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Plastic industry to get govt support

Four-day international plastic fair ends

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
The plastic goods manufacturers will get both financial and technical support from the government as the sector, which earned Tk 600 crore in foreign exchanges in the last fiscal through direct and indirect exports, holds huge potential.
The assurance came at the closing ceremony of the four-day international plastic fair in Dhaka yesterday where Commerce Ministry Advisor Barkatullah Bulu was speaking as chief guest.
Bulu said he will try to arrange a meeting between the ministries concerned and the association of the plastic goods producers for resolving the existing problems.
Speaking at the function, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Vice-president Abul Kasem Haider said it is necessary to set up plastic waste recycling
plant, which will reduce import of raw materials and also cut production cost.
In India, 60 per cent of plastic waste is recycled, he said. "The USA, Australia, France, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia also make plastic goods from recycled materials."
He put emphasis on establishing mould industry by using modern technology to boost the plastic industry.
Haider also urged the finance minister to set up a plastic industrial park for the plastic manufacturers.
FBCCI Director MA Rouf Chowdhury said the average growth rate of plastic industry in the international market is 15 per cent while the GDP growth is only three per cent.
"So, if the existing problems of the sector are solved the export as well as the local market of the particular sector will be doubled," he said.
Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) President Yusuf Ashraf said the government in the last budget cut the import duty on finished plastic goods to 30 per cent from 42.5 per cent.
"But the import duty on raw materials of plastic industry is 15 per cent," he said urging the government to slash the import duty on raw materials from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent to help them cut production cost and beat cheap Chinese and Indian goods.
BPGMEA organised the four-day fair -- Plastic Fair 2003 -- at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre with a view to expanding export market for Bangladeshi plastic goods.
BPGMEA General Secretary KM Iqbal Hossain and Chief Advisor ASM Kamal Uddin also spoke at the function.