The interim government has decided to reduce import duties on mobile phones brought in from abroad, as well as on the import of components for mobile phone manufacturers operating in Bangladesh.
The decision was taken on Thursday (1 January) at a meeting of the Advisory Council chaired by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam disclosed the information to the media at a briefing held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
He said that the customs duty on mobile phone imports has been reduced from 25 percent to 10 percent.
As a result, the total burden of import duty, advance tax, and VAT on direct mobile phone imports has come down to 43.43 percent, from the previous 61.80 percent.
At the same time, Shafiqul Alam said that duties on the import of components for assembling mobile phones in Bangladesh have also been reduced.
To encourage the local mobile phone assembly industry, the import duty at the local level has been lowered from 10 percent to 5 percent.
