The Bangladesh government has decided to prepare an action plan with a view to boosting outbound shipments of the country's agricultural products. It had already initiated a move to form national committee, steering committee and subcommittee to make ready the plan.
The decision was held at an exchange meeting organized by the Department of Agricultural Markets (DAM) of the Ministry of Agriculture, with its Director-General (DG) Mohammad Yousuf (Mohammad Yousuf) as chairman. Representatives from the sectors concerned including Bangladesh Fruit, Vegetable and Allied Products Exporters' Association (BFVAPEA) were present in the meeting.
The action plan is to focus on a long-term target to further increase exports of agricultural goods, the officials said. DG Mohammad Yousuf said: "We have started preparing a proposed action plan to increase the volume of exports of agricultural products. The proposed draft will be finalised after discussions with the stakeholders concerned."
According to the DAM documents, the export volume of agricultural products (processed and fresh) was only 2.0 per cent of the country's total exports. In the fiscal year 2019-20, the country earned US$ 849.1 million by exporting of such items. Of the volume, only US$ 163 million or 0.41 per cent was earned from export of vegetables.
On the other hand, the volume of fruit exports was very negligible. But the country had secured the third and seventh position in production of vegetables and fruits respectively in the world.
As reported on thefinancialexpress.com.bdΒΈ Bangladesh produces a huge variety of agricultural products. Its high-value crops such as fruits and vegetables have potential to grab the markets across the globe, a senior official of the DAM said.