The apex trade body recommends removing roadblocks like withdrawal of tax at source and advance income tax (AIT) from the local ocean-going ship business to promote the sector.
It also suggests ensuring facilities to the business like other industrial sectors.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has recently requested the commerce ministry to consider the issue.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Ocean-going Ship Owners' Association (BOGSOA) recently requested the trade body to take a course of action in this connection.
The FBCCI suggests providing 15-per cent cash incentive on achieving foreign currency by local ship owners.
It also advocates simplifying the process of registering the local ship.
Ship business cannot make its desired growth due to limitations, according to the BOGSOA.
Even the number of people involved in the business has been decreasing as they cannot compete with foreign ship business, it points out.
In 1994, according to industry insiders, the government treated the domestic ship industry as an industrial sector, but it is not getting expected facility.
The government provides AIT/source tax, cash incentive, duty drawback and corporate-tax facility on a limited scale to garment and textile sectors, they said.
The local shipbuilding industry is getting deprived of the facilities that the other sectors are enjoying, they claimed.
The sector currently gives 30 per cent and 5.0 per cent corporate tax and AIT respectively.
"We have received a letter from the BOGSOA recently. We are working on the issue," an official said.
