Death Marketing -2

JTI's Clever Tactic Targeting National Budget

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is no idler when it comes to brand image building. Ahead of national budget, the Managing Director (MD) of JTI, in a recent interview with a national daily, mentioned that JTI has already provided BDT 8500 crore in revenues to govt. exchequer and has plans to do business in Bangladesh for at least the next 50 years. The truth is that Bangladesh has emerged as a coveted market for tobacco companies since the youth constitute 49 percent of its demography. The low prices and availability of cigarettes have been increasing their use. As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2017 report, the number of cigarette smokers increased by 1.5 million between 2009 and 2017. The multi-national tobacco company did all these calculations before making its entrance into the Bangladeshi market in 2018. To discourage tobacco use, there is no alternative to increasing the prices of cigarettes and all other tobacco products through imposing specific taxes in the upcoming budget with a view to bringing these products out of the purchasing power of the people, particularly the youth.