International Market Access for Jute Diversified Products (JDPs) in Bangladesh .

Traidcraft Exchange (TX) is the sister NGO of Traidcraft plc, the largest fair trade organisation in the UK . Tradecraft's mission is to fight poverty through trade, and as such is committed to the concept of sustainable development. Tradecraft started its business by selling jute products from Bangladesh . Till now jute products constitute a substantial part of Tradecraft's procurement from Bangladesh . In fact, it is the policy decision of the organization to procure jute products only from Bangladesh , though India and China produces better quality and price competitive products.

Jute was once called the Golden Fibre of Bangladesh because it used to earn the major portion of the country's foreign currency. But since late 80's, the golden era of jute began to erode, as plastic and other artificial materials became available as cheap substitute for jute. But in recent days, jute has started to regain some of its glory. Since, environmental consciousness is increasing among the people, especially in the developed countries, they are prone to use natural fibre based products rather than plastics and other products causing imbalance in the environment. Experts foresee a huge growing market for diversified jute products in the EU and other countries in near future.

n this backdrop, it is essential to explore and penetrate new markets for Bangladeshi jute products since the country produces the best quality jute in the world. But the sector is struggling with many problems. That's why Bangladesh is unable to compete with India and China , which serve most of the world demand. The objective of the project of Tradecraft Exchange is to take effective intervention necessary in any of these areas but more immediately in the area of product development and market access.

The proposed study would be undertaken with a view to identifying effective interventions in the area of product development in the JDP sub-sector. The objectives of the study are as follows:

• To identify the product categories having current and future growth potential in the export markets.
• To identify and perform the SWOT analysis of the major players in the JDP sub sector (Who are predominantly producing identified major categories) in the country in order to enable Traidcraft to determine possible partners and target beneficiaries.
• To assess existing capacities in the sub-sector in terms of availability of raw materials and technology and find out which of the potential JDPs can be produced in Bangladesh competitively.
• To identify the gap between required and existing product quality, technical skills, production efficiency, innovation, management, marketing and promotional skills and resources, market knowledge.
• To recommend specific interventions that will have positive impact on the country's competitiveness in the value added JDP sub-sector.

The scopes of the study are as follows:

Sector-focus:

• Though jute is no more a major export commodity from Bangladesh, it's still the third most important source of foreign exchange. Bangladesh produces the finest quality jute. But bulk of its export is in the form of raw jute, jute yarn, low grade textile and traditional jute goods like Hessian, sacking, carpet-backing cloth, etc. These are low-value goods that face tremendous competition from other countries like China and India and also from other substitutes like plastics. So, the focus of this study will be on the diversified use of jute in producing higher value added products.

Value Chain and product category:

• The product category should be selected based on current and potential demand in the export market, especially European market by collecting market information, trend analysis, comparative data analysis of major exporting countries (India, China) and valid projections based on secondary information.
• Availability of yarn and fabric is critical in choosing the product category. Since Bangladesh is not yet in a position to produce high value products, e.g. fine quality fabric based fashion wear, etc. will not be given much importance. Production of the products should not involve huge (large scale) investment and complicated technology. Rather it should be hand made or semi mechanised using simple technology. The prospects and diversification of hand-woven jute fabrics will also be considered.

Selection and analysis of organizations:

The later part of the study will concentrate on the product development area in the JDP sub-sector, which should incorporate the followings:

• The study will focus on both private sector and intermediary organizations involved in producing value-added jute products (Not fully mechanized) in Bangladesh who are already exporting/ ready to export/ potential to export in near future. The study should cover at least 10 leading JDP producing organizations.
• Company profile should include information like years of operation, product range, manpower, production process, management expertise, export information and strengths & weaknesses.