JBS Vol 13. Num 2. 2011 - Emergence of Export-Oriented Shipbuilding Industry in Bangladesh: Current Position & Future Prospects

The export basket of Bangladesh is very limited where ready-made garments alone account for nearly 80 percent of its total exports. The extreme dependence of export earnings on the ready-made garments may pose serious threats in the near future. Thus, product diversification is necessary in that case shipbuilding could be a new horizon. The giant ship building nations such as Korea, Japan, China, and Vietnam have been booked with large orders for the next ten years. Some countries have already announced that they will not go for building ships less than 25,000 DWT (Dead Weight Tonnage). This opens up an opportunity for Bangladesh. If Bangladesh could nurture this opportunity with a helping hand from the government, as well as from other quarters, it could be the second-largest export earning industry after ready-made garments within less than 10 years. But the shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh currently faces several problems such as high rate of bank guarantee, lack of working capital with low interest rate, lack of availability of land on river banks to build shipyards, etc., which should be solved on a priority basis to get results early from this industry.