Tourism Minister Faruk Khan on Friday alleged that the ministry could not get the finance minister’s nod to a proposal for continuing duty-free entry of cars owned by tourists under two UN conventions “because of media reports.”
“When we were about to come to a decision on the matter, media reported that around 1,000 cars had entered the country under the privileges of Carnet de Passages [a customs document that identifies a driver’s motor vehicle required to take a vehicle into a significant but diminishing number of countries around the world] and they had not been taken back,” he said at a seminar.
He said his ministry had also decided on designating a colour for such vehicles so that they did not get mixed with other imported cars.
“But then the National Board of Revenue opposed the proposal, saying the Carnet facilities should not be entertained any longer,” he told the seminar in reply to queries from private tour operators.
The programme was jointly organised by Bangladesh Tourism Board, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh, and the IUCN as part of the observation of the World Tourism Day.
The private tour operators criticised the government for its decision to impose 15% tax on all inbound and outbound tourists. They alleged that the government never considered the tourism sector as a priority sector.
Tourism Secretary Khurshed Alam Chowdhury said during the last budget the government had sought desired allocation from a few select sectors for their overall development.
“But the finance ministry later declined,” he said. “Tourism was never a priority in thebudget,” he said, urging the private sector to come forward and invest to boost the sector.
“The government cannot take a lead in this sector and will never do so in near future, but we will help you go forward. Tourism is booming everywhere. We cannot miss the train!” he said.
IUCN Representative Ishtiaq Ahmed, Bangladesh Parjatan CorporationChairman MdMaksudulHasan, andleaders of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh, among others, spoke at the event.
Earlier in the morning, a rally led by Tourism Minister Faruk Khan paraded the city streets from Shahbaghto the TSC on Dhaka University campus to mark the tourism day.
An open air folk concert was organised by the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh at Ramna Park in the evening.Foreign tourists were welcomed at Shahjalal International Airport withsouvenirs.A two-day photo exhibition on tourist destinations organised by the Parjatancorporation in association with DOTS ended at the TSC on Friday.
