Furniture exporters demand 25 per cent cash incentive

The Bangladesh Furniture Exporters Association (BFEA) has demanded cash incentives against its export items instead of duty drawback to boost their outbound business, industry sources said.  
BFEA leaders recently met ministry of commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed where they demanded 25 per cent cash incentive on furniture export, sources said.
The furniture industry presently gets duty drawback against exports for duty paid for imported goods. But the exporters claimed that in most of the cases they are unable to enjoy the benefits due to bureaucratic complexities.   
Presently, solid wood and board-based furniture are being manufactured in Bangladesh. Plastic and metal based furniture are also been produced. The industry has to completely depend on imports for most of the raw materials, insiders said.
Over 50 per cent and 20 per cent import duty and tax respectively have to be paid for importing board and solid based raw materials for making furniture items.
The Duty Exemption and Drawback Office (DEDO) authority is, for most of the time, facing trouble to return the duty drawback to the importers concerned. On the other hand, there is possibility of misuse of government money by false declaration by its importers, sources said.
The government should introduce cash incentive system in lieu of duty drawback, he adding that the sector will be the highest employment generator and the top foreign exchange earner in the years to come, if the government takes proper care of the sector.
"It is very tough job to collect duty drawback by the importers of furniture raw materials due to lack of necessary documents. Besides, distrust has grown between DEDO authority and the importers over import price differences. As a result, the importers are facing harassment in getting back such duty from the government entity," importers said.
As a result, furniture exports have not grown up to the expected level and we are not getting competitive price in the international market despite there being ample demand, he added.
The Export Promotion Bureau, (EPB) recently applied to the ministry of commerce (MoC) for helping the sector grow by extending cash incentives, sources said.
Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed, asked the EPB to submit a detailed proposal to further examine the matter. Then the ministry will take the next steps, he said.  
Currently, the furniture sector contributes about $31.41 million a year to the country's economy, sources said.