Businessmen on Saturday urged the government to provide necessary policy support so that eggs and meat could be provided at much lower prices to the consumers, reports BSS.
The entrepreneurs also demanded same policy support to the livestock, poultry and fish farmers what now the agriculture sector enjoys.
The businessmen raised these demands in the first meeting of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Livestock, Poultry and Fisheries held on Saturday at the FBCCI in the capital, said a press release.
The release said poultry, cattle, fish and shrimp farms pay electricity bills at commercial rates which escalated the production and operating costs.
If they get the equal policy support in the agricultural sector, it would be possible to ensure demand for protein at affordable prices.
While speaking at the meeting as the chief guest, FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin said the government should provide utilities at a special rate to the livestock farms.
"To become a developed country by 2041, Bangladesh needs to export $300 billion, which may appear to be tough to achieve solely from RMG.
Therefore, fish, shrimp and meat should be included in the export basket. Here, it comes to the issue of government policy support," he added.
The FBCCI President said recently there has been instability in the egg market due to a few unscrupulous traders. He urged the government to identify these dishonest traders to protect the image of the community.
Jasim also advised the committee to work on logistics and supply chain to ensure fair prices for marginal farmers.
Earlier, Director-in-charge of the committee and vice-president of FBCCI, Salahuddin Alamgir, said that like agriculture, five percent loan obligation for banks should be kept for the livestock sector.
He also demanded to fix the dollar price at Taka 100 in case of imports for livestock. The vice president also recommended the introduction of insurance policies at low premiums to protect the farmers.
FBCCI senior vice president Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, directors Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarker, MGR Nasir Majumder, Syed Moazzam Hossain, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Abu Motaleb, Mohammad Iqbal Shahriar, Mohammed Bazlur Rahman, Tabarakul Tosaddek Hossain Khan Tito, Md. Naser, Abu Hossain Bhuiyan (Ranu), secretary general Mohammad Mafuzul Hoque, co-chairmen of the standing committee Imran Hussain, Md Mahmudul Alam and members were also present at the meeting.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
