The government has decided to award the commercially important person (CIP) status to over 180 people for their contribution to exports, a senior official said.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has prepared a draft list of 188 CIPs.
Out of the 188 businessmen or associations, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has recommended names of 40 businessmen and organisations to the export bureau for the status.
In a meeting last week, the commerce ministry readied the draft list.
"We're going to send the names to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for her approval of the CIP award," additional secretary of the ministry Tapan Kanti Ghosh told the FE.
The government awards the CIP status to businesspeople from 22 sectors based mostly on the export income and the expansion of overseas markets.
The new market exploration and the volume of exports are also considered.
It gives the award to the businessmen who have exported different types of goods.
The exporters, who are loan defaulters or have unpaid taxes, are not considered for the award.
The commerce ministry official said after getting the PMO's consent, they will publish a gazette notification containing the names of CIPs (Export).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the CIP (export) cards to the selected businessmen at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) soon.
As per the government policy, 140 are chosen as CIPs (Export) from the product export category and 48 from the ex-officio category.
A businessperson will be considered for the status, if he or she earns US$0.15 million by exporting products or services in the areas such as agriculture, agro-processing, light engineering, handicraft, plastic, melamine, computer software, computer services and data processing.
For the remaining sectors, the target of export earnings is set at $1.5 million.
The CIPs in the ex-officio category are directors of the FBCCI representing different trade bodies and associations.
The CIPs will enjoy some privileges for one year.
The privileges include a pass and a car sticker for entry into the Secretariat, invitation to national programmes and functions of municipal corporations.
They also enjoy seat reservations by state-owned transport agencies like Biman, get letter of introduction from the foreign ministry for travelling abroad. They also could use VIP (very important person) lounge-2 at airports.
