Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the government has decided to provide cash incentives for boosting the export of pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding and some other non-traditional products.
The non-traditional products include military uniform, travel bags, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, outdoor jackets, jute slippers and other jute goods.
The minister said this after a preparatory meeting on the upcoming Ticfa meeting on November 23-24 in Washington and LDC 10th ministerial meeting in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on December 15-18.
Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al-Mamoon will attend the meetings along with foreign and labour secretaries.
Cash incentives will be provided for the non-conventional products and the Commerce Ministry has already issued a DO letter to the Finance Ministry in this regard, said Tofail.
“We will ask for implementation of a set of three facilities provided earlier by the developed countries in the 10th ministerial meeting, which will be organised by the World Trade Organisation,” said the minister.
“Besides, we also place our demand for new facilities at the LDC conference.”
Tofail said in accordance with the earlier decision, some developed countries provided duty-free and quota-free facilities for Least Development Countries (LDCs), but some are yet to provide such access of exportable Bangladeshi products.
“We want that the developed countries relax conditions of LDCs workforce entry into their territories and ease the rules of origin conditions for export-oriented products in the upcoming WTO meeting.”
On November 6, the commerce minister said WTO allowed Bangladesh along with other LDCs facilities of the extension of patent waiver for pharmaceutical products under the Intellectual Property Rights till 2033.
Prices of medicine would increase in LDCs including Bangladesh if WTO did not extend the time frame, he added.
Bangladesh is now exporting pharmaceutical products to 107 countries across the world.
In 2014-15 fiscal year, the country earned $72.64 from exporting pharmaceutical products.
A number of countries showed jealousy for Bangladesh’s success, the minister said, adding that some thought political and social conditions of Bangladesh would not be good after the liberation, but they were wrong.
“Now economic and political conditions in our country are now better than those in Pakistan.”
The average life expectancy of people in Bangladesh has increased while the child mortality rate has decreased more than Pakistan, he said.
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at $25 billion while Pakistan at only $15 billion, he added.