The government is working on a coordinated plan to bring Bangladesh’s leather industry back into global competitiveness, aiming to reform the tannery sector, attract new investment and ensure internationally compliant production standards.
Speaking at a policy dialogue Thursday at the BRAC Centre in Mohakhali, in the capital, Commerce Minister Khondaker Abdul Muktadir said the decision to relocate tanneries from Hazaribagh to Hemayetpur in Savar was correct, but weaknesses in implementation and management have left the industry worse off.
He said a “graceful exit” option will be created for those who have invested in the industry for a long time but are no longer interested in or able to make new investments, opening up space in the sector for new entrepreneurs and investors.
The commerce minister said full compliance will need to be ensured in the tannery business going forward, and that obtaining Leather Working Group (LWG) certification will be made mandatory to boost acceptance in international markets.
He said the government aims to build a “Bangladesh Leather” brand by processing hides domestically into shoes, bags and other high-value leather goods for export, rather than exporting raw hides.
On the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) in Savar, one of the leather industry’s biggest problems, the minister said an initiative has been taken to build a new, world-class CETP, while renovation of the existing one is also being considered. The facility currently has a designed capacity of 25,000 cubic meters but is effectively treating only 14,000 to 15,000 cubic meters of waste.
He said large tanneries will be required to install their own effluent treatment plants (ETPs), while smaller tanneries will coordinate with the central CETP system to ensure full compliance.
Several factories are also planned to convert solid tannery waste into usable products such as tallow and bone meal, with a goal of turning the Savar tannery industrial area into an integrated waste-management industrial zone.
To expand markets for leather and leather goods, the government is working to increase trade benefits in Japan, South Korea and Europe, while also encouraging major leather companies in Spain and Italy to invest in Bangladesh.
The minister said the government aims to open a skills and design development center for leather and other industries in Savar by 2027.
He said the industry would be brought back to a strong position in the global market through skills development, stronger design capacity, environmentally friendly production, investment facilitation, ETP installation and resolving bond-related complications.
Special guests at the event included Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Clinton Pobke. Also taking part in the discussion were Footwear, Leathergoods and Accessories Association (FLAXA) President Syed Nasim Manzur and SANEM Executive Director and Dhaka University economics professor Dr Selim Raihan, along with industry businesspeople, tannery and footwear entrepreneurs, worker representatives and development partners.