TDS Desk:

The government has announced an export growth target of 12.4% for the 2024-25 fiscal year (FY), taking the present situation into consideration.

Speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Commerce in the Secretariat Sunday (8 September) following a meeting with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute, Finance and Commerce Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed hoped that export earnings would increase.

“The situation has changed. Due to this, export earnings will not decrease compared to before. It will increase,” he said.

On the mismatch of earlier data, Salehuddin said, “There were some factual issues regarding exports. We discussed this. We will keep the data collected by all concerned. We will coordinate everything and present the actual picture.

“Incidents like different bodies giving different data will not happen. There will be some differences, and we must accept those. But major discrepancies will be addressed,” he added.

The finance and commerce adviser said, “The export target will be logical. We will look at various components of exports and different products. We will review the regulatory and tax-related obstacles in exports. Our goal is to diversify exports.”

Asked if Bangladesh will receive GSP benefits in the US this time, Salehuddin said, “We already told them about the GSP benefits. We will try again. We hope the US will keep a positive outlook towards us in all aspects, as we have been told. So, the GSP outlook is positive. We are discussing export matters with others.”