Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday urged businesses to prepare to sustain in competition with global entrepreneurs after the country’s graduation to the developing economy. The minister said this while addressing as the chief guest at the CIP (Export) and CIP (Trade) -2018 card distribution ceremony at a city hotel. The program was organized by the Export promotion Bureau (EPB), a wing of the commerce ministry. He also emphasized product diversification along with improving high-end and high value products to enhance the country’s export volume at desired level. The businesses have to be enriched with business-technical knowledge and skilled entrepreneurship handling in line with global markets opportunity. To encourage businesses the government introduced commercially important person (CIP) status in 2013 for excellent export performance and domestic trade development as an acknowledgement of the contribution of business people. The CIP honour will encourage businessmen’s new generation to remain in business and create new entrepreneurship, Tipu said. Read: Increased capacity of Ctg Port to cut cost of doing business: FBCCI Commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh presided over the function. FBCCI president Md. Jasim Uddin, vice chairman of EPB AHM Ahsan, ampong others, spoke at the event. The ministry awarded cards to 176 businessmen as CIP for their extraordinary performance in the country’s trade sector and export business in 2018. Among them, 138 persons have been nominated by the commerce ministry for CIPs card for excellence in exporting goods and the remaining 38 people’s nominated CIP cards for outstanding contribution in the trade sector of Bangladesh. They were selected in 20 categories from 250 applications while none was applied from the melamine and furniture sector. Among the categories 1 CIP card rewarded for raw jute, 3 for jute products, 5- leather goods, 7- frozen food, 23- readymade garments (oven), 6- agriculture good, 4- agro processing, 2- light engineering products, 2-pharmaceutical products, 5- handicraft products, 3-specialized home textile products, 41-readymade garments (net), 2-ceramic products, 2-plastic products, 5- textile (febrics), 2- computer software, 23-measeneous products,2- EPZs’ C category products, 38-business leader (trade).      

38 non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) will receive the commercially important person (CIP) status on January 6 next year for their outstanding contribution to the country’s economy.