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The government has launched a $10.0 million fund for 650 firms in four sectors to be distributed over three years with the help of the World Bank.
Commerce Secretary Md Jafar Uddin inaugurated the Export Readiness Fund at the Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
The fund aims to directly assist firms in the four sectors – leather and leather goods, footwear, plastics, and light-engineering.
The government will distribute the fund in three categories, starting from a maximum of $5,000 to 400 companies each.
As many as 200 other firms will get up to $40,000 each. In the third category, 50 companies will get $200,000 each.
The application process in the first category, or “Window 1”, started along with the inauguration of the programme on Sunday.
The companies willing to apply for the fund in “Window 2” and “Window 3” will be able to start the process in March.
All organisations having trade licences, or business companies or their partners can apply for the funds.
A huge drop in Bangladesh’s export earnings has left businesses and analysts worried.
The export earnings in the first five months of the 2019-20 fiscal year was $15.77 billion or 12.59 percent less than the target and 7.6 percent less year-on-year.