CMSMEs bag less export orders from int’l fairs as govt support declines

The Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs) are struggling to fetch export orders from international trade fairs due to a declining government support even as Bangladesh’s export earnings continue to grow defying all odds.

In the bygone 2021-22 fiscal year (FY22), some 116 Bangladeshi manufacturers secured $148 billion of export orders from nearly 20 international trade fairs, the lowest in the last 10 years sans FY21 when the number of trade fairs reduced globally due to the Covid-19 pandemic, shows data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

According to industry insiders, CMSMEs get their lion’s share of export orders from trade fairs. A decrease in assistance from the government in attending the fairs amid a global economic slowdown in recent years has brought misfortune for the enterprises.

“Previously, we could assist 40-50 CMSME entrepreneurs to attend a fair. But now we are supporting only 10 due to the foreign exchange reserves crisis,” said AHM Ahsan, vice chairman of EP, the government agency responsible for developing the export industry.

According to EPB data, the agency assisted 337 CMSMEs in attending 16 international trade fairs in FY20, from which the firms earned nearly $188 billion of export orders. But in FY21, the number of trade fairs dropped as Covid-19 took over the world and public gathering was limited. That year, EPB aided around 116 enterprises to participate in 10 fairs, from where the businesses secured some $31 billion of export orders.

Another reason for EPB’s declining support for CMSMEs is that most of the platforms have grown big enough to attend the fairs on their own.

“Previously, most of the entrepreneurs attended the fairs through EPB. But now many of them have grown big and are attending the events at their own expense,” said Abu Mukhles Alamgir Hossain, director (current charge), Fair and Display, EPB.

Also, he said most of the entrepreneurs who attend the fair through EPB, do not disclose their export orders, which also results in lower export orders in the official data, added Mukhles.

Nazma Ahsan, managing director of the Artistik BD, a manufacturer of gift items, said, “In the initial stage, we faced many obstacles and attended the international fairs through EPB and fetched many export orders. But now we are participating at our own expense.”

Bangladeshi CMSMEs fetched the highest $838 billion of export orders in FY11, when 402 manufacturers attended a total of 23 international trade fairs. The amount was equivalent to the total export orders received in the last five years.

In total, CMSMEs received $3812 billion of export orders from FY10 to FY22, according to EPB.

According to the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC), there are some 962 export-oriented industrial units in the country, which exported nearly Tk 46,293 crore or nearly 11 per cent of the total export of the country, in the last fiscal.

“Currently, most of the CMSME entrepreneurs are facing an economic crisis, especially those making export-oriented products, due to a global slowdown,” said Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon, president of the National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh.