The country’s tannery owners have sought cash incentives for crust and finished leather with a view to achieving the export target, officials said. The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) recently demanded the incentives from the Ministry of Commerce (MoC). “The ministry is scrutinising the request but has not taken any decision in this connection as yet,” said an official involved with the issue. The industry owners have been facing a severe financial crisis due to reduction in orders from the international buyers recently, insiders said. The tanners need 12 per cent and 15 per cent cash incentives for the crust and finished leather respectively for the current fiscal year (FY), they added. The country’s export revenue from leather and related products during the first nine months of the current FY has been only US$ 850 million out of the $1,212.81 million target, according to the BTA. The government has set an export target of $1.5 billion for the leather sector in the FY 2016-17. The tanners are making efforts to fulfil the export target for the next fiscal year despite relocation of their factories to Savar, sources concerned said. Presently, the leather sector is the second largest export earner of the country. About 65,000 skilled and unskilled labourers are engaged with the industry, they said. The crust and finished leather are exported through the country’s 220 leather industries after production and processing, they mentioned. Leather units are being shifted to the Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka city, from Hazaribagh. The tannery owners have invested a large amount of money to relocate their factories. “We hope that the relocation of the factories from Hazaribagh to Savar will be complete shortly,” a factory owner said.
