'Business summit to play a role grabbing international market of leather goods'

Since 70s, Bangladesh has been exporting leather goods to different countries around the world. It is one of the export products of the country. These include shoes, sandals, jackets, hand socks, wallets, ladies bags and belts.

The leather goods export market is growing by 10 to 15 percent every year and has reached an average of $30 million a year.

A separate industrial area has been built in Savar near the capital for the development of leather industry. However, there are some pros and cons and lack of suitable environment for export the goods, according to the traders.

Azam Khan, the managing director of Yuko Leather Goods Ltd., said, "Now, the world moves very fast. Fashion changes over time. So if we can't maintain the quality, we won't sustain in this sector.

Bangladesh Tannery Association General Secretary Sakhawat Ullah called for the government to give more priority to leather processing and marketing to develop it as a huge foreign exchange earning sector.

He said, "Many countries are interested to invest in this sector, but these investments are not coming due to our lack of Leather Working Group (LWG) certificate. We feel that if these issues are resolved, we will go a long way and we will be able to meet our export target.

Md. Jashim Uddin, the president of FBCCI, said, "The development of leather industry will be emphasized in the upcoming business summit."

He added, "We will discuss on it in our session. Our experts will speak about it. Foreign experts will also share their thoughts about it."