Export Readiness Fund - Erf

Implemented by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and funded by the World Bank, the Export Readiness Fund (ERF) was part of the Export Competitiveness for Jobs (EC4J) Project. The ERF was a US$17.5 million matching-grant programme which, under three funding windows, provides financial support to eligible Bangladeshi firms from the leather and leather goods, footwear, plastics, and light engineering sectors, respectively, to identify gaps, catalyse investment and improve Environmental, Social and Quality (ESQ) standards; and, under a fourth funding window, supports the design, development, scale up and/or diversification of firms as global suppliers for the manufacture of Medical and Personal Protective Equipment (MPPE) products in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. All funding windows were established to enhance beneficiary firms’ competitiveness on the export markets. Grant support was provided for advisory services, training, and equipment that enables eligible firms to identify and address ESQ compliance and other gaps and upgrade their factories, improve production processes and enhance product quality, as required by international buyers/brands and the regulatory standards of the major export markets. The target export industries for the ERF, which are Government priorities for diversifying Bangladesh’s export basket, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the leather and leather goods, footwear (leather and non-leather), plastics, and light engineering (covering electronics and electrical goods, automobiles (including motorbikes) and parts, bicycles, accumulators and batteries) sectors, respectively. The ERF was launched on 5 January 2020 and was in operation until November 2023.