A home-grown electronics manufacturing company --Electro Mart--has planned to expand its product range to meet the growing need of consumers, a top executive of the company has said.
The company is looking to manufacture new products like rice cooker, grinder, gas stove, infrared cooker, electric kettle among others, Deputy Managing Director of Electro Mart Limited (EML) Md Nurul Afser said.
"We are expanding our factory in a nearby area of our existing one, which has already been built on 60 'bighas' of land in Narayanganj," he said in an interview with the FE.
Air conditioners, television sets and washing machines, among others, are now produced in the existing factory, he mentioned.
The EML is best known for its distribution and manufacturing of globally renowned air conditioner (AC) brand Gree, Mr. Afser added.
In addition to that, the company now manufactures a wide range of electronic items of another global brand Konka, he said adding that the company operates its own brand, namely 'Haiko.'
According to Mr Afser, local value addition, customization of consumers' preference and cost effectiveness paved the way for securing a 'stronger' position for the 'Electro Mart' in Bangladesh's electric and electronics manufacturing sector.
Having technical collaboration with global brands and policy supports from the government for local manufacturing also helped the sector grow, he observed.
"We have emerged as a manufacturer with technical collaboration from an international partner," he said. The journey of the company began more than four decades ago as an importer.
"The launch of Konka and Gree in 1998 was a 'turning point' of the company, as we entered into the market by offering quality products at affordable prices," he said.
"We introduced Konka TVs in the local market just for the price of only Tk 12,000 at a time when TVs were selling between Tk 30,000 and 35,000 a set," said Mr. Afser.
"The EML was also a pioneer in offering a five-year warranty to its consumers which was not available for buyers of other local brands at that time," he said.
Since then the company has been continuing to add other products like fridge, washing machine, electric oven, etc. to its production line.
"We try to assemble products with the maximum value addition here. Except for import of compressors and PCBs, the company manufactures all other equipment for making ACs and refrigerators," he said.
The company has a plan also to export its products abroad after meeting the demand in the local market, he mentioned.
According to Mr. Afser, customisation of the products, as per the domestic needs, helped the company gain 'huge popularity' in the market.
"We have introduced anti-rat technology as some components of imported fridge were earlier attacked by rodents," he said, explaining that they changed the ingredients after conducting research and development work at the domestic level.
Besides, introduction of another technology namely active carbon deodoriser has also helped remove odour inside the fridge.
"We also provide a larger depth in a fridge and a built-in stabiliser in any AC or fridge," said Mr. Afser.
Highlighting the growing domestic market, he said use of different electronics items was no more a luxury. For example, use of rice cooker or electric kettle for preparing hot beverages was being considered as the mainstream for many households and offices.
However the sector was not free from challenges, he said. Economic slowdown in recent years, enhancement of corporate tax on electronics manufacturers to 20 per cent from the previous 10 per cent, and policy uncertainty remained the areas of concerns.
"A long-term plan and policy stability can help turn the country into a manufacturing hub through reinvestment and fresh investment by local and global companies," he said.
Like the RMG sector, bonded warehouse facilities could also help other local manufacturers to become more competitive in the international market, he added.
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