The country’s apparel exporters have urged the government to withdraw the additional warehouse charge it has imposed on the imported goods for the readymade garment sector at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
From January, Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd has increased the warehouse charge at the airport terminal to Tk 50 per unit (50 kilograms) from Tk 25 per unit.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has recently sent a letter to the state minister for civil aviation, Md Mahbub Ali, demanding the reinstating of the warehouse charge at Tk 25 per unit.
Terming the increase ‘illogical’, the letter signed by BGMEA president Rubana Huq said that the coronavirus outbreak had made the RMG factory owners unable to bear the increased charge.
She said that although the sector started rebounding with the support from the government, the RMG export decreased further due to the second wave of the COVID-19 infections.
Factory owners are struggling for survival and they have faced a liquidity crisis as global buyers are not making their payments on time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rubana said.
The letter said that RMG exporters had been passing through severe uncertainties as renowned buyers in European countries, the United States and China had become bankrupt and many buyers were cancelling or putting placed orders on hold amid the pandemic.
Rubana urged the state minister to continue the previous warehouse charge at the airport for the imported goods for the RMG sector so that the sector could remain competitive on the global market amid the coronavirus pandemic.
‘It is completely illogical to increase the warehouse charge at the airport terminal in this time as the governments of other countries all over the world are reducing many charges for the businesses to protect their economies amid the COVID-19,’ Mohammad Hatem, first vice-president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told New Age on Thursday.
He said that the government should not increase any charge unilaterally rather it should discuss with stakeholders before making any such decision.
Hatem said that it was not right time to increase the warehouse charge at the airport terminal as exporters were facing tremendous challenges to keep their business alive amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
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