Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Thursday the government will provide incentives to the export-oriented industries that have been affected by the suspension of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facilities by the US.
"We have made allocation for incentives for the affected exporting sectors and it will be announced shortly," the Finance Minister said.
He, however, said the country's export sector has been affected badly following the suspension of GSP.
Mr Muhith was speaking at the inauguration of the 9th International Plastic Fair 2014 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
The Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and the Chan Chao International Co Ltd of Taiwan have jointly organised the four-day fair.
President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Chairman of the Bengal Group Limited (BGL) Md Morshed Alam, MP, Executive Director of the Chan Chao International Company Limited Tiger Lin, and BPGMEA general secretary KM Iqbal Hossain addressed the function, among others with BPGMEA president Md Jashim Uddin in the chair.
The Finance Minister said the country's export-oriented industries have been facing some obstacles because of the suspension of GSP facilities.
"We have progressed a lot to get back the GSP facilities and the ongoing difficulties will go in a short time," he hoped.
Mr Muhith said the plastic sector is one of the very promising sectors of the country.
"The sector has achieved tremendous success in the last few years, and it will attain a strong position if the present trend continues," he said.
Mr Muhith said the government will take prompt steps to meet the needs of the plastic sector businesses including setting up of a separate plastic estate and the proposed 'Bangladesh Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (BIPET).
FBCCI president Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed said the present government is industry-friendly, and is working to make a revolution in this sector.
"The people saw a big uplift in the agriculture sector as all kinds of assistance were extended to the farmers and now it is the time to do something big in the industrial sector," he said.
BGL chairman Md Morshed Alam, MP, urged the government to meet various demands of the plastic businesses as the sector has big economic prospects.
BPGMEA president Md Jashim Uddin, in his address of welcome, highlighted different demands of the plastic businesses. He said Bangladesh is an emerging economy in every sector including plastic.
"The export growth of plastic products is on an average 20 per cent since the last 10 years. Some 30 to 35 companies are exporting products of around 3,000 plastic factories," he said.
About the fair, the BPGMEA president said that around 300 companies, which are participating in the Expo 210, are foreign. The countries were China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the UAE, the UK, the USA and Vietnam.
The Bangladeshi companies are taking part in 15 categories-plastic household items, packaging materials, moulds, toys, pharmaceutical industry items, furniture, melamine goods, garments accessories items and polypropylene woven bag. The foreign companies are displaying plastic
Mr Jashim Uddin said the main objective of the fair is to familiarise the consumers with plastic products and technology. He informed that the plastic manufacturers got spot orders of around US$ 15.0 billion last year.
