In the past one and a half years, 25 percent of enterprises in the plastic sector have shutdown or facing closure. This situation has arisen due to a range of challenges including energy crisis, rising interest rates, and limited access to bank loans.
Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) has therefore urged the government to reduce the VAT on plastic-made tableware and household items from 15 percent to 5 percent to help sustain and develop the industry.
President of the trade body, Shamim Ahmed, made this demand at a press conference titled Budget Review at the organization's office in Paltan on Wednesday (June 18) afternoon.
Former presidents of the association A SM Kamal Uddin and Ferdous Wahed, senior vice president of the organization KM Iqbal Hossain; vice president Enamul Haque; director Nur Alam Bachchu, director ATM Saidur Rahman Bulbul, director Aman Ullah; Director Abdul Quader Jilani and Director Syed Nasir Uddin and other members were present.
Shamim Ahmed said, 'Earlier the VAT on household plastic products was 7.5 percent In the proposed budget, it has been suggested to raise to 15 percent. However, we are demanding that it be reduced to 5 percent."
He further said "Currently, more than 87 percent in total duties and taxes are being imposed on the plastic toy industry. We are calling for a reduction in this as well. This is an emerging sector that is creating new employment opportunities."
In response to a question, he said, "We are demanding the withdrawal of import duty, VAT, and supplementary duty on imported machinery and equipment for export-oriented industries in the proposed budget."
He further proposed, "We also suggest reducing the duty on essential raw materials for the plastic industry from the current 5 percent to 3 percent."
He said that although the prices of toys and toy components in international market have increased, BPGMEA had proposed raising the tariff value of imported finished toys. However, that proposal was not considered.
As a result, low-quality imported toys may flood the domestic market and undermine local production. Therefore, to protect the domestic toy industry, he strongly urged that the proposed budget include an increase in the tariff value of imported finished toy products.
He said, it has been proposed to increase the import duty on Rigid PVC Sheet/PVC Foil from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. Meanwhile, the import duty on raw materials for these products is 10 per cent.
These products are being produced in the country according to demand - so it is completely reasonable to increase the custom duty on these products to 25 per cent to protect the domestic industry.
The association's Vice President, Enamul Haque, said, "At my factory in Gazipur, the power goes out 8 to 10 times a day. Yet it takes two and a half hours just to heat up a single machine. Electricity bills are rising, but we are not getting uninterrupted power and gas supply."
He added that under such conditions, it has become extremely difficult to keep the factory operational.
