Incentives for flower exporters on cards
Jasim Uddin Khan
The government may introduce 15 percent incentive in the form of rebate on export processing fee and freight charge for flower and ornamental plant exporters from the next fiscal year.The commerce ministry recently sent the proposal to the finance ministry. Bangladesh fetched Tk 45.13 crore by exporting flowers and ornamental plants in the fiscal year 2004-05 while the earning from the same was Tk 4.77 crore in FY 2003-04, commerce ministry sources said. The commerce ministry has already identified some impediments to the growth of flower export such as lack of equipment for storing the perishable items and high rate of freight charges. The ministry is planning to procure some equipment such as refrigerator motor van and set up cold storage to help the exporters. It also plans to appoint local and foreign consultants to train flower exporters and cultivators. Now the country exports flowers to Pakistan, Italy, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, UK, the Philippines, Singapore, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, Denmark and France. Bangladesh has a huge potential for grabbing a portion of the US$10 billion global market of flowers and ornamental plants, a commerce ministry official said. Bangladeshis also use some flower items imported from Thailand and India to serve their purposes in different festivities. Flower cultivation is gaining pace mainly in Kushtia, Jessore, Dhaka and Mymensingh districts to meet the growing demand.
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