Plan on the anvil to boost exports from three sectors

The ministry of commerce (MoC) will finalise a plan of action to boost exports from three sectors, officials said.  
The sectors are Active Pharmaceuticals Ingredients (API), renewable energy and jute products.
To this effect, the MoC will hold a stakeholders' consultation meeting on Sunday to finalise the draft suggestions on the three sectors which are to be sent to the Cabinet Division.   
The Cabinet Division took a project in 2016 aiming to make the officials capable of preparing useful suggestions/ recommendations on the areas of their respective ministries.
It also asked the ministries to submit suggestions on three main sectors on the basis of Evidence Policy Making Technique (EPMT).
"We will finalise the draft recommendations/suggestions on API, renewable energy and jute on February 12 meeting. After that, the draft will be sent to the cabinet division for approval," an official of the MoC, who is involved in the process, told the FE.
Allowing separate industrial areas for local manufacturers for producing pharmaceutical ingredients, offering business-friendly policy supports to those areas and including the private sector are among probable suggestions of the MoC, sources said.  
Due to absence of a proper policy, Bangladesh has to import about 122 industrial ingredients (raw materials) for the pharmaceutical industry.
Importers of pharmaceutical ingredients do not need to pay duties. But  entrepreneurs, who produce ingredients locally, have to pay taxes to the government, which amounts to a discrimination  between importers and local producers.
They (local producers of raw materials of pharmaceuticals) have to pay at least 15 per cent value added tax (VAT) to the government, according to the industry insiders.
Bangladesh's export earnings from pharmaceuticals witnessed a 13.04 per cent jump to US$ 82.11 million in the just-concluded fiscal year, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The pharmaceutical industry set a target of exploring 30 new export destinations for their products during the current financial year.
The yearly export earnings from jute and jute goods stood at around US$ 1.0 billion in the last fiscal. India accounted for 20 per cent of the total export earnings.
Bangladesh produces around 2-3 per cent of the world's leather from a ready supply of raw materials.
Export earnings from leather and leather goods now stand at over $1.0 billion. The country has a target to export $5.0 billion  worth of leather and leather goods by 2020, according to the sector insiders.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com