Garment

Jute

Bangladesh has inherited the southern-most slopes of the fertile, world-famous tea growing hills rolling down from Assam commonly known as Surma valley. This Valley was inhabited by wild animals a century ago before the human abodes was set up turning the rich valley slopes into tea plantations. In fact first experimental, tea plantation was carried out in the slopes of Chittagong in 1840 and Malnichera was the first commercial tea Estate which went into production in 1857.
It did not take long our teas to establish their place in the London Tea Auction and among the tea tasters and consumers. But the production of tea in those days was still in its primitive phase, each harvest being carried to ocean-going vessels in the Bay of Bengal by boats navigating an intricate network of rivers.

Today, the picture is quite different.
As we enter the first decade of the 21st century, there is more to the tea growing industry than a heritage we can be proud of our soils are being improved. Our plantations are producing higher yields of the finest quality teas. We are caring for our workforce, the descendants of the original tea planters and pluckers. Overall, the industry is flourishing as Bangladesh tea gains in prestige from season to season, auction to auction. The main tea growing areas are: Sylhet, Chittagong & Panchagar. Approximately 58 million Kg tea are produced annually.

Our tea is shipped in chests, gunny bags or paper sacks of intentional standard either bearing an original garden mark, bulked or blended. We also export packet tea. Care is taken to ensure that each consignment, however small reaches its destination as fresh as it was when it left the garden. Major importing countries of Bangladesh tea are: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Russia.

While our tea gains in popularity, our tea researchers continue their relentless efforts to innovate and improve the quality of Bangladesh tea to meet the demands of the 21st century.

Bangladesh is capable of producing 180 Million sft of Leather annually. The industry also produces the world's finest quality goatskin of a very fine and smooth grain pattern. Country's cowleateher has excellent natural compact fibre structure with a round feel and touch. More than eighty percent of the country's annual production is exported worldwide as semi finished/finished Leather, footwear and accessories.

Footwear and Leather accessories had indeed made great strides during the decade. There are 15 large-scale modern shoe factories engaged in the production of high quality footwear with 2500 smaller footwear units spread all over the country. These units are producing for the domestic market. Over 50 manufacturers are producing various Leather items such as travel goods, suitcases, briefcases and fashion accessories, along with belts, wallets, handbags, case holders etc. for overseas export. Bangladesh has also entered the field of Leather fashion garments with items of distinction and prestige.

Each year an annual leather fair in Dhaka is organized by Export Promotion Bureau which attracts large international participation. The items at display during the exhibition are:

Finished Leather Semi-Finished Leather Leather Footwear Leather Goods Leather Garments Leather Chemicals Tanning Machinery and Accessories Components

A tropical location, lush greenery, moisture-rich loamy soil and production-friendly climate-all these make Bangladesh one of the notable growers of a vast range of fruits and vegetables of impeccable quality.

The quantum of export is not big, but sizeable enough to cater to the large ethnic population of the south Asian sub-continent residing in the UK and the Middle East . They have provided to be the biggest consumers of Bangladeshi produce. The present export of vegetables is over 10,000 MT per year. There has been an encouraging growth of export of fresh fruits and vegetables to other European countries also in recent years.

Bangladesh has an agro-based economy and her fertile alluvial plains are ideal for the cultivation and growth of export of fruits and vegetables Important of technology has led to manifold increase in production for export.

The changing seasons see Bangladesh producing a variety of fruits and vegetables. The winter brings ripe oranges and other citrus fruits, cauliflower, and cabbages; summer brings succulent mangoes, lychees, watermelons, brinjals, yam and ladies fingers; monsoons brings sweet and juicy pineapples. A Variety of bananas, papaya, and coconut are available all the year round.

Fruits and vegetables growers have taken various steps not only to augment production, but also to enhance the quality standard. The Government has created the infrastructure and is providing promotional support. Export village for fresh fruits and vegetables have been set up with backward linkage developed between the producer and the exporter, soft loans are being provided to the producers and facilities have been created for better processing and packages. Fruits and vegetables being easily perishable, storing facilities have been created at the airport to facilitate preshipment strong as well as strong for emergency.

With a countrywide road-rail network, an international airport and two seaports, Bangladesh is all set to serve the world in the increased supply of fresh fruits and vegetables

The fisheries and livestock sector is regarded important for its potential in poverty alleviation, export earning, and meeting the protein intake needs of the population. In recent years, the sector has been playing a major role in the uplift efforts of Bangladesh . It is a labor-intensive and quick-yielding sector, which augments growth and reduces poverty. Around 1.2 million people are directly employed in the capture and culture fisheries. Overall, 120 million people depend on the fisheries and livestock sector, directly or indirectly, for their livelihood.

Bangladesh has immense natural potential for developing the fisheries sub-sector. The sub-sector contributes 5.38%of the GDP and more than 20%of the agriculture sector. The fisheries sub-sector includes open water bodies such as rivers, canals, lakes, etc., and closed water bodies such as ponds and flood control polders totaling 4.4 million hectare. Almost 60% of the country's protein requirement, around 70% of exports in the primary commodity category and almost 6% of total exports come from this sub-sector.

The sub-sector recorded a continuous annual growth of around 8% during the 1990s. This increase is due to both government and private initiatives. Fish production increased to 1.87 million metric tons during 2002-03.

A National Fisheries Policy has been formulated by the government to provide direction to development of the fisheries sub-sector. It is likely to impact on the production, conservation and storage capacity of the country's fisheries resources resulting in addition supply or protein in food consumption, generation of additional employment and increased foreign exchange earnings. The government is providing various incentives to the sector in infrastructure, credit, research and extension facilities. Different NGOs are also undertaking programs to introduce new technology and train fishermen to be able to raise production. Hatcheries are being set up through private initiatives. Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation is providing marketing and storage facilities to fishermen and traders.

With an annual growth rate of around 3% during the 1990s, the contribution of the livestock sub-sector to GDP and the agriculture sector as a whole is currently 3.1% and 16.1% respectively. It has shown much potential to develop as a commercial sector with employment and income opportunities both in the rural and urban areas. A large number of enterprises-cattle, poultry and dairy farms-have grown in the private sector in recent years. Livestock population is estimated (2001-02)to be 81.7million cattle and 163.5 million poultry. Shortage of Livestock products is attributed to the prevalence of diseases, poor quality of animals and feed shortages. Under the public sector programs, improvement of the genetic quality of existing stock is currently being carried forward through establishment of breeding stations and cattle raising units and a wide network of artificial insemination services. An extensive program has been undertaken for fodder cultivation, under which improved seeds and seedlings are being distributed to the farmers, the NGOs and the private farms. The government has also undertaken a goat-breeding project recently for poverty alleviation throughout the country.