The growing light engineering industry's current turnover worth Tk 200 billion could be ten times more if the sector is supported by the government, sources said.
Products manufactured by more than 50,000 small and medium light engineering factories are saving a large amount of foreign exchange as import substitutes like spares and equipment for industrial, automobile, construction and many other sectors, a source in the industry said.
He said despite the potential of this sector for large industrial growth, it is yet to get support from the government and the financial institutions (FIs).
He said although currently there was a declaration on the part of the government to give 10 per cent cash incentives to light engineering product exports, due to a complex process the exporters were not getting its benefits.
High value addition-based light engineering goods are meeting more than 90 per cent of demand for local industrial, construction, automobile and many sectors' spares and other parts.
Professor Dr. M. Kamal Uddin, chairman of the Institute of Appropriate Technology under the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said the promising light engineering sector could have flourished more if it had been supported financially.
He said although there are more than 50 thousand factories lying scattered across the country and contributing to the nation by manufacturing spares and light engineering products, the sector is not being backed.
He said, "The BUET arranges different training facilities for the workers of this sector, and we teach them techniques and ways to be more skilful in technology."
The BUET professor said the government and the financial institutions should come forward to support the industry.
A source in the light engineering industry said bank loans were still not available as per the need of this sector, and it was yet to get lands for a technological park, where all the supports would be available.
A sector insider said the light engineering industry, now scattered, needs a designated land and facilities, where there could be different training opportunities for the workers.
He said many foreign investors have shown their interest to invest in this sector, but due to crisis of land and other facilities they have not advanced much.
Md. Abdul Halim, a workshop owner, said bank loans were not flexible for the sector.
He said although there were some collateral-free bank loan opportunities offered by some financial institutions, in fact it was not possible to utilise them by all the factory owners due to some complicated procedures.
A factory owner has said, "We still import millions of dollars' spares and technology-based products, but if the sector were supported the cost could be reduced to twenty per cent."
Mr. Kamal of the BUET said the country should not depend on a single sector for earning foreign currency.
He said the light engineering products were more value-added than ready-made garment items.
If the light engineering sector is given support, it can earn more foreign exchange than that coming from garment exports, as its value-addition is higher and demand is felt across the world, he added.
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