The government has formed a 12-member monitoring and advisory committee to support the development of Bangladesh’s tea industry, with a focus on easing financial pressure on tea garden owners and exploring new investment opportunities.
The committee, headed by the Commerce Minister, was formed through a gazette notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday.
The panel will recommend measures to reschedule existing loans and provide fresh financing support to tea garden owners to help them repay outstanding liabilities.
It will also review the possibility of creating a revolving fund for the tea sector at a 6 per cent interest rate, according to the notification.
The committee has been tasked with submitting a report within 30 working days on two key issues — whether tea should be declared an agricultural product and the possibility of commercial installation of solar panels on unused land inside tea gardens.
The committee includes the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Governor of Bangladesh Bank, secretaries of the Land, Finance, Commerce and Agriculture ministries, and chairmen of the National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh Tea Board and Bangladesh Tea Association.
The Commerce Ministry Secretary will serve as the member-secretary of the committee.
Representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh Tea Research Institute, tea traders, plantation owners’ associations and other relevant stakeholders are also included in the panel.
The committee may co-opt additional members when necessary and will hold meetings as required, according to the notification.
The decision took immediate effect.
