A three-day-long Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decor (BFID) Expo-2015 ended at Jamuna Future Park, Basundhara, in the capital on Thursday, for the fourth time in the country. Vice-Chairman, Export Promotion Bureau Shubhashish Bose, Director of the EPB, Chiefs of the organizing companies and senior journalists also attended the program.
A total of 51 exhibitors from furniture and home décor sector showcased their wide array of products like home furniture, office furniture, kitchen furniture, curtain, cushion, quilt, felt products, table mat, mattress, showpiece, table lamp, waste baskets, table runner, carpet, floor covering, different type of decorative items, bed cover, nakshi kantha, laundry basket, tapestry etc.
In his welcome address, Shubhashish Bose said the EPB, as a regulatory body, has been working for boosting country’s export. The main challenge for the country’s export is limited market and dependency of a number of products, he said, adding, to overcome these shortcomings, initiatives have been taken to add new products in the export list and diversify market. Organizing the furniture and home décor fair is part of this initiative, he said. The labor-intensive manufacturing sector is very suitable for Bangladesh and the furniture and home décor fair was organized considering this, he mentioned. In this fair, participating companies got 8 lacks 40 thousands Dollar Export Order.
Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Hedayetullah Al-Manun said, the furniture sector has been included in the annual planning of the government as per the directives of the commerce ministry. Under the plan, the provisions of reducing duty on import of raw materials and providing alternative cash incentives have been incorporated. Already, DO letter has been sent to the finance minister on behalf the commerce minister, he mentioned, assuring that the commerce ministry will work in resolving all problems those will be identified by the EPB.
