Govt considers Tk 50b special fund for shipbuilding sector

The government is mulling over forming a special fund worth Tk 50 billion to help develop the shipbuilding industry in the country, officials said.

Arranging bank loans at 4.0 per cent interest rate with 25 years of repayment period is also under consideration as part of the government's effort to promote the potential industry, they said.

The Ministry of Industries has recently drafted the Shipbuilding Industry Development Policy-2019, which said a Tk 5.0 billion non-funded arrangement will be there to provide sovereign bank guarantee at low cost.

The shipbuilding yards will be offered tax holiday facility for 10 years to help them grow and the rate of cash incentives will be enhanced from the present rate, it said.

A five-year working plan has been formulated to implement the policy, which will help the shipbuilding industry attain the desired goal, a senior industry ministry official told the FE.

Presently there are some 20 international and 100 local shipyard and dockyards in the country.

These shipyards build nearly 100 vessels a year, of which some are of 10,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) in size.

The shipyards have so far exported some 40 vessels to Europe, Africa, and Asian countries and earned US$180 million.

Officials expected the country's shipbuilding industry to be able to fetch $4.0 billion a year in the next five years by exporting vessels if adequate policy support is given.

The sector will also be able to employ 0.1 million people from the existing 30,000 by 2025, they noted.

Another official at the Ministry of Industries said three strategic steps will be taken to attain the goal of the policy.

Apart from the public-private partnership, the policy will place importance on active participation of all stakeholders of the shipbuilding industry to help flourish the sector.

It will also give priority to the capacity building of people and organisations involved in the sector, the official said.

He also said proper steps will be taken for easy and sustainable marketing of products globally.

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