All ITES exporters eligible for subsidies: BB

Bangladesh Bank has clarified that all exporters of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector are eligible to receive subsidies for exporting Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES).

It further clarified that the subsidy could be availed by both members and non-members of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO), according to a BB circular issued on Monday.

In order to avail the subsidies, it is required by the Commerce Ministry that exporters of ITES acquire a certificate from the two organizations—BASIS and BACCO.

However, there have been allegations that the two organizations have been giving preference to members over non-members when came to issuing the aforementioned certificates.

This new circular has been issued to remove such obstacles for non-member exporters, said an official of Bangladesh Bank. Earlier, the subsidy order was clear for the member exporter but there was an ambiguity in the case of non-member exporters.

The Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD) of Bangladesh Bank has removed that ambiguity in this circular.

Earlier in 2018, Bangladesh Bank (BB) announced that exporters of the ICT sector would get a 10 percent subsidy for exporting software, ITES, and hardware.

The most popular services included in ITES are call centre services, data centres, database management and human resources (HR services).

In the event of subsidy irregularities, there is a provision to take appropriate action against banks and institutions participating in the export process.

The subsidy payment is issued against the submitted application from the budget allocation in favour of the concerned bank.