Govt to observe Nat'l Tea Day tomorrow

The government will observe first National Tea Day tomorrow (June 04), recalling the contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to development of the tea industry.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will inaugurate the day-long programme. The major event of the day will be held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital with the minister in the chair.

The event will be organised by the Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) with the support of Ministry of Commerce (MoC).

Bangabandhu became the first Bangali chairman of the then Tea Board on June 04, 1957.

The commerce minister said these in a press briefing, held virtually ahead of the occasion on Wednesday.

MoC Senior Secretary Dr. Md Jafar Ahmed and BTB Chairman Major General Md Zahirul Islam spoke in the media briefing. Senior officials of MoC and BTB also took part in the briefing.

The country's tea export volume was 0.60 million tonnes and 2.19 million tonnes in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Bangladesh produced around 96.07 million kg and 86.39 million kg tea from 167 gardens in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Domestic demand for tea is rising rapidly due to urbanisation, population growth, and change in consumer taste.

Market diversification, land development and other necessary steps were taken to expand tea production and increase contribution of the tea industry to national export earnings, the briefing was told.

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