DHAKA: Bangladesh has signed a deal an Australian company to export jute goods of Tk454 crore. Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and Golden Fiber Australia Private Limited (GFAPL) of Australia signed the deal at the textile and jute ministry’s conference room yesterday. BJMC Secretary Mohammad Saleh Uddin and Sakib Ahmed Khandoker of the GFAPL signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides, according to a statement issued by the ministry. Under the agreement, BJMC will export different jute goods including sacks in next two years, said BJMC Secretary Mohammad Saleh Uddin. The agreement will be renewed in every two years, he said. Jute ministry and BJMC high officials including Textile and Jute Secretary Shubhashish Bose and BJMC Chairman Dr Mahmudul Hasan, among others, were present on the occasion. The Australian company GFAPL will act as a strategic partner and provide assistance to the BJMC to expand Bangladesh’s jute goods market in Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
The budget for fiscal year 2016-17 finally brought smile to jute goods manufactures as the government has reduced the tax at source to 0.70% from the proposed 1.50%. Although the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had proposed to reduce the tax at source rate on all the exports at 0.70%, she did not mention anything about the jute makers.
However, the income tax wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) that said the rate was fixed at 0.60% for the jute makers, which will remain effective till June 30, 2019. Not only the reduced tax at source, but the jute product exporters will also enjoy corporate tax at a reduced rate from the next fiscal year till FY20. Export earnings from jute and jute goods achieved a moderate growth, riding on better performance of raw jute export. Earnings from jute and jute goods grew by 25.71% to $69.77, while earnings from raw jute increased 74.30% to $25.50 million.
