Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest clothes manufacturer after China with its clothing industry growing, the country’s need for cotton is also increasing. For many years, Bangladesh is among the world’s largest cotton importers and largest importer of Uzbek cotton, while to this day it had never imported cotton from Kyrgyzstan due to a number of barriers (such as quality control). But on May 25, a first batch of Kyrgyz cotton arrived in the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh, said Temirbek Erkinov, the Honorary Consulate of Bangladesh in Kyrgyzstan.

The Honorary Consul of Bangladesh in Bishkek further added that in Kyrgyzstan, cotton is cultivated in the south of the country. The country could not only successfully sell all of its cotton to this new market but also increase its cotton cultivation manifold, given that Kyrgyzstan’s current cotton production is equal to as little as 4-5 percent of Bangladesh’s cotton import.

With the purpose to establish logistics routes for the export of Kyrgyz cotton to Bangladesh, the Honorary Consulate with the support from the Embassy of Bangladesh organized the shipment of the first batch of Kyrgyz cotton to this Southeast Asian country.

Talks are also currently underway on construction of a joint cotton-processing factory in Kyrgyzstan and delivery of wool from Kyrgyzstan to Bangladesh.