With 28.8
million metric tons produced in 2005-2006 (July-June), rice is Bangladesh’s principal crop.[4]
By comparison, wheat output in 2005-2006 was 9 million metric tons. Population pressure
continues to place a severe burden on productive capacity, creating a food deficit, especially of
wheat. Foreign assistance and commercial imports fill the gap. Underemployment remains a
serious problem, and a growing concern for Bangladesh’s agricultural sector will be its ability to
absorb additional manpower. Finding alternative sources of employment will continue to be a
daunting problem for future governments, particularly with the increasing numbers of landless
peasants who already account for about half the rural labor force.
Bangladesh is the fourth largest rice producing country in the world. National sales of the
classes of insecticide used on rice, including granular carbofuran, synthetic pyrethroids, and
Malathion exceeded 13,000 tons of formulated products in 2003. The insecticides not only
represent an environmental threat, but are a significant expenditure to poor rice farmers. The
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute is working with various NGOs and international
organizations to reduce insecticide use in rice.
Wheat is not a traditional crop in Bangladesh, and in the late 1980s little was consumed in rural
areas. During the 1960s and early 1970s, however, it was the only commodity for which local
consumption increased because external food aid was most often provided in the form of wheat.
In the first half of the 1980s, domestic wheat production rose to more than 1 million tons per
year but was still only 7 to 9 percent of total food grain production. Record production of nearly
1.5 million tons was achieved in FY 1985, but the following year saw a decrease to just over 1
million tons. About half the wheat is grown on irrigated land. The proportion of land devoted to
wheat remained essentially unchanged between 1980 and 1986, at a little less than 6 percent of
total planted area Wheat also accounts for the great bulk of imported food grains, exceeding 1
million tons annually and going higher than 1.8 million tons in FY 1984, FY 1985, and FY 1987.
The great bulk of the imported wheat is financed under aid programs of the United States, the
European Economic Community, and the World Food Programmed.
Food grains are cultivated primarily for subsistence. Only a small percentage of total production
makes its way into commercial channels. Other Bangladeshi food crops, however, are grown
chiefly for the domestic market. They include potatoes and sweet potatoes, with a combined
record production of 1.9 million tons in FY 1984; oilseeds, with an annual average production of
250,000 tons; and fruits such as bananas, jackfruit, mangoes, and pineapples. Estimates of
sugarcane production put annual production at more than 7 million tons per year, most of it
processed into a coarse, unrefined sugar known as gur, and sold domestically.
Wood is the main fuel for cooking and other domestic requirements. It is not surprising that
population pressure has had an adverse effect on the indigenous forests. By 1980 only about 16
percent of the land was forested, and forests had all but disappeared from the densely populated
and intensively cultivated deltaic plain. Aid organizations in the mid-1980s began looking into
the possibility of stimulating small-scale forestry to restore a resource for which there was no
affordable substitute.
The largest areas of forest are in the Chittagong Hills and the Sundarbans. The evergreen and
deciduous forests of the Chittagong Hills cover more than 4,600 square kilometers and are the
source of teak for heavy construction and boat building, as well as other forest products.
Domesticated elephants are still used to haul logs. The Sundarbans, a tidal mangrove forest
covering nearly 6,000 square kilometers along the Bay of Bengal, is the source of timber used for
a variety of purposes, including pulp for the domestic paper industry, poles for electric power
distribution, and leaves for thatching for dwellings.
Bangladesh being a first line littoral state of the Indian Ocean has a very good source of marine
resources in the Bay of Bengal. The country has an exclusive economic zone of 41,000 square
miles (110,000 km2), which is 73% of the country’s land area. On the other hand, Bangladesh is
a small and developing country overloaded with almost unbearable pressure of human
population. In the past, people of Bangladesh were mostly dependent upon land-based proteins.
But, the continuous process of industrialization and urbanization consumes the limited land area.
Now there is no other way than to harvest the vast under water protein from the Bay of Bengal,
which can meet the country’s demand.
More than 80 percent of the animal protein in the Bangladeshi diet comes from fish. Fish
accounted for 6 percent of GDP in the fiscal year of 1970, nearly 50 percent more than modern
industrial manufacturing at that time. Most commercial fishermen are low-caste Hindus who eke
out the barest subsistence working under primitive and dangerous conditions. They bring a high
degree of skill and ingenuity to their occupation; a few of the most enterprising ones are aided by
domesticated otters, which behave like shepherds, swimming underwater, driving fish toward the
fisherman’s net (and being rewarded themselves with a share of the catch). Fish for local
consumption are generally of freshwater varieties.
As of the end of 1987, prevailing methods for culturing shrimp in Bangladesh were still
relatively unsophisticated, and average yields per hectare were low. In the late 1980s, almost all
inland scrimping was done by capture rather than by intensive aquaculture. Farmers relied
primarily on wild post larval and juvenile shrimp as their sources of stock, acquired either by
trapping in ponds during tidal water exchange or by gathering from local estuaries and stocking
directly in the ponds. Despite the seemingly low level of technology applied to shrimp
aquaculture, it became an increasingly important part of the frozen seafood industry in the mid-
1980s.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank financed projects to develop shrimp
aquaculture in the 1980s. Private investors were also initiating similar projects to increase
capacity and to introduce modern technology that would increase average yields.
Training for the fishing industry of Bangladesh, as well as for merchant shipping and related
maritime industries is provided by the Bangladesh Marine Fisheries Academy.

Strengths:
  Having competent and versatile human resources
 Having a well-set up professional man power
 Location specific agricultural knowledge of ext. officers.
 Possessing generally adequate physical facilities including a network of local offices
 Competence in a wide range of extension methods
 Diversified available technologies
 Follow up planning
 Working with groups
 Environmental awareness particularly Integrated Soil fertility & pest worker
 Human resource development institute
 Farmers training center
Weakness:
 Inadequate communication
 Lack of incentives for efficient extension worker
 Lack of expertise and institution to prepare extension material for the users.
 Lack of appropriate technologies for char (Sandy / Land)
 Lack of Raw material
 Lack of awareness
 Natural Calamity (Flood, Cyclone, Heavy Raining etc)

Jute

Jute is a natural fibre popularly known as the golden fibre. It is one of the cheapest and the
strongest of all natural fibers and considered as fibre of the future. Jute is second only to cotton
in world's production of textile fibers. India, Bangladesh, China and Thailand are the leading
producers of Jute. It is also produced in southwest Asia and Brazil. The jute fibre is also known
as Pat, kosta, Nalita, Bimli or Mesta (kenaf).
Jute, as a natural fibre, has many inherent advantages like lustier, high tensile strength, low
extensibility, moderate heat and fire resistance and long staple lengths. It is a biodegradable and
eco-friendly. It has many advantages over synthetics and protects the environment and maintains
the ecological balance.
Jute is not only a major textile fibre but also a raw material for nontraditional and value added
non-textile products. Jute is used extensively in the manufacture of different types of traditional
packaging fabrics, manufacturing Hessian, sacking, carpet backing, mats, bags, tarpaulins, ropes
and twines.
Recently jute fibers are used in a wide range of diversified products: decorative fabrics, chic-
saris, salwar kamizes, soft luggage's, footwear, greeting cards, molded door panels and other
innumerable useful consumer products. Supported by several technological developments today
jute can be used to replace expensive fibers and scare forest materials.
After the Partition of Bengal in 1947, it was found that all jute mills of the region were in West
Bengal, which became a part of India and all major jute growing districts became part of East
Bengal, a province of Pakistan. As it had no jute mills, East Bengal faced problems in marketing
of raw jute. The problem was, however, quickly overcome by establishing jute mills in East
Bengal.
The jute industry in the public sector, by virtue of its location in East Pakistan, became the
property of Bangladesh after independence in 1971. Pakistani mill owners (about 68% of the
total loom strength) left the country, leaving the industry in disarray. Abandoned jute mills were
subject to heavy looting. The new government of Bangladesh had to take up the responsibility of
rebuilding the industry. By a Presidential order, about 85% of industries, including all jute mills,
were nationalized.
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) was formed to manage and look after all the 73 jute
mills having 23,836 looms at that time. At one stage the number of jute mills under the
jurisdiction of BJMC went up to 78. BJMC had to revive the industry from a ruined position.
Immediately after liberation, it became very difficult to solve problem of financial hardship of
the jute industry because financial institutions were not working well. The short supply of spares,
labour unrest, wastage in production etc. shook the industry severely.
For jute industry of Bangladesh, the first two years after liberation was the period of
reorganization. The government offered cash subsidy to the industry, which amounted to Tk 200
million annually. The annual cash subsidy was reduced to 100 million since 1976-77. Thanks to
this policy and periodic devaluation of currency, Bangladesh could retain its position of a prime
exporter of jute goods in the dollar areas of export. The industry earned profit in 1979-80, when
the subsidy was withdrawn.
By December 1979, BJMC had 77 jute mills, two carpet backing mills, and two spare parts
producing units. In 1980, six twine mills were disinvested to the private sector. In June 1981,
BJMC had 74 mills under its administration. These mills had about 165,000 workers and 27,000
managerial and office staff.
Denationalization of jute mills started in July 1982. The government ordered BJMC to complete
the process by 16 December 1982, but only 10 mills could be handed over to Bangladeshi
owners by that time. The valuation process and settlement of other organizational matters
relating to handing over of the mills took a long time. Among the jute mills owned by BJMC, 46
had satisfactory financial performance in 1982-83, when their profit before contribution to
national exchequer was about Tk 240 million.
The same mills incurred total losses of about Tk 430 million in the previous year. Jute mills
incurred losses regularly over years and external donor agencies pressed hard for
denationalization. More and more mills were put into the denationalization list. In 1999, BJMC
had 33 mills. The World Bank continued to work closely with the government to restructure the
jute sector, especially through denationalization, merger, dissolution, closure and setting up of
new units.
The importance of the jute sector to the Bangladesh economy, in particular, cannot be over-
stated, it is a major cash crop for over three million small farm households, the largest industry,
producing about one-third of manufacturing output, and the largest agricultural export
commodity in Bangladesh. The livelihood of about 25 million people (almost one - fifth of the
total population) is dependent on jute - related activities in agriculture, domestic marketing,
manufacturing and trade.
Jute, as a renewable natural fiber, is also bio- degradable and environmentally friendly, it is one
of the few crops, which can be grown in the monsoon season, and can be rotated with rice to
restore the soil fertility and structure. The leaves of jute plants enrich the fertility of the soil for
sustained agriculture, and have good nutrition value as vegetables. Use of jute sticks as fuel and
fencing material as substitute for wood prevents deforestation. Therefore, the increased global
concern for the environment, the future prospects for jute remains high.
Lest we forget, the jute industry was the life blood of our economy for several decades and
continues to be one of the mainstays of our rural economy even today. About 15 million farmers
are involved in growing this cash crop and several million more of our population, perhaps an
equal number, are involved with its processing, transportation, conversion, etc. In order to
understand the current state of affairs in the industry, one must look into the background of the
jute industry and the events that took place over the last several decades.
Bangladesh Jute at a Glance

Average land area under

1. : 12.35 Lac acres
jute cultivation
58 Lac bales (1.04 Million Ton.)
3 “ (0.05 Million Ton.)
Average production of jute
2. :
carryover
61 Lac bales (1.09 Million Ton)

3. Average internal consumption of jute : 38 Lac bales (0.68 Million Ton)

Quantity Value
Average Export of raw
4. 21.00 Lac bales (0.37 Million Ton 1000 Cr. Tk.
jute with value
Under BJSA 81
Under BJMA 97
5. Number of jute Mills: :
Under BJMC 27
TOTAL : 205 UNITS
BJSA Mills 55,868
Number of workers BJMA Mills 39,000
6. :
employed in Jute Mills (Approx.) BJMC Mills 61,681
TOTAL: 1,56,549
BJSA Mills 3,60,500 M. Tons
Average production of BJMA Mills 1,56,500 M. Tons
7. :
Jute goods BJMC Mills 1,46,000 M. Tons
TOTAL : 6,63,000 M. TONS
BJSA Mills 20,000 M. Tons (yarn/twine)
Average internal consumption BJMA Mills 48,000 M. Tons (sacking/hessain)
8. :
of Jute goods BJMC Mills 21,000 M. Tons (sacking/hessain)
TOTAL : 89,000 M. TONS
Quantity Value
BJSA Mills 3,42,195 2014
Average Export of jute
9. : BJMA Mills 97,160 58
goods with quantity, value
BJMC Mills 96,523 537
TOTAL : 5,35,878 3139
Spindles in Jute 1,75,114 Installed
10. :
Spinning Mills 1,47,124 Operated
Installed Looms in Jute
Mills (As on 30th June 2010 ) Hessian Sacking CBC Others Total
BJMC: Installed 3790 2930 579 21 7320
11. :
Operated 2341 2930 513 21 5805
6532 5257 711 361 12861
BJMA: Installed 1421 2530 183 200 4334
 Operated

Acronyms used
o BJSA Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association (Private Sector)
BJMA Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (Private Sector)
BJMC Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (Public Sector)
CBC Carpet Backing Cloth.
The Basic Jute Products
The most basic and essential jute commodities fabricated in Bangladesh jute mills are:
 Canvas: It is the finest jute item, woven with highly premium grades of fiber. Jute
canvas and screen lamination along with paper polythene is widely used in mines and for
getting protection against weather.
 Sacking Cloth: Made up of low quality jute fibers, sacking cloth is loosely woven heavy
cloth used for packing sugar, food grains, cement etc. Weighing from 15 to 20 ozs,
several qualities are available in this category like Twill, heavy Cees, D.W Flour, Cement
Bags and many more.
 Hessian Cloth: It is a plain woven superior quality jute fabric, weighing between 5 and
12 ozs, a yard. Hessian cloth is highly exported all across the world in the form of cloth,
bags etc. Also known as burlap, this cloth is vastly used in wide ambit of applications.
 D.W. Tarpaulin: This product is majorly used for coverings on a very high
multidimensional scale.
 Bags: Used mainly for shopping, bags are usually fabricated from sacking or hessian
cloths. They are often decorated with varied artistic designs and with straps, chains and
handles in several dimensions and shapes. Other categories of bags are promotional bags
which are manufactured to promote items for sale.
 Hydrocarbon free jute cloth: This cloth is fabricated by treating jute with vegetable oil.
It is a hessian fabric, hydrocarbon free cloth, widely used for packing different food
materials, cocoa, coffee, peanut beans etc.
 Geo-textile: It is a jute cloth laid along the river embankment sides and hill slopes to
prevent soil erosion and landslides.
 Serim Cloth: It is a light weight hessian cloth, used in felt industry for reinforcing the
non woven fabric and for strengthening paper with lamination.
 Tobacco sheets: Used for wrapping tobacco leaves, tobacco sheets are made up of
hessian cloth.
 Decorative items: The vast variety of decorative products are made up of jute fabrics
like wall hangings, toys, table lamps, paper, decorative bags, furniture and many more.
 Hessian tapes and gaps: They are made up with hessian cloth, woven with gaps at
regular intervals and the cloths cut between the gaps to make small width taps.

THE economic-development paradigm established during the 1950s and

1960s was dominated by four broad concerns-capital accumulation,
agriculture as a provider of resources for industrial investment, import
substitution and protection for nascent industries, and state-directed strategies, specially capital
intensive industries (Higgins:1959, Lewis: 1960)
 SERVICE SECTOR OF BANGLADESH
The service sector in Bangladesh registered a steady growth of 6.5 per cent in the fiscal year
2016-17, up from 6.25 per cent in 2015-16. However, industrial output growth dipped to 10.5 per
cent last fiscal from 11.09 per cent of the previous year.
The World Bank (WB), in its latest report, said the service sector is projected to grow at a steady
rate of 6.0 per cent in the current fiscal year. Despite cutting down the growth forecast, the global
lender said Bangladesh's economic growth remains resilient.
According to the estimates of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), small industries grew
faster than large and medium industries in the fiscal year that ended in June this year, indicating
a slowdown in export growth.
Of the service sector, wholesale, retail trade, real estate, hotel, restaurant and transport sectors
performed well. However, financial sector registered slowdown in growth. As a result of higher
gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the per capita income rose to $1,602 in fiscal 2016-17, up
9.35 per cent year-on-year.
The service sector, also called tertiary sector, is the third of the three sectors. The other two are
the primary sector, which covers areas such as farming, mining and fishing; and the secondary
sector which covers manufacturing and processing.
The service sector provides a service, not an actual product that could be held in one's hand.
Activities in the service sector include retail, banks, hotels, real estate, education, health, social
work, computer services, recreation, media, communications, electricity, gas and water supply.
In the process of global economic integration, competitiveness plays a vital role in the success of
international trade. In addition, the competitive environment of domestic markets facilitates
higher economic growth and can help in reducing poverty. Competition in the services sector
can, therefore, play a fundamental role in ensuring the competitiveness of an economy.
Over the past few decades, Bangladesh has transformed itself from a controlled economy to a
market-oriented economy through a wide range of policy reforms which include reforms in trade
policy, industrial policy, monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rate policy, and promotion of
foreign direct investment.
Trade liberalisation has gone through one of the major policy reforms in Bangladesh. During the
course of overall trade liberalisation, liberalisation of service sectors (especially telecom and
financial sectors) received much importance. Service sector's employment has also shown a
rising tendency but its contribution to total employment is much lower than its contribution to
country's GDP. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, when liberalisation of some service
sectors like telecommunication and financial intermediaries was one of the major policy reforms,
employment share of service sector grew substantially reaching 34.6 per cent.
At present, using information and communication technology (ICT), banks have vastly reduced
the number of people they need to employ, and lowered the cost of providing bank service. For
example, an automated teller machine is able to provide basic banking services 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, in many different places.
In the current fiscal year, Bangladesh is likely to attain higher than 7.0 per cent annual growth
through increased productivity growth and higher participation of females in the labour force.
Despite the increase in the number of women joining the labour force, the number of working
women is still much lower than their male counterparts: in 2013, only 33.5 per cent women
worked in productive sectors.
The WB has projected that the agricultural sector would register higher growth this fiscal year as
farmers responded to the relatively good prices of rice, vegetables and livestock. Industrial
growth may edge down due to softer export growth and weaker domestic demand associated
with remittances.
What Bangladesh and other Least Developed Countries (LDCs) need at this hour is to ensure
affordable and productive use of adequate electricity for economic transformation which is
crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The latest edition of a United
Nations (UN) report regarding trade and development noted that the purpose of electricity access
should not only be to meet basic domestic needs as lighting, but also to use it for productive
purposes. It was found that around 53 per cent of enterprises in Bangladesh identify lack of
consistent access to energy as a major constraint.
Some services have been identified in Bangladesh that could potentially compete at the global
level. As the fifth most populous Asian country, it has a large domestic market and a swelling
workforce. Between 2000 and 2014, exports of commercial services from Bangladesh surged
from $300 million to $1.6 billion per year. Services, including digital ones, now account for half
of GDP and two-fifths of the employments.
In order to enhance the service sector activities, there is a need for boosting the ICT capacity and
expand services in the areas of health, tourism, accounting, engineering, and to increase
coordination across government ministries. Overseas experts or exchange programmes can help
local institutions to overcome the shortage of local experts in the medical and other potential
fields.
All said and done, the paramount need of the hour is that government officials, corporate leaders,
and civil society representatives should forge a unique partnership and exchange ideas and
insights for steady growth of the service sector.

Bangladesh Textile
Strangely enough that during whole of the 19th century when the industrial growth of cotton
textile mills took place in undivided India to a considerable extent, not a single mill was set up in
the region now constituting Bangladesh. Among the various large scale industries of Bangladesh,
the cotton and textile happens to be the oldest. The earliest unit, the Mohini Mills. Ltd., started
production as far back as in 1908 (Chowdhury, 1977). Mohini mill at Kushtia was the first cotton
textile mill in Bangladesh and it was Babu Mohon Chakravarti who was the first to introduce it
in this region. After the establishment of Mohini Mill in 1908 about two decades had passed with
no entrance of new mills in Bangladesh. Luxmi Narayan Cotton Textile Mills Ltd. is the second
oldest mill in Bangladesh, which was established at Narayanganj in 1927. During 1930's six
more mills entered into the industry, out of which four concentrated at Narayanganj, one at
Khulna and the remaining one at Chittagong. Adarsha Cotton Textile Mill is the last mill set up
in Bangladesh before the partition of India in 1947 (Islam, 1996).
 Growth and Location Distribution of Cotton Textile Mills in Bangladesh Before Partition
of India, (1908-1947)
Sl. Name of Mills Location Year of
No. Establishment
1. Mohini Textile Mills Kushtia 1908
2 Dhakeshwari Cotton Mills- 1 Narayanganj 1927
3. Chittaranjan Cotton Mills Narayanganj 1929
4. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Cotton Mill Khulna 1931
5. Laxmi Narayan Cotton Mills Limited Narayanganj 1932
6. Chittagong Cotton Textile Chittagong 1936
7. Dhakesswari Cotton Textile – 2 Narayanganj 1937
8. National Cotton Textile Chittagong 1939
9. Dhaka Cotton Textile Narayanganj 1940
10. Adarsh Cotton Textile Narayanganj 1944
Source: Compiled from Banglapedia and Annual Reprots, Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation,
Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The number of installed spindles and loom increased rapidly during the Pakistan period. The
installed spindles in the industry rose to 359 thousand at the end of 1960 from l 10 thousand in
1947. It clearly implies that the number of spindles increased more than three times during
1947- 1960. Over the next ten years, it almost doubled. Total number of looms also increased
from 2717 in 1947 to 3419 in 1960. The number of looms went up to 7 thousand at the end of the
year 1970. " During the Pakistan period, the spindles and looms received the necessary
incentives for growth and development. During the
Pakistan period, only Private Sector Textile Industry was established in Bangladesh. The public
sector textile mill was not developed in the Pakistan period.

During the Post- Liberation period, a drastic policy change occurred. In terms of policy change,
it has been observed that soon after liberation, the Government of Bangladesh announced the
nationalization program for the large-scale enterprises. On March 26, 1972, all the large-scale
textile mills were nationalized with the promulgation of the Bangladesh Industrial Enterprises
(Nationalization) order 1972 (President's order No. 27, 1972) Bangladesh Textile Mills
Corporation (BTMC) consisting of all the nationalized textile mills formally started functioning
from July 01, 1972. The first and a subsequent schedule of nationalization order brought the total
number of enterprise under BTMC to 74. Among them 72 units were actually capable of
producing textile goods. The remaining two had no tangible assets worth mentioning. The mills
brought under the nationalized sector had more than 90 per cent of the total capital employed in
cotton textile production. BTMC brought under its control another units in 1975-76 thus bringing
the total number of mills under it to 75.

However, the Government started disinvesting a number of specialised mills and in 1976/77, a
total of 7 mills disinvested and were transferred to their former owners. A number of on-going
mills were, however, commissioned. As of June 1980, the BTMC has a total of 56 running cotton
textile mills "consisting of 31 spinning mills and 25 composite mills. From 1982 disinvestment
began accelerating and it has been observed that within three months (December 12, 1982 to
April 03, 1983) about 22 of the BTMC mills were transferred to the private sector.'^ As of June
1996, the BTMC has a total 34 running mills consisting of 27 spinning mills and 7 weaving
mills. At the same time, total 104 mills were under the private sector consisting of 91 spinning
mills and 13 weaving mills

After 1996. 3 mills were transferred to private sector. According to fifth five year plan (1997-
2002) the policy of the government is to privatize public sector textile mills in phases. In
pursuance of this policy, 10 textile mills were laid off. Among these laid off mills 7 were sold to
private entrepreneurs and 6 of these were handed over to them. Out of the remaining 3 laid off
mills, one is on the process of sales through tenders. Another 11 Textile mills from the remaining
30 mills and one engineering workshop under BTMC are scheduled to be privatized
immediately. Until all the mills are privatized,
BTMC will operate the profitable mills. In view of this, new spindles are being added to BTMC
mills under BMRE Project. Another 4 mills will be brought under BMRE program during the
fifth five-year plan period. 4 Mills out of 30 textile under BTMC where privatized in 1997, 6
mills were privatized in 1997 and another 5 mills were privatized in 2000 and handed over to the
private owners. Now remaining only 14 mills are operating under BTMC. Besides, Ministry of
Textiles (MOT), Bangladesh Handloom Board (BHB), Bangladesh Sericulture Board (BSB) and
Department of Textiles (DOT) are shouldering the responsibilities to carry out promotional
activities by implementing several development projects.

Only five new spinning, three weaving and two dyeing mills with an investment of about Tk
1,300 crore were set up in the last four years, according to data from the Bangladesh Textile
Mills Association.
Currently, Bangladesh has 425 spinning, 790 weaving and 250 dyeing mills that have an
investment of about Tk 50,000 crore tied up, according to BTMA data.
With existing capacity, the primary textile sector can supply 90 percent of the raw materials for
the knitwear and 40 percent for woven sector.
The rest of the demand is met through imports mainly from China, India and Pakistan. Since the
country's garment export is on the rise, so is the import of raw materials.
In the first six months of the year, Bangladesh imported woven fabrics worth more than $2.11
billion and knitwear fabrics and yarn worth $527 million, up almost 15 percent year-on-year in
both the categories.