Pulp, paper can boost use of jute: economist

Production of pulp and paper from jute on a massive scale can boost jute use which will ultimately help revive the country's jute sector, said an economist yesterday.

If such production kicks off, a single product will be capable of consuming a huge amount of jute, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, a former adviser to a caretaker government.

Jute consumption in pulp and paper manufacturing will help create demand of this natural fibre inside the country, bringing a lot of benefits to people involved in this sector ranging from growers to exporters, he said.

“However, we need a jute pulp and paper act, like that on mandatory use of jute bags,” Rahman told a seminar on development and diversification of the jute industry, at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

So jute can be the driver of economic growth as had happened historically in the country, firstly helping the creation of a middle class and also initiating industrialisation, he said.

Rahman suggested businesspeople and traders lobby with the government for arranging two kinds of funds for the jute sector's revival, one for technology upgradation and another for innovation.

The DCCI organised the seminar against the backdrop of opinions that diversification of jute goods through the sector's revival has the potential to earn more foreign currency.

Jute traders, researchers, exporters and government high-ups participated in the seminar.

Golam Dastagir Gazi, textiles and jute minister, said he was going to open a display centre in Motijheel where all types of jute goods would be sold in an attempt to grab the local market.

Such display centres will be set up in divisional and district levels gradually, he said.

The minister also said if Bangladeshi jute exporters fail to grab world markets with quality jute goods, other natural goods would do so.

A massive market for jute goods has been created worldwide as consumers no longer have a liking for plastic goods, said Gazi.

DCCI President Osama Taseer said about 60 countries have demand for Bangladeshi jute goods and Bangladesh annually earns over $1 billion from export of jute and jute goods.

He said in order to increase export of jute and jute goods, more focus must be put on diversification. “At present 235 types of jute goods are being made by our entrepreneurs,” Taseer said.

In Bangladesh, about 0.5 million people are directly engaged with the jute sector but there is also the need for skilled workforce, the DCCI chief also said.

DCCI Director Rashedul Karim Munna presented a keynote paper, mentioning that according to a World Bank report the annual demand for natural products has increased 2-3 percent worldwide in the last three to four years.

Munna also said according to International Jute Study Group, the global annual demand for shopping bags was 500 billion pieces last year.

The market size for jute bags will reach $2.6 billion by 2021 whereas for home textile $130 billion, he said.

Shah Muhammad Nasim, chairman of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation, said Bangladesh has the opportunity to save Tk 800 crore to Tk 1,000 crore every year if it could produce jute yarn as many millers import viscose to make fabrics.

Use of jute geotextiles can also save crores of taka in Bangladesh, said Md Asaduzzaman, director general of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute. He also urged the government for increasing banking facilities for small entrepreneurs.