Bangladesh Handloom Board

The Bangladesh Handloom Board is focused on the long-term sustainability of traditional handloom products and transitioning heritage revival projects into commercially viable models as government funding concludes.

Established January 1978 under the Bangladesh Handloom Board Ordinance, 1977 (Ordinance No. LV of 1977), amended by the Bangladesh Handloom Board Act, 2013. Head office: BTMC Building (5th Floor), 7-9 Kawran Bazaar, Dhaka-1215. Chairman is Abu Ahmed Siddiquei (Additional Secretary on deputation); confirmed for 2024 from bhb.gov.bd officers page and mawbiz.com.bd; no verifiable change of chairmanship found for 2026, so head_since is left null. Staff: 372 sanctioned posts (permanent + temporary), of which 237 occupied as of the most recent Prothom Alo figure; staff_count reflects sanctioned strength. Jamdani GI: Bangladesh was the first country to register Jamdani as a GI product (2016, DPDT); Dhakai Muslin GI followed in 2020 with BHB as applicant. Weaver base: 1.5 million workers cited consistently across Banglapedia, Wikipedia, and official portal; this is the standard BHB figure and includes both direct and cooperative-linked weavers. Loom shed programme (8,064 sheds) sourced from TBS News August 2025. The board serves Sirajganj (31% of national output) and Tangail (10.9%) as primary weaver districts; microcredit 5% service charge figure from academic sources cross-checked against BHB mandate documents. No FY2025-26 budget line item for BHB was found in public government budget documents; annual_budget_bdt left null. Activity score 4: BHB is a low-media-visibility entity; the Jamdani GI discourse and loom shed programme are the main traceable activities in the 90-day window.