Dhaka: The government will set up a dedicated industrial zone in Munshiganj to promote environment-friendly plastic industry, said Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on Wednesday.

‘The government is committed to building an environment-friendly plastic industry… so we have chosen a land spreading over 50 acres at Sirajdikhan in Munshiganj,’ UNB quoted the minister as saying. He made the remark at the inaugural session of a four-day international plastic fair.

The Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and Chan Chao International Co. Ltd of Taiwan jointly organised the 11^th International Plastic Fair-2016 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

Amu said a total of 360 plastic industry units would be commissioned in the proposed Tk 133-crore project.

He said around 18,000 workers, including 1800 women, would get work in the planned industrial zone once the scheme would be implemented.

The minister said the plastic industry has immense potential to diversify its products.

‘If it gets policy support it is possible to increase export of plastic goods to $ 100 crore by 2021,’ he said.

Currently Bangladesh exports plastic products to different countries, including the USA, Canada, China, India, Nepal and the European Union.

‘(Now) we directly export plastic goods worth Tk 1,000 crore each year.’

Amu said more than 300 participants from 13 countries of the world, including Bangladesh, is taking part in the international plastic fair.

The fair will create opportunities for technology transfer for the local industries of Bangladesh, he said.

He hoped the fair would broaden the opportunities for local industrialists to observe foreign quality products and exchange ideas.

President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Abdul Matlub Ahmad, BPGMEA president M Jasim Uddin and secretary general of Asia Plastic Forum Callum Chen, among others, spoke on the occasion.