A four-day exhibition of plastic goods to attract international buyers kicks off today in Dhaka while the sector’s export marked a 6.3% decline in the first seven-month figure of the current fiscal year.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith is expected to inaugurate the 9th International Plastic Fair 2014 at BangabandhuInternational Conference Centre.
Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA)and Chao International Co Ltd is jointly organising the fair.
The plastic goods manufacturers will participate in the fair with 300 stalls and display their goods like household items, packaging materials, moulds, toys, pharmaceutical industry items, furniture, melamine goods, garments accessories items and polypropylene (PP)woven bag.
Plastic goods will be displayed there as a promotional campaign and an effort to attract the international buyers.
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data showed the export of plastic products fell to $46m during July-January period from $49m one year earlier.
The industry insiders blamed the political unrest and generalised system of preferences (GSP) facility suspension by the United States for this decline.
In the US market, Bangladesh’s plastic goods enjoyed the facility.
During the period, PVC bags export exceptionally registered an 18% growth, standing at $21.25m. But plastic wastesexport declined by 15.37%.
According to the EPB data,Bangladesh earned $84.5m exporting plastic goods in the last financial year, up from $68.76m in the previous year.
For the July-January period, the target was set to export $49.64, but the export was 7.68% less than the target. The government targetsto earn $89.5mfrom plastic goods export this fiscal.
“GSP suspension in the US market has affected the export earning of the sector,” said BPGMEA general secretary KM Iqbal Hossain.
He also blamed political unrest for the export decline as the production was hampered in the factories during the months of turmoil.
“Production was hampered while buyers didn’t place orders due to the political violence, dragging us to face crisis,”KM Iqbal Hossainstated.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
