The National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman suggests that entrepreneurs come out of the culture of pursuing government support given the country's rapid economic march.
To become a developed nation, he says, dependency on state support, financial support should shrink… and businesses need to upgrade their competency in accordance with their own improvement.
He said this while addressing a pre-budget meeting with Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) and Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BCMEA).
The parley, presided over by NBR chairman Mr Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, was organised at the NBR headquarters in Segunbagicha area on Tuesday.
NBR members Md Masud Sadiq, Zakia Sultana and Md Shamsuddin Ahmed also spoke at the programme.
Former BARVIDA president Abdul Haque and former secretary general Mohammad Shahidul Islam, BCMEA president Md Sirajul Islam Mollah and vice-president Md Mamunur Rashid placed their budget proposals.
Explaining his thought of trimming down state support, Mr Muneem said, "The situation will compel us to come out of the support culture… in our way to become a developed country, new challenges will emerge from international perspective."
Pointing to Bangladesh's graduation from LDC group by 2024, he said the international community has set different parameters about what a country would look like, where to give support and where to withdraw.
"To face these challenges," the NBR chief added, "businesses should increase their competency and become mentally prepared about the compressed scope for government support."
Placing BARVIDA's budget proposals, Mr Haque urged the revenue board to fix base prices of reconditioned cars after deducting 25-per cent dealers' commission from the yellow book prices.
The yellow book price is the international index for car prices issued by the Japan Auto Appraisal Institute.
The association proposed to set the price depreciation of cars used for five years or more at 50 per cent, which is currently 35 per cent.
Mr Haque proposed to remove the current 30-per cent supplementary duty (SD) on 2000cc microbuses or less and reducing 45-per cent SD on 2001cc or more to 20 per cent.
Considering the importance of public transport to reduce congestion, the BARVIDA urged the NBR to reduce import duty on 40 or more seating buses to 1.0 per cent from existing 10 per cent.
It also proposed to remove the existing 20-per cent SD on electric battery-run motor vehicles.
Meanwhile, the BCMEA proposed complete removal of SD on locally-made tiles and sanitaryware which is currently 15 per cent on tiles and 10 per cent on sanitaryware.
Referring to a recent tariff value decrease on imported tiles that created an uneven competition for local manufacturers, Mr Mollah suggested tariff value on imported tiles of all types be increased 20-50 per cent.
The BCMEA also proposed the NBR to provide partial bond facility to the ceramic industry due to its reliance on raw material import from international market.
Besides, the leaders of the association noted that there are some 68 companies in the billion-dollar sector that employs an estimated 0.5-million people.
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