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increase the processing of frozen fish and vegetables and export the
food items to meet growing demand for Bangladeshi expatriates the
world over. Hasina said if the local fish and vegetables could be
frozen with high standards, a huge market of millions of Bangladeshi
expatriates could be captured. The delegation of Frozen Foods
Exporters Association led by its President Mohammad Musa Miah and
Senior Vice-president Kazi Shahnaz met Hasina at the Prime Minister's
Office to apprise her of the problems and prospects of the industry.
Hasina asked the authorities to look into why the frozen-food
exporters have not been given yet the cash incentives though there
was an allocation for them in the budget, even after seven months of
its approval. In 1997 , the European Union countries had stopped
importing Bangladeshi shrimps, but Hasina as the then prime minister
had arranged a cash incentive of Tk 40 crore for them to update the
factories, exporters said. Following that bailout, within only four
months, the shrimp exports to the EU market started in a full swing,
they added. Hasina assured the frozen-food exporters of providing
necessary support from the government to protect their industry and
exports from any negative impact of the global recession. She
observed that leather and frozen foods are the two sectors, which
have been directly affected by the economic meltdown. The prime
minister also asked all stakeholders of the frozen-food industry,
including shrimp cultivators, to take care of the natural
environment and biodiversity of the respective areas. She said many
shrimp-hatchery owners caused damage to the embankments in coastal
areas by cutting these open for setting pipes to bring brackish
seawater for shrimp farming. Damage from Cyclone Aila was high because
the embankments were made vulnerable for bringing in the seawater
for shrimp culture. "Such practice should not go on anymore. There
must be an alternative mechanism for collecting seawater for shrimp
cultivation which will not harm the embankments," said the prime
minister, concerned about the downside of the forex-earner. Hasina
said her last government had created cemented canals for irrigation
purposes, a mechanism which can also be used for shrimp farming. She
suggested thinking about the creation of such a mechanism when the
rivers will be dredged and the embankments be raised higher than the
present altitude. Hasina said the technology would be incorporated in
the shrimp farms on the basis of joint contribution both of the
government and farmers. She emphasised inspiring the agricultural
farmers into cultivating salinity-tolerant paddy in coastal areas.
The frozen-food exporters apprised the prime minister that Bangladesh
is expected to increase earnings from exporting frozen shrimp and
foods up to Tk 10 ,000 crore by 2015 from Tk 4 ,000 crore now. "To
reach that goal, the government will have to help the sector with cash
incentives," said Musa Mia, the association president. The prices of
shrimps in the markets of the USA and the European nations came down
by 50 percent following the global recession, he said. Musa demanded
the government offer bank-loan facility for the frozen foods'
processors. The exporters further asked the government to give them
Tk 425 crore from the government incentive package of Tk 5 ,000
crore for long- term rehabilitation of food-processing factories.
