The government is working very hard to remove the existing barriers in the export of fruits and vegetables to developed countries including Europe, said Agriculture MinisterDrMuhammad AbdurRazzaque.
He made this remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a view-exchange meeting held at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Saturday, after inspecting the cold storage of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).
"We want to export agricultural products not only to the Middle East, but also to the main markets of developed countries including Europe and Japan. Therefore, work has already started to implement good agricultural practices in the country to remove export barriers. ”, he said.
“There was no international standard lab in the country but we have set it up. From there the certification has started. Work is underway to set up a vacuum heat treatment plant for mango export,”he added.
The Agriculture Minister further said Bangladesh's exports are mainly dependent on garments, but the exports need to be diversified. For this, the export of agricultural products must be increased. There is a lot of potential for export of agricultural products. To make full use of this potential, work is underway to keep agricultural products safe from production to shipment.
He said the capacity of BADC's cold storage at the airport would be further enhanced for safe export.
The issues of cargo handling, space and cargo rental at the airport during the export of fruits and vegetables have already been discussed between the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism and the representatives of fruit and vegetable exporters. Work is underway to make these more export-friendly and easier for agricultural products.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism MdMahbub Ali, Senior Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture MdMesbahul Islam, Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism MdMokammel Hossain, Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority Air Vice Marshal MdMofidur Rahman, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Director and CEO Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal, Director General of Agriculture Extension Department MdAsadullah, Director General of Agriculture Marketing Department Mohammad Yusuf and others were present in the meeting presided over by BADC Chairman Dr Amitabh Sarker.