“Rise and fall of jute trade and industry in

Bangladesh in the age of Globalization”

 Business Environment (BUS203)

Group Report

“Rise and fall of jute trade and industry in Bangladesh in the age of Globalization”

Group 03

Date of Submission: 20th September, 2

:
Outline:

Introduction Of Jute Trade In Bengal

-why is it needed?
-Expansion of jute trade and industry till the Second World War.
-Who gained?
Changing Resulting From Globalisation
-Technological changes in transport industry
-Substitutes of Jute and compensation
-Secular decline and state intervention in various forms
Present condition of Jute Trade and Industry
Various options to protect Jute Industry
Conclusion and Recommendation

1. Introduction of jute Trade in Bengal

Jute industry in Bengal is an industry that is historically and culturally important that once was
the biggest industry in the region but has declined since then. Jute was the most important and
historically a major export item of Bengal but which has declined in the 1970s. The jute trade is
centred mainly in Bangladesh and Indian state of West Bengal. The major producing country of
jute is Bangladesh because of fertile soil and environment. Bengal jute was taken to Europe
early in the 17th century by the Dutch and the French and later by the East India Company to
Britain. Jute plays an important role in providing raw material to the jute industry. The industry
generates large employment opportunities and earns valuable foreign exchange. Jute contributes
significantly to the agrarian and industrial economy of some other countries.
It helps to make the best quality industrial yarn, fabric, net, and sacks. Jute, the golden fibre, is
the raw material for one of India's oldest industries. The first jute mill started production in
Bengal in 1856. For gaining economic growth jute is the most important natural fibre crop which
helps to gain foreign currency and it is also called the golden fibre of bangladesh. Mainly raw
jute plays an important role for the economy which was originally considered as a source of raw
material for packaging industries only. Since it was the most important cash crop in Bangladesh.
Apart from that, Jute fibre is 100% biodegradable and recyclable and thus environmentally
friendly. Moreover, jute trade was needed because at ancient times in Africa and Asia to provide
cordage and weaving fiber from the stem and food from the leaves. In several historical
documents ( Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal in 1590) during the era of the great Mughal Emperor
Akbar (1542 –1605) stated that the poor villagers of India used to wear clothes made of jute.
Simple handlooms and hand spinning wheels were used by the weavers, who used to spin cotton
yarns as well. History also states that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made
of white jute from ancient times for household and other uses.
After second world war external demand was hampered with the progression of war. Then, the
market power of IJMA reduced. Another one was that Indian capital started penetrating later
World War-IL. Apart from that, Indian businessmen emerged very powerful both financially and
politically. Many companies changed their hands one after another and were taken over by
Indian businessmen. And thereafter through collision and reorganisation tee mills were briefly 9
controlled by seven or eight big business houses during 19S. At that time, the emergence of poly
packaging caused a severe threat to the growth of export and industry of Jute. Before that, The
British -capitalists had few interest in establishing manufacturing industries in this country. The
very few industries which they developed in India were such that they could not be established
elsewhere for geographical reasons. The most prominent among these industries was the Jute
industry. During the colonial period, this packaging product had enormous market opportunity as
an intermediate good and emerged as an export oriented industry that got both administrative and
external demand support to flourish (Rothermund 1993). The major events of the colonial period
can be located chronologically by dividing the entire preIndependence period into three time
phases - upto World War I, period of Great Depression and World War II (upto Independence).
In each of the phases, we find that the broad target of the industry was changing to cope with the
then situation and hence the behaviour and performance were also changing accordingly.
Performance wise the phase till World War I (WW-I), was a prosperous one for the Jute industry
where the broad target of the industry was to establish itself as a profitable and large scale entity.
Mainly when we see the history of jute trade in Bengal we noticed that the improvements in the
jute industry was even more impressive during the first three decades of the twentieth century.
While the number of jute mills increased from 38 in 1903/04 to 98 in 1929/30, production
capacity in terms of the number of installed looms went up three times and the number of
persons employed in the industry from 123,689 to 343,257. This was primarily due to the high
profitability of investment resulting from rising world demand for jute goods. The world demand
increased by 300 per cent during 1895-1912 and it went up even further during the war years. To
this was added another favourable factor ' restrictions placed by the government on the import of
machinery and mill stores. The outcome was that increased demand for jute goods had to be met
by existing mills in Bengal which placed them in a strong position to bargain. Thus, a
combination of increased world demand for jute goods and restriction on production capacity
enabled the jute mills to earn profit at a high rate, the index of net profits rising from 100 in 1914
to 570 in 1917. This prosperity did not last long. But the investment in jute mills continued to be
significantly profitable and this brought about large extension after the war. Between 1920/21
and 1929/30 as many as 21 mills came into existence and by 1930 total number of looms
increased to 54000. Side by side working time was increased from 54 to 60 hours a week. At that
time, the Great loss hit the world economy. Demand for and the price of jute goods dramatically
declined and the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) reacted by reducing the working time to
40 hours and sealing 15 percent of the looms. But these steps failed to improve the situation and
between 1929/30 and 1934/35 a total of 83000 workers were thrown out of employment. The
causes for this failure are not far. First of all, foreign countries imposed heavy duty on the import
of jute goods to protect their own industry. At that time, incidentally in 1940 Kolkata mills
accounted for 57 per cent of the total number of looms, the rest being outside the subcontinent.
Then, non-IJMA mills increased their share of the production by working 108 hours a week.
During the first five years of the depression more than 18% of the gunny bags were produced on
account of free riding and cheating by the non-member mills. The IJMA(Indian Jute Mill
Association) had always acted as a quasi-monopolistic organisation to protect and uphold the
interest of its members. But under the changed circumstances it now failed to perform the duty.
At the same time it failed to persuade the government to legislate to make the non-IJMA mills
comply with the restrictive practices.The British raj formed the BJIC ( Bengal Jute Inquiry
Committee to create reports on the state of the Jute industry in Bengal in the 1930s during the
Great Depression. It published two reports, one in 1934 and another in 1939.
In Bengal Jute was exported to South East Asia from the 17th century by the Dutch, French and
later by other Europeans. In 1790s a small export had developed to the Scottish city of Dundee,
where the flax spinning industry could use a small percentage to lower costs.Thomas Neigh, a
Dundee, Scotland merchant invented the mechanical process of spinning jute in 1833 by first
soaking it in whale oil. The first jute mill was established at Rishra, on the River Hooghly near
Calcutta in 1855 during which Mr. George Acland brought jute spinning machinery from
Dundee. Four years later, the first power driven weaving factory was set up. By 1869, five mills
were operating with 950 looms.

“History Of jute industry”

2. Changes resulting from globalisation:

Globalization has changed a lot in the world market.IT has resulted in greater interconnectedness
among markets around the world and increased communication and awareness of business
opportunities in the far corners of the globe.Now more investors or the new people can come up
with the new ideas of investments in business and study new markets at a greater distance than
before.

- Technological changes in transport industry:

Day by day we are getting developed because of tecnology.It changes a lot in the transportation
industry. Nowadays we can deliver anything all around the world even if the product is not
growing in a particular country. Globalization increases the need for efficient supply chains
where all modes of transportation are reliable. Since Bangladesh is the second largest producer
of jute in the world, it needs to export the jutes all over the world. But a lack of technological
advancements in Bangladesh's jute cultivation has stagnated the transportation of this golden
fiber around the world.By transferring the technologies of these products to the production units
of business enterprises, the market scenario of jute can be drastically improved. But this bright
prospect of technology transfer has not yet been materialized because of some serious problems
like lack of financial support to the entrepreneurs, delay in forming an organization mandated to
work for technology transfer, negligence in marketing activities, and lack of specific policy.
There are other problems too like congestion at seaports , railways, at border crossing and on
freeways occurring as a result of globalization which causes potentially unmanageable strain
infrastructure projects, inadequate infrastructure of science & technology, and poor
implementation of intellectual property rights, high and unstable prices for the jutes,
inaccessibility to jute related data, which are indirectly hindering technology transfer in the jute
sector of Bangladesh.

- Substitutes of jute and compensation:

Since jute fiber is 100% biodegradable and recyclable and also environmentally friendly, it is
not an unlimited product, means we cannot be fully dependant on this .So, there are some
substitute products which can be used and fulfill our demands which are given below-

#JUTTON:

Jutton is a type of fabric produced by mixing jute and cotton fibres.To reduce the dependency
from jute, there is a process to make jutton which involves blending jute and cotton fibers in
definite proportion to generate a new kind of textile product. It can act as a substitute for cotton
textile. Similar techniques have been adapted for blending the jute with other synthetic and
natural fibers. The products include : printed, dyed, and simple white clothes of different shades,
colours, and designs; lungi, sari, gamcha, various furnishing fabrics, bed sheets, bed covers and
other decorative products; and shirts, trousers, coats and other forms of clothing. These products
are quite authentic. After yarn production, fabrications were also made through weavers by hand
looms and power looms. The fact is these kinds of products were non-profitable which means the
production cost to the involvement of various treatments became higher.

#BANANA PLANT FIBRE(Musa sapientum):

Banana-plant fibre is strong, soft, and coarse, and a technique developed for processing the fibre
on standard jute machinery where after stapling it to 20 cm is reported. It is made by blending
Jute and Mesta. Mesta is a herbaceous plant which is an important commercial crop after cotton
and Jute. There is a disadvantage of making it, which is that the yarn was hairy, but hessian and
sacking fabrics woven with banana-fibre yarn as weft or warp and with jute yarn. On the other
hand, it complied with standard specifications and looked brighter and dyed better than
corresponding all-jute fabrics.

#THE FIBER OF OKRA PLANT:

The fiber of the okra plant can be the substitute for jute.The Department of Agriculture at
Washington has been done some experiments with the fiber of the okra plant.Since this vegetable
grows as a common weed in Southern states, by processing it properly, maybe in the near future
the plant will overthrow the hitherto impregnable Cotton-bagging Trust and even supersede
cotton itself as a material for making cheap, serviceable cloth. Which can reduce the dependency
of the jute. Hence, it cannot be comparable with jute but still in near future, the countries that
cannot produce the jute can be getting used to this plant based product.

-Secular decline and state intervention in various forms:

Secular is a descriptive word that is used to refer to market activities which occur over the long
term . And state intervention means regulatory actions taken by a government in order to affect
or interfere with decisions made by individuals ,groups or organizations regarding economic and
social matters. We all know that jute is a golden fibre of Bangladesh but it cannot be used
properly because of the corruption, inefficiency, dated technology.We have found a newspaper
called" PROTHOM ALO" where an article was found where some people have talked about how
to bring back those golden eras when jute was used to be our pride. Mirza Azam, said that,after
1975 the corruption in the jute mills was started and in 2002 after destroy ADAMZI JUTE
MILL bangladesh has lost its pride also so many workers lost their job. In that case the
unemployed rate was increasing at that time significantly. But in 2010 there has been a new law
called PACKAGE LAW has been invented where people believed that this law can bring back
our local demand for the jute.At the same time JAMY TARZI who is an European girl says that
women can make so many useful and necessary things by using jute. Which they can sell after
and make money easily which not only bring back the demands of the jute product but also can
reduce the unemployment rate from Bangladesh. Another person named HUMAYAN KHALID
says that if bangladesh can bring back its demands about the jute product , then Bangladesh can
earn 85 million dollars world widely which can be used to make public projects which can lead
to the development of the country. But on the other hand ANUARUL HAQUE says that, some
bad businessman tries to sell all the good jute plant to the Indian parties. Only 33 percent of local
farmers can get the good jute plant which is not enough to produce the local demand for the jute
products. Also, the price of the jutes are uncertain. For that, the local farmers don't get that much
encouragement to produce the jutes. NASIMA BEGUM says that the bangladesh government
has taken necessary steps and mention that in 2015 the government has requested and
encouraged people to use the jute based product to encourage more the local farmers to grow
more jutes and avoid the usage of plastic. After that we have seen that the local government has
passed a law where it is mentioned that plastic bags are fully banned and if someone uses or any
shopkeepers give the plastic bag instead of a jute bag, then they might be punished or even go to
jail. So, we can say that after 1975 to 2010, Bangladesh has lost its pride of producing a jute
because corruption, inefficiency, dated technology, presence of ghost workers and an absence of
competitive zeal and work-shyness amongst a section of the employees but after 2010,
bangladeshi government tries to bring its golden era back by producing more jute and jute based
products. Jute again has become an important export crop around the world, mainly in
Bangladesh.

3. Present Condition of Jute Trade and Industry

Jute has experienced an industry-wide slump in the last few decades. Bangladesh used to enjoy
almost the monopoly of this fiber commercially. Its share in the export market was 80% in 1947-
48 but in 1975-76 it fell to only 20%. The fall was a result of substitutes emerging such as
polyethylene, multi-walled paper bags, polypropylene and natural fibers from kenaf, hemp, sida
and sunhemp. Though the recent situation of the jute market was not so overwhelming, in
addition, CoronaVirus pandemic has added a new difficulty in this industry, jute is getting back
the lost pride. Recent focus and incentives by the government has seen a new surge of production
of the crop.

Current situation in domestic and global market:

Adamjee Jute Mills, the largest jute mill in Bangladesh was closed down by the government in
2002. After that so many steps were taken by the government to improve the condition of the jute
industry both in the local and global market. But it appears to be a bottomless pit according to
The Daily Star. A report in 2019 shows that the jute industry generally faces loss due to
anomalies in jute purchase, low productivity, inefficient key factors etc. Over the past decade,
the government handed this industry Tk7,477.32 crore to bail it out from its financial trouble, yet
it has put its hands out for more. The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation has sought Tk337 crore
to clear arrear wages until June, 2019 of its 32,740 workers and employees. The
corporation,comprising twenty two jute mills and three non-jute mills, is nowhere near to stand
on its own feet and causing heavy financial losses. Causes that have been blamed for the sorry
state of the mills are corruption, ghost workers, inefficiency, dated technology, absence of
competitive zeal and work-shyness among a section of employees.

Moreover, high production cost was one of the reasons for the current situation in the jute
industry. All these lead to closure of all the government jute mills. In 2010-11, production price
of per tonne jute goods were Tk90,201 which increased up to 40% and in 2017-18 it was
Tk1,26,286 whereas the production was almost the same. On the other hand, the efficiency of
BJMC mills is now below 50%.

Again, top markets for BJMC were India, Syria, Sudan, Thailand, Iran etc. in 2012 to 2013 but in
2017-18, its exports decreased from 49,407 to 13,301 tonnes in India, Indonesia, Syria, Iran etc.
But there is a hope that only the jute bag product market will reach $3.1billion by 2024. Hence,
cumulative loss of BJMC is 10,674 crore.
 .

The domestic sales of BJMC, however, slumped to 25,418 tonnes in fiscal 2017-18. The BJMC
chairman said that their losses will be reduced to a large extent if local demand increases. To fix
this condition so many ways out was suggested and one of them was curbing unnecessary
expenditures.

Despite boasting agro-ecological advantages for jute production, trends in recent production data
for Bangladesh signal a strong need for a system of incentives to jute farmers. Evaluation of
production data shows consistent gains in jute production in 2014-2018, going as far as a 10%
leap in 2017-18, compared to the previous year. However, production tumbled by 4% in 2018-
19, falling to 8.5 million bales. Production cuts due to high production costs, low market prices
for raw jute, and subsequently the absence of technology that could reduce production costs
Interviews with farmers during that time period revealed.

Fig. 1: Jute Production in Bangladesh, 2014-2019,

Source: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)

Since 2016, jute export earnings have been on a downward trend, reporting the heaviest decline
of 15% in 2018-19 compared to the previous year. It is interesting to note that 2018-2019 was a
particularly abysmal year for the sector as negative losses were posted in both production and
export earnings.

Fig 2: Jute Exports and Consumption, Source: Statistical Yearbook Bangladesh 2018

However, a downslide in export earnings cannot be solely blamed on the production pitfalls. The
lack of innovation required to diversify the basket is significantly at fault. For example, export
receipts from jute manufacturers accounted for 85% of total jute export receipts in 2018-2019,
while those from raw jute only accounted for only 15% in the same time period.
Raw jute, which accounts for less than 20% of jute export earnings, is exported to nearby
countries such as India, China, Pakistan, etc. and processed into other jute products. In case of
raw jute, the local industries within top export partners pose serious competition for Bangladeshi
exports. India is the largest producer of jute trailed by China and Bangladesh is the largest
exporter of jute.
Fig. 3: Jute Export Earnings, Source: Bangladesh Bank Fig 4: Export Destinations
of Raw Jute, Source: Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)
According to the data from BJMC, during a long journey of 48 years, the jute mills under the
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) have managed to log profits only in four years,
which has been a little over Tk180 crore altogether. The BJMC made a profit of Tk106.21 crore
in 1979-1980 fiscal year, Tk33.15 crore in 1980-1981 fiscal year, Tk24.73 crore in 1982-1983
fiscal year and Tk17.54 crore in 2010-11 fiscal year. Officials at the BJMC say the loss in the

just concluded fiscal year will be around Tk500 crore. The highest amount of loss of Tk729.23
crore the BJMC incurred was in 2014-2015, followed by Tk573.58 crore in 2019-2020 fiscal
year and Tk513.09 crore in 2013-2014 fiscal year. As a result in 2020 the government has
decided to revive this sector taking few steps which is giving hope of a good outcome.

Jute Sector under PPP:

In July 2020, the government has decided to shut down all 25 state owned jute mills operated by
Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation and after that declared transition to the PPP model in a bid to
modernize the jute sector and to revive this sector. Skepticism occurred among shareholders due
to this decision. Government decided to reopen mills in PPP form within six month which seems
quite impossible to some related people. The senior vice chairman of Bangladesh Jute Goods
Export Association, Lutfur Rahman left a question that who from the private sectors would be
willing to take charge of those. Yet some are hopeful.

However, Prof Akhtaruzzaman, secretary-general of Bangladesh Krishi Orthonitibid Samity,

believes the government has made the right call by bringing the state-owned jute mills under the
private-public partnership model. He said that in a free-market economy, it is hard for the
government to control everything by itself. The private sector must come forward as well. Only
then will the private sector play a major role in the economy. He added that there is a large
demand for the product in the international market but we were unable to meet it with the supply.
Also, the profit margin should be considered. The overall circumstances show that the
government was unable to bear the losses.

The PPP process may need two to three years to come to fruition, he said. Prof Akhtaruzzaman
also added that the government may face a transition period of two to three years, during which
they should take control of the international market through economic diplomacy and ensure the
multifaceted use of jute products.

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic

Few months back, export data of both raw jute and jute goods revealed a high dependency on the
exports of finished jute products, especially luxury products such as carpets, from export partners
to the developed countries in the West. In the event of a recession, triggered by COVID-19
pandemic, the demand for such luxury items will significantly decline, and the export of jute
goods and raw jute in Bangladesh will face a downfall.

With Bangladesh continuing to navigate its way through the Covid-19 pandemic, recently, a
report shows that there is a 44% increase in export earnings in the month of July, at $3.91billion
compared to the $2.71billion earned in the previous month. The export earnings were not
primarily driven by the RMG industry but rather by the better performance of other sectors
including jute and jute goods.

Last update:

According to the Textile and Jute Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah, the jute sector is being
overhauled. He said that the present government has taken effective measures to modernize this
sector considering the demand of the international market. Bangladesh is working to diversify
the use of environment-friendly jute as well as increase the production, market and use the high
value added jute goods. It has already been possible to open up a new horizon in the jute sector
by producing charcoal from jute sticks, composite jute textiles, jute leaf drink and golden bags as
an alternative to polythene bags. Hence, there is a growing global interest in and consensus over
the use of natural fiber as an alternative. Moreover, some 700 entrepreneurs are producing 282
types of eye catching jute goods and most of which are being exported in various countries.

According to a report of “DhakaTribune” on 10th September, 2020, jute farmers in Manikganj

have a reason to smile. A better harvest has left the Ghiorupazila, a famous wholesale jute
market, buzzing with happy buyers and sellers. Moreover, farmers are able to command better
prices for the crop which is also eco-friendly. Furthermore, to keep up the present condition and
to bring back the glory days of the jute industry we should cut down on plastic and use the jute
products and represent our country to the outer world.

4. Various options to protect Jute Industry

Jute is the name of the fiber or plant used to make hessian, gunny, cloth etc. Jute fibers are
settled primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin. It is also a long, soft and shiny linen
fiber that can be that can be spun into strong threads or coarse. Most of the people here are
farmer and for this jute is very important part for our country. But there is no denying the fact
that jute industry is not going well. At this moment jute industry is facing many problems in our
country. In these cases farmers do not feel motivated to grow just because they do not get their
due price when they sell. In these case we should definitely took some steps to protect jute
industry.

1) First of all, the jute industry should do some commercial production of 'golden bags' which is
eco friendly, it should be enhanced and their use should be ensured everywhere.

2) Secondly, if high bestowing jute varieties can be grown, the farmers will have to spend less
while growing jute.

3) thirdly, our country's government should make a policy that requires grains, rice or sugar to be
packed in jute made material. If the government makes this mandatory then the jute industry
would be able to enjoy a guaranteed market due to a government policy.

4) However, our country should assure the interest of farmers so that they keep on growing jute
enormous in their field.

5) Moreover, The potential and expectations of our jute industry should be highlighted through
many programs and exhibitions on National Jute Day on March 6.

6) Furthermore, the government's new jute policy is expected to concentrate on enhancing the
country's production capacity, growth of export earnings and diversification of the product basis.

7) Providing various types of training on jute products which are condimented according to the
requirement of the entrepreneurs.

As most of the people in our country are poor and farmers or labourers so in this case the labour
cost should be increased as well for their betterment so that they do not have to leave the jute
industry for facing financial or various problems.

9) The government also should set up instructing cells so the farmers get their due share of
profits from manufacturers of jute products so that they get motivated to keep working for jute.

10) Giving importance to modern technology. As we can see a little use of modern technology in
the jute sector. Some private companies had already started using new technology but they only
use it for some specified or different products.
5. Recommendation
Jute is a very precious and vital sector from economical, agricultural, industrial, and commercial
point of view in Bangladesh. Once upon a time jute was called the ‘Golden Fiber’ of Bangladesh.
But due to continuous loss every year, the present and future prosperity and growth of the jute
industry is in a vulnerable condition. There are some recommendations below to improve the jute
industry of Bangladesh-

- Supplies of enough jute seeds should be increased. The biggest problem of declining jute
industry is jute farmers are not getting enough jute seeds. Only 33% farmers are getting good
quality seeds but for that farmers have to depend on different varieties of good quality seeds
which are only imported from India. Every year about four thousand and five hundred ton jute
seeds are needed in Bangladesh. Whereas there can be found only one thousand and 200 ton jute
seeds and we have to depend on India for the rest three thousand and three hundred seeds. Also,
most of the quality of those imported seeds are not good enough and if the seeds quality is not
that good then the jute will also not be good enough and if the jute is not good enough then
everything will be affected. We need more local seeds to work on this properly and improve the
jute production. So, in this case Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC)
should provide the strong importance in this.

- The loan should be given to the workers with easy conditions and less interest. As like
other interest systems which are implemented for onion or garlic farmers that is they are given
loan only with 2% interest, jute farmers are also should be given like this type of interest system
so they can work more for jute production and the unemployment rate will also decrease in this
way. Also, workers will be more interested to work with this and they can create varieties of
design and entrepreneurs will not stop at the middle of the road.

- More importance should be given on the design, quality and variation of the jute products.
We are lacking behind with the all old designs for jute products but to compete with the
international market we need to bring eventual difference in design. We have to be aware of the
trends, fads etc. to compete with the international market and take our jute industry to a
successful level. Moreover, variation and diversity in jute products should bring in our jute
products. For example, jute products are not only confined in jute bags but also jute should be
used in other accessories and that should be mandatory to use from the government. Also, jute
can be alternatives of plastics, clothes, leather or woods so that the selling can be increased for
jute and also exporting will also rise. For this, different NGOs, entrepreneurs and Jute
Corporation should move forward and work together.
- There can be arranged different fair internationally specially for jute products so that our
jute products can be shown to foreign countries and also can create demand. In addition,
entrepreneurs can take the training, learn and make demandable products and export them. We
should increase export by switching to consortium. Bostro and Pat Montronaloy, Export
Promotion Beauro, Jute Diversification Centre, SME Foundation all should work together to
increase the jute usages and exporting in foreign countries.

- Most important problem is there is no good quality raw jute. The quality of raw jute
should be improved. There is a huge market of jute, if more demand can be created then many
employment can be done and it will also effect the economy greatly. When small entrepreneurs
get any order of the work then they don’t get good quality jute-sticks/fibers (ash). Indian bought
good quality jute-sticks from our country so in the international market those small entrepreneurs
don’t succeed. Therefore, this problem should be monitored and solved.

- One possible direction of the jute sector in Bangladesh could take is to consolidate
production capacity within the more efficient mills and also to form a good market-responsive
and cost-competitive industry. Government’s new jute policy is predicted to specialize in
enhancement of the country’s production capacity, diversification of the merchandise base and
growth of the export earnings. If it's complemented with good corporate governance practices
and policies within the remaining BJMC mills to assure that both private and public mills can
compete on an equal footing then it would be really great for us to improve the jute industry
sector. All the closed mills are also should be reopened.

- In jute production places, there should be more information centers or training centers
about the jute manufacturing, production, marketing and so on. There should be help centers in
different districts. BJMC can play an important role in imparting different technical knowledge
in the industries producing spare and machinery. In addition, the Government should set up a
training programme for the existing entrepreneurs for the development of different technical
knowledge in producing jute mills machinery and spare parts Also, it would not be useful if one
entrepreneur only can make the product. He has to know about the business, calculation, market
managing, distribution etc. so, proper guidance is needed for them. Moreover, there should be
more schools, colleges, universities for fashion designing.

- Women engagement in jute production should be increased so that they can make varieties of
jute products and also many employment can be done by this.

- The jute laws of 2014 should be finalized as soon as possible and there should be laws and
policies implementation in a proper way.

-Government and non-government help is strongly needed to strengthen the market

internationally.
Conclusion
Bangladesh Jute industry is beset with certain very serious problems, it is mostly depend on
heavy subsidies from the Government, and there is growing feeling in the mind of the people that
this industry which fed with locally produced indigenous raw materials should be able to stand
on its own legs by effective and efficient husbanding of human and material resources.
Privatization cannot be the solution to this situation. What we actually need is to reestablish our
jute industry with sincere effort from the side of employees as well as from the side of
Government. This is, of course, beyond doubt that the first problem to be tackled is to formulate
and affective and well-balanced jute policy properly. Because if we want to exercise control over
the industry to bring out operational efficiency we must have a proper workable jute policy.
Above all sincerity, honesty, and integrity of the employee are the best panacea of the lot of
management ills. This sector has a good potential to earn a lot of foreign currencies for
Bangladesh. Because at present, people are very cautious about the environment and jute is an
environment friendly product. We should work to improve the jute geo-textile and also
marketing it to the other countries otherwise we will lose the chance of earning a lot of foreign
currency.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jute_trade

http://www.bjmc.gov.bd/site/page/c016d82d-5e15-4e7c-8bcd-a52df6324f94/%E0%A6%8F
%E0%A6%95-%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%9C%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87-
%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%9F%E0%A6%B6%E0%A6%BF
%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AA
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00405007408630342

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18900215.2.67&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/economics-econometrics-and-finance/state-
intervention

· www.dhakatribune.com

· www.thedailystar.net

· www.textiletoday.com.bd

· www.bdnews24.com

· www.globaltrademag.co