The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Chittagong

Speakers at a seminar have called upon the government to provide increased assistance and proper logistic support for expanding backward linkage industries so that the country could survive in global export market.

They also laid emphasis on widening the country's export basket which has shrunk with limited exportables and the diversification of export goods to reduce trade deficit.

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Chittagong organised the seminar on ITC Trade Map and Product Map" on Wednesday afternoon as part of its national export promotion training programme 2007-2008 aiming at improving efficiency and knowledge of stakeholders of export-import trade.

The seminar was held in the local BGMEA conference room with Controller of Export and Import Department, Chittagong, M Shamsul Alam in the chair.

BGMEA first vice president M A Salam attended the seminar as the chief guest. CCCI Director Mahfuzul Haq Shah, Assistant Director of EPB, Chittagong Md. Tofazzal Hossain Khan and and Begum Rahima Akter, among others, took part in the discussion. M A Salam said the country has achieved a substantial growth in export sector in past three decades following the combined efforts by private and public sector.

In this context, he said, the country's export was 348 million US dollars in 1972-1973 fiscal which reached at US$ 12,178 million in 2006-2007 and readymade garments sector alone has shares 76 percent of total export earnings.

He said there was no alternative to developing further the backward linkage industries and diversification of export goods for country's survival in the competitive global market.