The major challenge of skilled manpower in the plastics industry is expected to be overcome by next year as the establishment of a training institute for developing skilled human resources for the business sector will end early next year.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president and plastics entrepreneur, Md Jashim Uddin, at a programme on Wednesday said there was no training institute for the plastics industry yet. The Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) has been building institute for which it has already spent Tk20 crore. 

"We have signed an agreement involving Tk15 crore today (Wednesday) to complete the rest of the work of the institute. We hope the project will be completed by early next year," Md Jashim said at a discussion programme on the 'Potentials of Toy Sector in Bangladesh', organised by the BPGMEA in the capital.

Md Jashim said the relatively new and small sector of plastics entrepreneurs has faced problems in getting workers for their factories and designers for product designing. 

The plastics sector is a huge one with 12 to 15 lakh people involved in the industry and exporting over $1 billion worth  of goods, said the FBCCI President, adding that the government will allocate 90 acres of land for the plastics industry in the chemical village which is at its last stage. 

Jashim Uddin, however, demanded to keep the land price at a reasonable level so that genuine businesses get the plots.

"We have to make many industrial sectors export worthy if we want to achieve the target set for 2031 and 2041. Plastics is one of the major export industries among these," he said. 

BPGMEA president Shamim Ahmed said the size of the local plastics market is Tk40,000 crore of which plastic toy manufacturing is a sub-sector. 

He said toy exports amounted to $37 million in FY2018-19 which increased to $33 million in FY2019-20.  This rose to $36 million in FY2020-21. 

He also said that the plastic toys sector has high potential as it is a labour intensive industry which generates employment.  

"The toy sector will play a pivotal role in the country's economy in the future. We register several hundred toy patterns every year," he said. 

As chief guest at the programme, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said there are two industrial villages – for chemicals and for plastics. 

"We will ensure that genuine businesses get land at these industrial villages and the price will also be reasonable to accommodate small entrepreneurs," said the minister.