DOT Desk
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has barred foreign mobile handset brands from manufacturing their products in the factories of local handset manufacturing companies, reports The New Age.
To this end, the telecom regulator amended its guidelines on setting up local handset manufacturing and assembling plants at a recent meeting of the commission, a senior BTRC official told New Age.
Previously, the guidelines that came into effect in August 2017 allowed foreign handset brands to manufacture their handsets in any local handset manufacturing or assembling factories. The telecom regulator imposed the embargo on the foreign brands which are eligible to import handsets in Bangladesh.
with a view to prompting them to set up their own manufacturing plants in the country if the brands desire to get tax benefits offered by the government for the sector.
Such policy barrier might prompt the foreign mobile handset brands to set up their own plants in Bangladesh to remain competitive in the local market, BTRC officials said.
Besides, it would also help the country attract foreign investments in the country’s mobile handset manufacturing sector.
So far, none of the foreign handset brands manufacture their products in the factories of local handset manufactories companies.
The local handset brands which have BTRC approval to import handsets in Bangladesh would be allowed to manufacture or assemble handsets of their own brands from any local handset manufacturers, the officials said.
To encourage local handset assembling industry, the government in the budget for the fiscal year of 2017-2018 reduced customs duty on mobile parts by 24 percentage points to 1 per cent and doubled the tax on handset imports to 10 per cent.
Then again in the fiscal year of 2018-2019, the government imposed 2 per cent surcharge on imports of mobile handsets and reduced import duty on raw materials for handset manufacturing.
Five entities have so far got approval from the government for setting up mobile handset assembling plants in Bangladesh. The latest one is Al Amin Brothers, a local mobile handset importer. Four other companies are: local handset manufacturers Walton, Symphony and I-Tel and global tech leader Samsung.
A number of other companies are in the pipeline for receiving approval from the government.
As per data available, mobile importers bring 2.50-3 crore mobile handsets to the country in a year through legal channel to meet a growing demand for the handsets from the country’s 15.41 crore mobile phone users.
Besides, another 50 lakh mobile phones enter in the country annually through illegal channel.
Under the amendments, BTRC inserted another clause in the guidelines, making half-year report submission mandatory for the mobile handset manufacturers so that the commission can assess the industry.
Mobile handset manufacturers were asked to report on production lines, manufacturing statistics of smartphones and feature phones, total employees, and quantity of e-waste and recycling.
Apart from these, the commission inserted in the guidelines another provision that made taking technical assistance from the reputed mobile manufacturing entities mandatory for setting up new manufacturing plants.