Cash incentives for exports of plastic PET bottle flakes and finished leather introduced
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Monira Begum Munni
The government has introduced cash incentives for exports of plastic PET bottle flakes and finished leather at 10 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively from the current fiscal.
Official sources said the government provided subsidy for fourteen export sectors last fiscal, but this year it has extended the support to the two new areas for promoting them.
The government has also raised subsidy to 12.5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent, 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent and 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent for the export of frozen food, leather goods and jute products respectively, the sources added.
"The government has offered us cash incentive for boosting export of the recycle industry," Bangladesh PET Flakes Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPFMEA) President Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury told the FE.
The waste PET products are recycled abroad by companies that produce raw materials for manufacturing other items.
China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries import the waste garbage from the dumping stations of Europe and America. They now earn lots of foreign currency by exporting the processed waste materials, Sarwar added.
"We requested the government Monday in a meeting to allow us to import such used waste PET garbage," he said.
The collection and processing of the waste PET bottles, a 100 percent value added product, has contributed to generation of employment for more than 1.0 million people, especially vagrant women and urchins, Wadud Chowdhury added.
"Currently, we import resins to manufacture PET (polyethylene terephthalate) products at a cost of about US$900-$1200 per tonne. We produce different items and after using them we export the waste materials and earn about $ 550 -$600 per tonne.
But the leather industry leaders expressed disappointment over the incentive support saying that the support hardly helps them overcome the recession-hit sector.
"The government should provide cash incentive to the craft leather export," Chairman of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Shahin Ahmed told the FE.
Recession has already eroded 40 per cent of craft leather export earnings, he said adding that their recession compensation appeal has been ignored by the government.
Finished leather and goods export is only 20 per cent while craft leather export is 80 per cent. So, the government should raise incentive for craft leather export, he added.
Though the price has decreased, the export market has not yet expanded. As a result there is a huge stock of leather worth nearly Tk 25 billion, the BTA chairman said.
Talking to the FE, BTA chairman requested the government to reduce import duty on essential chemicals used in the leather industry.
"All we have witnessed in the budget is two per cent import duty reduction on chemicals and increase of 2.5 per cent cash incentives on the export of finished goods. This is far below our expectation," he added.
The government has introduced cash incentives for exports of plastic PET bottle flakes and finished leather at 10 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively from the current fiscal.
Official sources said the government provided subsidy for fourteen export sectors last fiscal, but this year it has extended the support to the two new areas for promoting them.
The government has also raised subsidy to 12.5 per cent from the existing 10 per cent, 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent and 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent for the export of frozen food, leather goods and jute products respectively, the sources added.
"The government has offered us cash incentive for boosting export of the recycle industry," Bangladesh PET Flakes Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPFMEA) President Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury told the FE.
The waste PET products are recycled abroad by companies that produce raw materials for manufacturing other items.
China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and many other countries import the waste garbage from the dumping stations of Europe and America. They now earn lots of foreign currency by exporting the processed waste materials, Sarwar added.
"We requested the government Monday in a meeting to allow us to import such used waste PET garbage," he said.
The collection and processing of the waste PET bottles, a 100 percent value added product, has contributed to generation of employment for more than 1.0 million people, especially vagrant women and urchins, Wadud Chowdhury added.
"Currently, we import resins to manufacture PET (polyethylene terephthalate) products at a cost of about US$900-$1200 per tonne. We produce different items and after using them we export the waste materials and earn about $ 550 -$600 per tonne.
But the leather industry leaders expressed disappointment over the incentive support saying that the support hardly helps them overcome the recession-hit sector.
"The government should provide cash incentive to the craft leather export," Chairman of Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) Shahin Ahmed told the FE.
Recession has already eroded 40 per cent of craft leather export earnings, he said adding that their recession compensation appeal has been ignored by the government.
Finished leather and goods export is only 20 per cent while craft leather export is 80 per cent. So, the government should raise incentive for craft leather export, he added.
Though the price has decreased, the export market has not yet expanded. As a result there is a huge stock of leather worth nearly Tk 25 billion, the BTA chairman said.
Talking to the FE, BTA chairman requested the government to reduce import duty on essential chemicals used in the leather industry.
"All we have witnessed in the budget is two per cent import duty reduction on chemicals and increase of 2.5 per cent cash incentives on the export of finished goods. This is far below our expectation," he added.