Visitors at the Dhaka International Trade Fair throng a plastic goods and crockery stall on Monday as the month-long fair gets momentum. — Focusbangla photo

The Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association said on Monday that country’s plastic industry would be affected if the USA suspends the generalised system of preferences facility for the Bangladeshi products.
‘The plastic industry of Bangladesh is enjoying duty-free access to the USA under the GSP facilities and its exports of plastic goods to the country have been increasing for the last few years,’ BPGMEA president Md Jashim Uddin said at a press conference on the 8th International Plastic Fair-2013 at the association’s office in the city.
If the USA withdraws the existing GSP facilities, it will put a negative impact on the Bangladesh’s exports to other destinations too, he said.
‘So, the government and the leading trade bodies should take proper initiatives to ensure continuation of the GSP facilities in the USA,’ he said.
Around 80 per cent of total exports of the plastic products go to the European Union, the BPGMEA president said adding that the export of plastic goods to the European markets dropped in the first half of the current fiscal year due to the economic meltdown in the EU.
To maintain the export’s growth of the industry, exports should be increased to the US market, Jashim said.
He said, ‘Around 5,000 small and heavy plastic industries are operating in Bangladesh and around 12 lakh people are working in the units.’
Plastic goods worth nearly Tk 15,000 crore are being marketed annually in the domestic market and the industry exports finished goods worth around Tk 2,000 crore, he said.
He said that the four-day 8th International Plastic Fair-2013 would begin at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city on January 23.
Around 250 exhibitors from 13 countries including Bangladesh, Austria, China, United Arab Emirates, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Switzerland will take part in the fair to showcase a comprehensive range of industrial products, technologies and services through 350 booths.