Export to Italy, the sixth largest destinations of Bangladeshi goods would seriously hamper as Corona pandemic engulf Rome with devastating progress. The major remittance earning destination is also hit hard when Bangladeshi NRB’s are locked down for over two weeks.

Italian buyers requested many producers here in Bangladesh to suspend production or cancel order until the situation became normal.

“ Our Italian Buyer Cannonntex and Wexmon have requested us not to supply goods until further request is placed,” Abul Khaier, Managing Director of AK Sweater Ltd. Naraynganj told Business Mirror.

Bangladeshi NRBs living in Italy send on an average US$65 a month, according to Bangladesh Bank sources said.

“We received on an average $1.0 to $1.2 million a month at our branch. But this month we only received $55,000,” a officer of Rupali Bank Foreign Exchange branch said.

Italy now has more than 53,000 recorded infections and more than 4,800 dead, and the rate of increase keeps growing, with more than half the cases and fatalities coming in the past week. On Saturday, officials reported 793 additional deaths, by far the largest single-day increase so far. Italy has surpassed China as the country with the highest death toll, becoming the epicenter of a shifting pandemic.

Bangladesh export to Italy worth US$1.01 billion for the first eight months of the current 2019-20 fiscal, While the export earning was $1.64 billion in the previous fiscal.

The main export earning products are readymade garment, footwear, frozen foods, tobacco and plastic goods.

Following good relations between two countries, Italy had been contributing much on our economy in respect of employing Bangladeshi people as workers since 2002. In 2018-2019, among top 30 remittance sender countries, Italy ranked 9th.  In the said fiscal year, a total of $ 757.88 million came in Bangladesh as remittance from Italy.