Export Dreams On Hold: How Bonded Reform Is Leaving SMEs Behind

For two decades, I’ve believed -- perhaps foolishly -- that in Bangladesh, any SME could dream of becoming an exporter. That a small workshop in Narayanganj, Bogura, or Jashore could someday see its products sold in New York, Berlin, or Brisbane. That technology, payment platforms like PayPal, and global marketplaces like Amazon could unlock the world for the little guys.

But once again, the FY2025–26 budget lands with a dull thud, offering a "solution" wrapped in old thinking: a Central Bonded Warehouse (CBW) system. It's supposed to make export easier. In reality, it might just make it harder -- unless you're a large industrial player with logistics teams, a full-time customs consultant, and a VIP pass at the NBR.

A Great Idea: For Big Players Only

A CBW is essentially a large, shared warehouse where duty-free imported raw materials can be stored for export production. Think Dubai’s JAFZA, but with more paperwork and fewer functioning scanners.

Sounds modern, right? Sure -- if you’re in Dhaka or Chittagong, can afford the trucking costs, and have scale. But for 95% of Bangladesh’s SMEs, this is just another central solution that bypasses them completely. No infrastructure, no access, no point.

It’s like building a 12-lane highway through Gulshan and calling it a national transport policy.

What We Really Need: Bonded Access with Bank Guarantee

Instead of making SMEs jump through flaming hoops to access bonded benefits, let them import raw materials duty-free against a bank guarantee. Exporters already operate under tight margins and brutal timelines. Let them use their own facilities, fulfill their export orders, and if they fail to deliver -- NBR cashes the bank guarantee. It’s that simple.

This isn’t some radical utopia. India does it. Vietnam does it. The EU calls it Inward Processing Relief. And here we are, still debating whether SMEs can be trusted with a few rolls of bonded veneer.

Let’s Talk About “Risk”

Ah yes -- the dreaded “misuse” excuse. That SMEs will evade duties, flood the local market, and cause an economic collapse worthy of IMF intervention. Never mind that the RMG sector -- with its full bonded privilege -- routinely pops up in customs audit scandals. Apparently, they’re mature enough to handle it. But a small agro-processor in Jessore? Too risky.

Let me spell it out: a bank guarantee is literally designed to eliminate risk. If the exporter doesn’t fulfill their commitment, the government gets paid. End of story.

So the only real "risk" here is that some people in the current system will lose their cut -- and that’s not a policy problem, that’s a law enforcement problem.

What SMEs Are Asking For

We're not demanding charity. We're demanding a shot. Give SMEs:

• Partial bond access, secured by BG

• Digitized customs process

• Freedom to operate from their own premises

• Integration with payment platforms like PayPal

• Support for cross-border e-commerce

We’re ready to compete. Just stop tying our hands behind our backs while telling us to “increase exports.”

The Export Dream Isn’t Dead -- Just Ignored

The government says it wants export diversification. Great. But that won’t happen with a few central warehouses in Dhaka and Gazipur. It will happen when a young entrepreneur in Sylhet can order parts from China, assemble a product, sell it on Amazon, get paid via Stripe or PayPal, and ship it out -- all without needing to bribe five layers of bureaucracy just to reclaim their own margin.

Final Word

Export-led growth should be a movement -- not a monopoly. If we want the next generation of Bangladeshi exporters to rise, we need to trust them, back them financially, and give them the tools -- not traps -- to succeed.

Until then, all this talk about “economic zones” and “digital Bangladesh” is just that -- talk.