Bhairab is a renowned upazila under Kishoreganj district. An ancient business center located on the banks of the Meghna river next to the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. Over the years after a lot of ups and downs, a new chapter in the development of the economy emerged as an apparently neglected sector – the Bhairab footwear industry. This sector is currently waving Bhairab with its potential. This quietly growing sector is emerging as a source of immense business potential for the entire country including Bhairab.

Behind the development of the footwear industry in Bhairab is a long history of struggle. When the shoe industry began to expand in Calcutta during British rule, around 1930, many people from different areas including Shimul Kandi, Gazaria, Manikdi, Kalika Prasad of Bhairab Upazila worked as workers in shoe factories. After the partition of India in 1947, these workers returned to the country and started working in shoe factories of non-Bengalis in several areas including Old Dhaka, Mirpur. They acquired skills from there and later gradually built a shoe factory in their own village in Bhairab. But in a real sense, this industry has developed here since the nineties. Due to the violence of extortionists, shortage of space and increase in operational costs, many have already started working in Bhairab.

At present, these factories have been expanded in at least 20 villages including Kamalpur, Jamalpur, Haji Full Miar Paduka Market, Shambhupur’s Salam Market, Chandiber, Kamalpur Bus Stand, Sadutlaghat, Shimulkandi, Banshbari, Ghazaria, Manikdi, Kalikaprasad in Bhairab town area. Seeing the success of the footwear industry in Bhairab, footwear industry is also developing in Kuliarchar, Bajitpur and Belab upazilas and is developing day by day. A huge amount of workers have been involved in this industry in search of employment. Along with this there are several shoe box manufacturing factories as well. The shoes manufactured in Bhairab are now quite popular across the country due to attractive designs, relatively low prices and quality. Bhairab’s shoes are also widely appreciated commercially by traders. Due to the increasing expansion of this industry, there has been ample employment opportunities for the local unemployed. One of the most important footwear industries in Bangladesh has developed spontaneously in Bhairab.