Economic Reporter :Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Saturday called upon the government to extend the reduced tax rate of 10 per cent on readymade garment (RMG) in next five years.Besides, it also made a plea to cut the tax on sources like the fiscal year 2014-15 for the RMG sector.”RMG attained 10 per cent growth in first 10 months of the current financial year due to some strong measures taken by the government, but it’s not sufficient to achieve the export goal of US$ 50 billion by 2021, that’s why the government should provide policy support to the sector,” BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman told newsmen at a press conference in the city. Mentioning that Bangladesh has attained average 10 per cent growth in the RMG sector in last five years, he said: “We are lagging behind by 3.19 per cent than average growth and 5.19 per cent from the desired $50 billion by 2021. So we’ve to achieve double growth than the average growth rate to realize the target.” The BGMEA President said hundred per cent export industry is out of the VAT net, but export incentive services are listed for VAT. “We are requesting the government to exclude those services from VAT net.” Terming Bangladesh as an earthquake prone country, Siddiqur Rahman demanded duty-free import of fire extinguishing and modern power saving equipment for safe, compliant and environment-friendly factory. Advocating for reducing corporate tax for the RMG sector, he said the sector could not go ahead by paying 35 per cent tax.Stressing importance for an “energy policy” in the country, the BGMEA President said a total of 197 newly installed factories could not go in operation for lack of gas connection. BGMEA First Vice President Faruque Hassan, Vice President S M Mannan (Kochi), Vice President (Finance) Mohammad Nasir and other directors were present at the press conference among others.
