Local electric goods producersflay importers of finished items
Monday, 14 March 2011
Yasir Wardad
The local electrical appliance manufacturing industry is facing a setback as it has to compete with imported finished goods paying high import duty on raw materials, stakeholders say. Locally manufactured electrical goods including electrical fans, refrigerators etc. are struggling hard to survive amid the monopoly of imported products as importers can offer those products at a cheaper rate compared to that of local ones, leading businessmen of the industry have claimed. "Taking stern action against under-invoicing, reduction in import duty of raw materials, and increase in supplementary duty for finished products in the area of which the local industry is self-sufficient are immediately needed to keep the industry alive," Electrical Manufactures Association president Enayet Hossain Chowdhury said. He told the FE that the NBR should take action against under-invoicing strictly. "It is very easy now to do that through web-portal and internet. They only need to send the price (international) rate of the products to different customs houses to stop the malpractice," he said. "It would increase the revenue earning to the tune of millions of Taka on one hand and would make the local industry cent per cent fit to compete with foreign goods on the other," he added. The owner of a leading electrical fan producing company told the FE that they need raw materials including aluminium shit, aluminium can, metapoli pripline plime (MPP), castor oil, lead wire etc to make a fan. "Our production cost becomes higher because of higher duty on raw materials. The industry can combat the foreign products if the government reduces the import duty," he added. He informed the FE that over 100 companies are involved in fan manufacturing, where 25000 fans are produced per day now. He boasted that the local industry is now able to meet almost the total of the domestic demand provided it is facilitated by the government. "The government should increase the supplementary duty for the imported fans to keep the self-dependent industry alive," he said. Leading manufacturer Md. Kamal Hossain Mridul said: "We import fenolic molding powder and urea molding powder to manufacture bako-light products including both white and dark switch sockets, multi-cod, holders etc. "But of late, the market has been monopolised by Indian and Chinese products, where Indian products are leading," he said. "It costs us Tk 190 to Tk 200 to produce a quality switch socket when an Indian or Chinese socket is sold at retail level at Tk 190 to Tk 200," he added. To keep the industry alive, he urged the authorities concerned to reduce the import duty on the raw materials from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. "This tax reduction would surely decrease our production cost and the industry could be able to compete with the foreign products," he added. Secretary of Bangladesh Refrigerator Manufacturers Association Mizanur Rahman told the FE that the country is now self-dependent with refrigerators. He informed that the country is now producing 1.5 million against the demand of 0.6 million refrigerators and the country is now ready to export the item.
The local electrical appliance manufacturing industry is facing a setback as it has to compete with imported finished goods paying high import duty on raw materials, stakeholders say. Locally manufactured electrical goods including electrical fans, refrigerators etc. are struggling hard to survive amid the monopoly of imported products as importers can offer those products at a cheaper rate compared to that of local ones, leading businessmen of the industry have claimed. "Taking stern action against under-invoicing, reduction in import duty of raw materials, and increase in supplementary duty for finished products in the area of which the local industry is self-sufficient are immediately needed to keep the industry alive," Electrical Manufactures Association president Enayet Hossain Chowdhury said. He told the FE that the NBR should take action against under-invoicing strictly. "It is very easy now to do that through web-portal and internet. They only need to send the price (international) rate of the products to different customs houses to stop the malpractice," he said. "It would increase the revenue earning to the tune of millions of Taka on one hand and would make the local industry cent per cent fit to compete with foreign goods on the other," he added. The owner of a leading electrical fan producing company told the FE that they need raw materials including aluminium shit, aluminium can, metapoli pripline plime (MPP), castor oil, lead wire etc to make a fan. "Our production cost becomes higher because of higher duty on raw materials. The industry can combat the foreign products if the government reduces the import duty," he added. He informed the FE that over 100 companies are involved in fan manufacturing, where 25000 fans are produced per day now. He boasted that the local industry is now able to meet almost the total of the domestic demand provided it is facilitated by the government. "The government should increase the supplementary duty for the imported fans to keep the self-dependent industry alive," he said. Leading manufacturer Md. Kamal Hossain Mridul said: "We import fenolic molding powder and urea molding powder to manufacture bako-light products including both white and dark switch sockets, multi-cod, holders etc. "But of late, the market has been monopolised by Indian and Chinese products, where Indian products are leading," he said. "It costs us Tk 190 to Tk 200 to produce a quality switch socket when an Indian or Chinese socket is sold at retail level at Tk 190 to Tk 200," he added. To keep the industry alive, he urged the authorities concerned to reduce the import duty on the raw materials from 12 per cent to 5 per cent. "This tax reduction would surely decrease our production cost and the industry could be able to compete with the foreign products," he added. Secretary of Bangladesh Refrigerator Manufacturers Association Mizanur Rahman told the FE that the country is now self-dependent with refrigerators. He informed that the country is now producing 1.5 million against the demand of 0.6 million refrigerators and the country is now ready to export the item.