(WIPO code: BD) (latest review October 2023)

by KATZAROV SA, Geneva, Switzerland

General Information

Area

146,000 sq. km.

Population

167,184,465 (2023).

Capital

Dhaka.

Language

Bangla (official).

Currency

Bangladeshi taka.

Imports

Foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, crude oil and raw materials for industries.

Exports

Mainly raw jute, jute goods, hides, skins, tea, paper, newsprint, ready made garments, fertilizer, fish and vegetables.

Main Industries

Jute, cotton textiles, sugar, newsprint, pharmaceuticals, petroleum products, chemicals, paints and varnishes, matches, manufacture of cigarettes, fertilizers from natural gas, steel mills, engineering goods, handloom cloth and garments.

Main Products

Rice, wheat, pulses, sugar cane, jute, tea, rubber, newsprint, tobacco leaves, rayon and natural gas.

General Remarks

Legislation

Most of the laws of British India were adopted by Bangladesh as by the other States, which were part and parcel of the British Empire. These adoptions were made by Laws Continuance Enforcement Orders, though later amendments were made wherever required.

A new Patent Act came into force in 2022, repealing the old Patents and Designs Act 1911. The draft for a new Act for industrial designs has been approved, but is not in force at the time of writing.