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A move is underway to set up a state-of-the-art export-oriented furniture factory in the country with Saudi investment, officials said.
The factory will be set up at Kalurghat in Chattogram on a land of the Bangladesh Forest Industries Development Corporation (BFIDC) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
"A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed Monday between the BFIDC and the ED Engineering of Saudi Arabia for setting up the furniture factory," a high official told the FE.
The BFIDC will supply raw materials from its rubber gardens for manufacturing modern furniture in the plant.
The BFIDC has 17 rubber gardens on 36,654 acres of land in Chattogram, Sylhet, Tangail and Sherpur districts.
Usually a rubber tree maintains its usefulness for at least 25 years, and after that period it gradually losses capacity for rubber production, according to the official.
Rubber trees of the BFIDC's gardens that have already lost their economic life expectancy will be used for making different types of furniture in the factory.
He further said at present there are around 1.8 million rubber trees in the gardens, which have lost economic life expectancy and can be used as raw materials for making furniture.
The BFIDC now operates seven industrial units that mainly produce furniture for local demand, but the entity does not export furniture.
The furniture, produced in the proposed factory, will be exported to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are the member countries of the GCC, a political and economic alliance of six middle-eastern countries.
The local furniture sector has registered a steady growth of 20.27 percent over the last few years due to cheap labour, adoption of modern technology, and competitive rate, according to the sector insiders.
Some private sector companies are now exporting furniture that have attracted global buyers for quality and innovative designs, they added.
The country earned US$ 63.18 million from furniture shipment in fiscal year 2017-18.
The UAE, Canada, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Malaysia, China, Japan, Australia, the United States, Belgium, Switzerland and the European Union are the main export destinations of Bangladeshi furniture.
China is the largest furniture producing country in the world. But the second largest economy of the world has started converting its industries to high-tech ones. As a result, Bangladesh has good possibilities to grab a significant share of global furniture market.