Bangladesh’s plan to turn its leather and footwear industry into a $5 billion export sector by 2030 could remain out of reach unless long-standing environmental and compliance problems at the Savar tannery estate are fixed, industry leaders said yesterday.

Bangladesh produces a significant share of the world’s raw leather, yet captures only a small fraction of the global leather goods trade.

When Bangladesh’s export story is mentioned, garments usually dominate the headline. Yet beneath that louder narrative, another sector has been steadily gaining international attention.

Leather exports rose 9.8% year-on-year in Jul-Mar of FY24

Growth in leather footwear exports from Bangladesh was unsatisfactory in the first seven months of the current financial year as the economic fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war has been weighing down shipments since September, according to industry people.