Commerce ministry lobbies for seafood export incentives

The Ministry of Commerce has lobbied with the Ministry of Finance and Bangladesh Bank to take necessary measures to provide incentive package of 30% working capital loan from the state-run Janata Bank for the two seafood exporters — Jahanabad Seafoods Ltd and Jalalabad Frozen Foods Ltd, according to finance ministry sources.

The export wing-1 of the commerce ministry sent a letter to the Senior Secretary of finance ministry Abur Rouf Talukder and Governor of Bangladesh Bank Fazle Kabir on December 15.

The letter signed by Senior Assistance Secretary of Commerce Ministry Naznin Parvin requested the Bangladesh Bank and Finance Division to take next steps to provide loan to the two frozen foods farms exporting shrimp and frozen fishes.

The government is now providing incentive loan from Janata Bank under 1:1 guarantee loan to coronavirus affected farms under incentive package.

Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque also requested Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi to consider the matter sympathetically for the two frozen foods farms of Khulna.

An official of the commerce ministry said that farms affected by Covid-19 sent letters to the ministry and they have informed the Finance Division and Bangladesh Bank in this regard. We want to arrange meeting with the state banks over the problems of providing loan to businessmen affected by the pandemic, the official also said.

The major share of the Tk 121,000 crore incentive package is intended for the industries and sectors affected by the global pandemic. The affected sectors will get Tk 30,000 crore as working capital on concessional interest rate from banks as per announcement in last April.

CEO & Managing Director of Janata Bank Md. Abdus Salam said, “We have looked into the matter of providing incentive loans to several farms including two Khulna seafood export oriented farms.

The letter sent by the Managing Directors of two export-oriented farms Jabbar Mollah reads that all state-owned banks and financial institutions except Janata Bank are providing credits to COVID-19 affected farms without any reason.

The letter also reads that the two seafood processing plants namely Jahanabad Seafoods Ltd and Jalalabad Frozen Foods Ltd were established in 1995. The former was established not only to facilitate export but also to ensure the availability of fresh shrimp being at the center point of the country's shrimp culture zone under the brand name SEAGOLD to the world seafood market as a symbol of quality and commitment and to boost up national export.  

The letter further reads that successful entrepreneurship with credibility encouraged to expand the range of operation by establishing another modern seafood processing plant in 2006 namely Jalalabad Frozen Foods Ltd in Khulna with a goal to fulfill the increasing demand of premium products for the consumers under the brand name SEAPEARL.

Both the plants are equipped with modern European machinery through technological support of DSI Denmark, CFS and Grasso of The Netherlands. Auto grading system has been established with a capacity of 2,000 Kg/hour to maintain a perfect uniformity ratio. Scada software and PLC auto control refrigeration system are also used.

ask/wi