Plastic goods exporters to get cash incentive: Tofail

Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Tuesday said the government would give cash incentive to the exporters of plastic goods against their export volumes to push forward the growth of the sector.
The government’s move came following the exporters’ demand for incentive.
‘Not only the export of plastic goods but exports of all types of non-traditional items will get cash incentive from the government. The government will offer the facility to ensure export product diversification,’ Tofail said at the inaugural ceremony of the International Plastic Fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Chan Chao International Company Ltd, Taiwan are organising the four-day event.
‘I hope the export earnings from the plastic sector will exceed $1 billion in 2021 and the government will provide the entrepreneurs with all-out support to utilise the potential of the plastic sector,’ Tofail said.
He asked the BPGMEA leaders to identify the problems of the sector and said the government would solve all the problems as the sector generated employment for 12 lakh people.
Earlier the plastic goods exporters demanded that the government should give them cash incentive until the generalised system of preferences in the US market was restored.
BPGMEA president Jashim Uddin demanded that the government should establish a plastic industrial park and to review the packaging act.
The US scrubbed the GSP facilities citing the poor labour condition in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh but the plastic sector is the victim of the decision, he said.
He said that the plastic sector in Bangladesh was rapidly growing with the current domestic market of around Tk 9,000 crore and the export market of Tk 2,700 crore.
There are about 5,000 small, medium and large plastic manufacturing units in the country, Jashim added.
State minister for finance MA Mnnan and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed also spoke at the programme.
Local and international plastic goods manufacturers are participating in the fair with 350 stalls and showcasing their goods like household items, packaging materials, moulds, toys items, pharmaceutical industry items, furniture, melamine items, garments accessories items and polypropylene (PP) woven bag.
The export earnings from plastic in the first half of the current financial year stood at $53.64 million which is 40.35 per cent higher than the earnings in the same period of the FY 2013-14, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data.
In the FY 2013-14, Bangladesh earned $85.7 million from plastic export, data showed.