Country's lone diamond cutting, polishing and jewellery manufacturing factory remains closed for a long time despite having vast prospect of export earning. The closure is due mainly to bureaucratic tangles, industry sources said.
The country has started its journey with such business in 2003 in Savar area. Later on the factory was shifted to the basement floor of Sena Kallayan Bhaban in Tongi area and continued up to mid 2013.
But in the late 2013 two partners out of three sold out their shares and new five entrepreneurs came forward to carry on the business with Tk 500 million new investment and decided to run the business under new name and applied for trade licence to the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) authority accordingly.
But the then administrator of GCC did not approve the licence as per law of the land under which no factory can run in the basement of any commercial building.
The investors said only ownership had been changed but the factory was running for a long time with approval from the authorities concerned.
"We have bought a running factory. If the authority did not permit earlier or shut it down for violation of law then we would not invest. Now our Tk 500 million worth of investment faces uncertainty," Anwar Hossain, a partner of the factory told the FE.
"We have tried to make the authority understand the reality but to no effect. If the lone factory finally faces closure then there will be no new investment in the sector," he added.
Mr Hossain also said government's apathy to issue the licence will not only deprive more than five hundred women of getting job and at the same time the country would also lose opportunity to earn millions of dollars export earning every year.
However, mobile phone of the then administrator of GCC, Shah Kamal, was found switched off and the newly elected chairman of the corporation also could not be contacted for comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, another partner of the company who is also a leading jewellery businessman of the country said there is huge scope of export earnings from the diamond cutting, finishing and jewellery exporting.
He said despite without favour from the government, export earning of the factory had been increasing gradually from the year of its journey.
According to data available with the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), country's foreign exchange earnings against the export of cut and polished diamonds increased significantly and reached about $1.0 million in the fiscal year (FY) 2011-12.
The EPB data also showed the country exported worth $0.3m in 2007, $0.5m in 2008, $0.7m in 2009 and $0.98m in 2010 whereas India earned US$ 48 billion from the diamond and diamond jewellery sector in last FY.
"The sector has a bright prospect of export worth $500 million within the next five years if the government provides us all types of facilities," he informed.
He also said, "Bangladesh diamond cutting and polishing industry was declared as 'thrust sector' in the 2009-2010 export policy order, but the lone factory is now facing closure. It is really a matter of great regret."
According to him, India has been leading the sector for long. It has been exporting about ninety two per cent of the world's total demand of polished diamond and diamond jewellery.
"China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Botswana are in a mad race to capture the export market of diamond," he added.
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