Govt mulls 10pc cash incentive for frozen fish exporters

The government is considering the 10 per cent cash incentive for frozen fish exporters, which was earlier scrapped by the government for fiscal year (FY) 2014-15, officials said.
An official of the ministry of finance (MoF) said the authority concerned was contemplating to offer cash incentive against frozen fish exports to help boost the sector which is now at a premature stage. Presently "we are analyzing the issue."
"We also got applications from different channels seeking cash incentive for the frozen fish export, he said.
Recently, the ministry of commerce (MoC) has requested the MoF to provide cash incentive to the country's frozen fish exporters for the current FY.
Tofail Ahmed, minister of the MoC has sent a letter to M A Muhith, finance minister, for considering 10 per cent cash incentive for the frozen food sector.
On the other hand, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), has requested the senior secretary of the MoF for reconsidering the cash incentive to the sector as it was in the past.
The exporters and leaders of different chambers expressed their satisfaction over the government move. They said the frozen fish export was the country's third largest foreign currency earning sector, and 1.7 million people are dependent on the sector for earning their living.
"If the cash incentive is not given to the exporters, our members might lose competitiveness in the global market and earnings from the sector might fall drastically," Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA) sources told the FE Sunday.
"As a result, there will be a bad impact on export and the exporters of the sector will lose their effort to export such items," they said.
Frozen food sector is a 100 per cent export-oriented agro-based industry. The government gives various supports to the agriculture sector. Frozen food, particularly shrimp, get 10 per cent cash incentives to boost export. But the government should provide cash incentive to other frozen fish exports so that the exporters could be more competitive in the global market, sector insiders said.
The government introduced the cash support for the frozen fish sector in the fiscal year (FY) 2002-03 with an aim to boost the sector's growth. In that fiscal year earnings in the sector were worth US$ 321.81 million, they said.
The USA, Belgium, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Japan, China, Australia, Singapore and Canada are the main export destinations for local shrimp and fishes, sources concerned said.