Providing props to plastic sector

The 10th International Plastic Fair 2015 in Dhaka has provided the government with an idea of the untapped potential of the plastic sector and the need to facilitate its faster growth. This is possibly why the industries minister announced the government's plan to implement a development project proposal of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC). This announcement about the proposal to set up an environment-friendly plastic industrial park at Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj came last week at the inaugural function of the event. The four-day fair was jointly organised by Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Chan Chao International Co Ltd of Taiwan.
Entrepreneurs of the country deserve kudos for their tireless efforts to develop the plastic sector through hard work in the same fashion as the readymade garment (RMG) manufacturers did in the past. Today, RMG constitutes nearly 80 per cent of the country's export earnings. Similarly, nearly 5,000 plastic units, set up so far, now produce some 2,500 different types of products. Such products have the potential to not only meet the domestic demand but also boost its exports sizeably, given a little help from the government. The sector does already employ about 1.2 million people directly and indirectly.
Although the decision to establish the proposed plastic park is welcome, the authorities must also take care of ensuring the availability of all the facilities there for an environmentally suitable site like the planned tannery zone at Savar. Happily, the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association is working with the BSCIC in implementing the project. The devastating Nimtali fire, which killed at least 123 people in 2010 and left more than 200 badly burnt, only reminds of what disasters plastic factories could bring in the neighbourhood. In the latest fire incident in a plastic factory at APPCO Bangladesh Ltd in Mirpur, Dhaka on Saturday (January 31, 2015), 13 people were burnt alive. Moreover, about 1,200 unplanned and mostly unauthorised plastic factories are operating in Dhaka. The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) of the United Nations in a report urged the government to set up a separate economic zone for the plastic industry. Bangladesh, it said, can emerge as a major player in the global plastic market if it manages things well to increase turnover of output of the sector, in value terms, to $2.0 billion by 2015 and $4.0 billion by 2020. But for that, the country has to address three issues on a priority basis -- infrastructure, waste management and recycling, and skills development.
Consumption of plastics goods in Bangladesh is below the global average. Per capita consumption is estimated at two kg annually against the global average at 80 kg, according to a UN report. This indicates that the current level of consumption in Bangladesh is most likely to rise as its economy grows. The country also exports a number of such products. The variety of plastic products can be widened furtherfor exports to the global market.
Now it is incumbent on the government to help develop the plastic sector on a firm footing. The plastic industry, already declared a thrust sector, should get enough policy supports from the ministry of industries so that the manufacturers could explore new markets and fetch more export earnings. Although suspension of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility by the US has hit the sector hard, the country can explore and exploit other markets if adequate incentives are given to the manufacturers.