Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said that the tea production in Bangladesh was 60 million kg in 2009, which increased to 97.51 million kg in 2021, but the product was not exported much, so the government has decided to take steps to increase its export.
“There is a huge global demand for our tea, but it is not exported due to an increase in local demand and lack of export incentives. So, we have taken steps to export it after meeting the country’s demand,” he told a program organized in the city marking the National Tea Day on Saturday.
Tipu said, “We have started producing tea in the country’s northern region, where 14.55 million kg of tea was produced in 2021. The government will assist traders in all areas including innovating new varieties of tea, increasing production, auctioning, and marketing”.
This will increase the country’s tea production and enable us to export it after meeting the local demand, he added.
Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Imran Ahmad, who was the special guest at the programme, said, “Tea is one of our most important cash crops and once tea was the second most exported product.”
National Tea Day is being celebrated for the second time in the country this year.
Md Jasim Uddin, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Omar Hannan, president of Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh, and M Shah Alam, president of Bangladeshiyo Cha Sangsad, addressed the function presided over by Tapan Kanti Ghosh, senior secretary of the ministry.
The United States has briefed Bangladesh on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and Bangladesh welcomed additional information on the supply chain resilience and decarbonization pillars of the IPEF.
Bangladesh also sought U.S. technical assistance to sustainably explore its ocean resources and further develop its blue economy in pursuit of environmental protection and economic prosperity.
The issues came up for discussion at the second Bangladesh-US high-level economic consultation held in Washington, DC on Thursday.
Adviser for Private Industry and Investment to the Prime Minister Salman F. Rahman and US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez co-chaired the discussion.
US President Joe Biden launched the IPEF with a dozen initial partners: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, they represent 40% of world GDP.
Earlier on Wednesday, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas said there will be opportunities for other countries to join in the recently launched IPEF.
There have been consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in March regarding the IPEF and the ambassador hoped that Bangladesh will follow it closely.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday said upcoming national budget for 2022-23 will focus on economic recovery from uncertainties due to Covid-19 impact and Russia-Ukraine war.
“We’ll try to bring dynamism in the economy,” he told reporters while briefing about the outcomes of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP).
He said that after the Covid-19 pandemic when the economy was trying to recover from the shock, the Russia-Ukraine war started which created huge vulnerabilities and uncertainties globally.
The National Budget for FY2022-23 is slated to be placed in Parliament on June 9.
Kamal said that after the Covid-19 pandemic when the economy was trying to recover from the shock, the Russia-Ukraine war started which created huge vulnerabilities and uncertainties globally.
“Every country in the world has to face the challenges of the vulnerabilities and they are under pressure”, he said adding that these uncertainties and vulnerabilities will create opportunities as well.
He, however, refused to disclose the main thrusts of the national budget. “Just wait...You will see when the budget is placed in Parliament”.
He hinted that strengthening the social safety-net programme will get a special focus in the upcoming budget.
Women and E-Commerce Trust (WE) leaders demanded to reduce the corporate income tax by 10 percentage points to 20 per cent for businesses owned by women.
Women entrepreneurs on Wednesday also urged the government to set the tax-free income limit for them at Tk 5 lakh.
The female entrepreneurs placed their demand at a roundtable organised by the Ekattor TV Dhaka Reporters’ Unity and the Women and E-Commerce Trust (WE), a platform of women entrepreneurs.
Women entrepreneurs are currently contributing a lot to the economy of Bangladesh, said Nasima Akter Nisha, president of WE.
So, women should get priority in the budget allocations, she said.
There should be allocation in the budget to take up programmes to stop child marriage, said Sayema Haque Bidisha, economics professor of the Dhaka University.
“We are also finding ways on how we can change the negative mindset about working women.”
She proposed continuation of the gender budget.
However, the professor said it should be assessed and evaluated properly to see whether the gender budget allocation is bringing any positive change to the society.
The participants of the discussion also proposed cutting the turnover tax for women-led businesses.