Ceramic makers bring in new designs to woo locals, foreigners

Ceramic manufacturers of the country have introduced a range of new designs in ceramic products to attract more local and foreign buyers at the month-long Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2008.
The products of new designs that include show piece, flower vase, dinner set, ashtray, scenery plate, cup and plate created a centre of attention among the visitors on the fourth day of the show that began on January 1.
Displayers of ceramic products said they expect more responses this time from local and foreign visitors due to the products' innovative designs.
“Like other years we have brought in 30 to 40 new designs this year,” Raisul Islam, marketing manager of Monno Ceramic Industries Ltd, said yesterday.
The exclusive products of the company include two dinner sets--each of Tk 1 lakh. "The dinner sets are made of costly raw materials and coated with 24-carat gold lining and paintings," said Raisul.
People involved in the industry said Bangladesh now ranks 11th in the world market in terms of manufacturing ceramic products. The UK, EU, India and Middle East are the main export destinations of local ceramic products.
Industry people said high cost of raw materials is holding back the local products' competitiveness in the international market.
“Bangladeshi ceramic products have a huge demand in both foreign and domestic markets,” said Yeahyea Hasan, sales executive of Peoples Ceramic Industries Ltd.
“But the lower-cost and low-quality tableware smuggled into the country has created challenge for us to survive,” Hasan added
The ceramic industry will be able to earn a huge amount of foreign currency if it gets proper government support, said Tanvirul Islam, assistant manager of FARR Ceramics Ltd.
“The turnout of visitors today (Friday) does not represent the general picture. Generally fewer visitors come to the fair at the beginning. But today the number is good due to the weekly holiday,” a DITF official said at the ticket counter.
Entry fee has been fixed at Tk 10 for each adult and Tk 5 for children. The fair will remain open from 10am to 9pm on working days and from 10am to 10pm on holidays.
Organisers expect the participating companies will get Tk50crore worth spot orders from the show for local and foreign traders, with a further Tk500 crore being generated in follow-up business. Last year local exporters received only Tk 25 crore spot orders.
DITF is a yearly programme of Bangladesh government, which mainly aims to showcase local products to foreign buyers. The Ministry of Commerce and Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) are jointly organising the fair at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
This year a total of 395 organisations, including 15 from seven countries, are taking part in the fair.
The foreign participants include firms from India, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, USA, UK, Japan and Turkey.