All-out preparations have been taken to observe National Tea Day today (June 04) for the fourth time, with the slogan- 'Smart Bangladesher Sonkolpo, Raptanimukhi Cha Shilpo, (Plan of Smart Bangladesh, Export-oriented Tea Industry'.
Marking the day, the government will honour eight individuals and entities with the National Tea Award under eight categories for the 2nd time, aiming to promote export and market diversification of the item.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend the programme as the chief guest at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital with State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu in the chair.
The Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) will organise the event with support of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first Bengali chairman of the then Tea Board on June 04, 1957.
BTB Chairman Major General Md Ashraful Islam announced the event in presence of the state minister for commerce and commerce secretary Md Selim Uddin at a media briefing at the commerce ministry on Monday.
Senior officials of the MoC and BTB also took part in the briefing. Bangladesh produced around 102.93 million kilograms of tea in 2023. The country's tea export volume was 1.08 million tonnes in the same year.
The sector enjoys 3.0 per cent cash incentive on export of tea. There are 168 and 8,000 tea gardens and small-scale tea gardens across the country.
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