Vietnamese keen to invest in telecom, textile

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Tran Dai Quang, president of Vietnam; Tofail Ahmed, commerce minister, and Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of FBCCI, attend the Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum, at Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka Yesterday. Photo: Star

 

Vietnamese keen to invest in telecom, textile

Vietnam wants to invest in telecom, agriculture, IT, textile, oil and gas, infrastructure sectors of Bangladesh due the country’s low-cost production facilities and large market, said Tran Dai Quang, president of the Southeast Asian nation. “There is a lot of opportunity for investment given the current size of the economy of Bangladesh,” he said at the ‘Vietnam-Bangladesh Business Forum’, organised yesterday by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Tran went to recommend the Bangladesh government to reform the policies for attracting more foreign investment.

At present, Vietnam has $320 billion of foreign investment due to its improved infrastructures, liberal economic policies and its 6.5 percent to 7 percent growth over the last few years. He suggested Bangladesh for more innovation, higher productivity, adoption of green technologies, expansion of domestic markets, greater transparency and enhanced competitiveness for attracting higher foreign investment.

Vietnam is also keen on taking the bilateral trade between the two countries to $1 billion by the end of this year and to $2 billion by 2020, he said.

At present, bilateral trade between the two international locations is closely tilted in the direction of Vietnam. In fiscal 2016-17, Bangladesh imported items well worth $417 million and exported items worth $66.44 million, according to information from the FBCCI. “We would like to encourage bilateral exchange in rice, agricultural products, cloth and meals processing.”

Tran also counseled Bangladesh on its poverty reduction efforts.

“Actually, I am impressed with Bangladesh’s sizable social and economic development. Bangladesh is a role model in the world in poverty reduction,” he added. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed stated Bangladesh is already a decrease middle-income u . s . a . and very soon the u . s . a . would graduate to the middle-income bracket.

The minister provided a exclusive financial area for Vietnamese investors as the authorities has been growing a hundred such zones across the united states for each nearby and overseas entrepreneurs. The businessmen of each the nations agreed to shape a Bangladesh Vietnam Business Council to center of attention on sectors and modalities to promote exchange and investment between the two countries, said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of FBCCI.

At the enterprise forum, three funding agreements have been signed in the presence of Tran.

In the first agreement, TBS Group, which counts international brands like Coach, Tory Burch, Skechers and Decathlon as its long-term customers, agreed to make investments $100 million in Bangladesh’s leather and leathergoods sector. The agreement was once signed between Saiful Islam, president of Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association of Bangladesh, and Diep Thanh Kiet, vice-chairman of Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association.

The different two agreements involve setting up two joint challenge seafood processing companies in Bangladesh. “We will are looking for technologies on shrimp farming from the Vietnamese companies,” stated Belayet Hossain, vice-president of the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association, after signing the agreements. Vietnam has been performing very nicely on the export of vannamei range of shrimp.

The neighborhood fish farmers will additionally domesticate the vannamei variety of shrimps as this is greater profitable than the black tiger and clean water shrimps that they presently farm.

Software, ICT need special attention in budget: BASIS

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Software, ICT need special attention in budget: BASIS

The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) has demanded that at least 5 percent of the allocation for digitisation in the upcoming national budget be especially reserved for software and ICT items.

The government allocated Tk 9,242 crore to specifically ensure digital services for citizens through the implementation of 76 projects by some ministries and agencies in the current fiscal year. The figure was Tk 5,765 crore for fiscal 2016-17. “This is a huge amount of money and almost all of it has been spent for infrastructure construction in the name of digitisation,” said Syed Almas Kabir, president of BASIS. But digitisation cannot be ensured solely through infrastructure while leaving out software, he said. The BASIS has prepared a budget proposal and is giving immense importance on this issue, he said adding that it has already shared it with the National Board of Revenue and would submit it before the finance minister soon.

All the ministries and divisions will get the allocation, the education ministry the highest, stated the association. If the authorities offers significance to the issue, the country’s software program region will develop in addition which will quickly song digitisation, he added. The BASIS additionally demanded removal of procedural challenges to get a 20 percentage authorities money incentive on exports of their members.

Kabir also sought simplifying the procedure of getting a tax exemption certificate, which helps availing such advantages supposed for the ICT industry. The apex change physique of software program and information provider zone additionally entreated the income regulator to carry value-added tax on all strategies of net usage. Earlier, the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh additionally demanded the same. A 15 percentage VAT is charged for net usage through land connections whilst a 21.75 percent VAT, supplementary obligation and surcharge for utilization via cellular phones.

 

App launched for better labour management

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App launched for better labour management

The government yesterday launched a mobile application to ensure quality labour management in the industrial sector.

The Labour Inspection Management Application or LIMA will improve the collection, storage and analysis of labour inspection data. The development of LIMA has been supported by the International Labour Organisation’s Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector programme funded by Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Md Mujibul  Haque, state minister for labour and employment, inaugurated the LIMA at an event held at the Amari Dhaka hotel. Around 250 android tablets were also handed over to the Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments or DIFE, to be used during inspections.

“LIMA is a milestone in the march towards digital Bangladesh and testament to the commitment of the government to ensure that every workplace is a safe workplace and that the rights of workers are respected,” the state minister said.

LIMA is set to make DIFE’s operations more effective by combining its key data gathering and management needs in one platform, International Labour Organisation’s Dhaka office said in a statement.

It will also enhance data accessibility and transparency by making certain information available to employers and workers while facilitating day-to-day tasks such as factory licence applications or the submission of complaints, according to the statement.

“The launch of LIMA marks the beginning of a new chapter for the labour inspectorate,” said Md Shamsuzzaman Bhuiyan, inspector general of the DIFE.

“It will make our operations

more effective and thereby help to enhance the welfare and safety of working people and also improve productivity of industries. It will also help DIFE to generate a variety of reports.

Publish names of wilful loan defaulters, enforce laws

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Bangladesh Bank governor Fazle Kabir speaks at the inaugural session of a two-day Regional Banking Conference 2018 jointly organised by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management, Financial Institutions Training Institute of Bhutan, National Institute of Bank Management of India and National Banking Institute of Nepal at the BIBM in Dhaka on Sunday. BIBM director general Toufic Ahmad Choudhury was also present, among others. — New Age photo

 

Publish names of wilful loan defaulters, enforce laws

Experts at a conference on Sunday suggested that Bangladesh should adopt the practices including disclosure of names of the wilful defaulters and enforcement of rules that India and Nepal follow to deal with banks’ non-performing loans.
They made the suggestion while speaking at the business session on the opening day of a two-day Regional Banking Conference 2018 that began at the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management in Dhaka.
They also said the government’s strategy to allow new banks to create competition among them and spread banking activities across the country and in the process bring the rural people under financial inclusion has failed.
BIBM supernumerary professor Md Yeasin Ali said, ‘We should learn good practices from each other.’
‘To tackle the non-performing loans, India publishes names of the wilful defaulters,’ he said.
Apart from that, the wilful defaulters are barred from opening any new ventures for five years, Yeasin said.
In China, air and train tickets are not sold to the defaulters as punitive measures of the government and to shame the wilful defaulters, he said. He also mentioned that Nepal’s NPL was below two per cent, which was exemplary for other countries.
Speaking about the Nepal’s NPL ratio, former Bangladesh Bank governor Mohammed Farashuddin said, ‘Nepal has a very stringent law and they apply it.’
In Bangladesh, the combination of statutory reserve ratio and cash reserve ratio is 19 per cent, while the figure is 26 per cent in Nepal, he said.
Mentioning that the problem in the Bangladesh’s banking system started during 1991-1992, the former BB governor said that the capacities of the banks did not enhance and quality was not ensured.
Speaking about publishing names of the wilful defaulters, National Institute of Bank Management, India director KL Dhingra said that the list of the wilful defaulters was made by banks not by the central bank.

On the slowdown of Indian economy, he stated that the country’s deposit increase was once tardy due to financial problems.
Nepal’s Sanima Bank chief executive officer Bhuvan Kumar Dahal said that the country’s mortgage sanction manner was very a whole lot centralised that additionally helped the us of a preserve NPL to a very low level.
Besides, banks are supposed to write off loans if the loans continue to be unpaid for one year and the defaulters’ statistics are preserved at
the savings records bureau, he said.
The process creates issues no longer only for the defaulters but also for their household contributors to get loans from banks in future, he said.
BIBM professor and director Shah Md Ahsan Habib, its companion professors Mohammed Sohail Mustafa and Mohammad Tazul Islam prepared a united states paper on Bangladesh titled ‘a review of the activities and overall performance of the banking sector of Bangladesh’.
Mentioning NPL a key subject particularly these of the state-owned banks, Habib stated that the cutting-edge evidences published quite a few instances of wilful default by using a section of big borrowers.
Regular recapitalisation of state-owned banks has emerged as a motive of nervousness that demands on the spot board-based corrective movements and legal measures, he observed.
Pointing out trade-based money laundering a developing concern for the policymakers and central banks at some stage in the globe, he said that enchancment in potential to put in force anti-money laundering regulations and the capability to increase pink flags in the context of the u . s . a . were vital.
Mentioning the low NPL in Nepal, Dhaka University business studies branch dean Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam said the united states (Nepal) suffered trouble but managed to overcome troubles within two many years and the way they overcame have to be observed by Bangladesh. He, however, said, ‘Yes, there are problems in the country’s banking system, however the achievements of the quarter are an awful lot higher than the flows.’ He also recommended that the South-Asian international locations have common foreign money for boosting the commercial enterprise possibilities and to keep away from losses due to replacing currencies. Bangladesh Bank chief economist Faisal Ahmed noted heavy dependency on banking, cyber risk, financial inclusion, product innovation and believe as the challenges of the regional countries. BB governor Fazle Kabir inaugurated the conference mutually organised by BIBM, Financial Institutions Training Institute of Bhutan, National Institute of Bank Management of India and National Banking Institute of Nepal.

At the inaugural session, Kabir said, ‘Sharing of knowledge and experiences of others will certainly help us a lot in this regard.’ He also said in this age of globalisation, regional cooperation is really very important. BIBM director general Toufic Ahmad Choudhury and Association of Bankers Bangladesh chairman Sayed Mahbubur Rahman also spoke, among others, on the occasion.

Woman RMG worker ratio falls amid tech upgradation: servey

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Centre for Policy Dialogue chairman Rehman Sobhan speaks while CPD distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Md Siddiqur Rahman look on, among others, at the CPD dialogue on ‘Ongoing Upgradation in RMG sector Enterprise: Results from a Survey’ in Dhaka on Saturday. — New Age photo

 

Woman RMG worker ratio falls amid tech upgradation: servey

The ratio of female workers to male in the country’s readymade garments sector has decreased as the number of new entry of female workers was lagging behind their male counterpart because of automation, according to a survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, which was released on Saturday.
The ratio of female workers to their male workers now stood at 60.80 per cent against 65 per cent (as per a study conducted in 2015) as the introduction of new technologies and machineries squeezed the opportunity for the female due to lack of technical knowledge, Khondoker Golam Moazzem, research director of the CPD told New Age after presenting the findings of survey at a programme at Khazana Gardenia Hall in the city.
A survey, conducted by the Asian Centre for Development in 2015, found 65 per cent female workers in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector, against the RMG owners’ claim of more than 80 per cent female workers working in this sector.
Moazzem said that total number of female workers has not decreased in the sector but their percentage has been decreased as the employment of male workers increased.
According to the survey, the ratio of male workers increased to 39.20 per cent in the RMG sector.
The CPD organised a dialogue on ‘Ongoing Upgradation in RMG sector Enterprise: Results from a Survey’, which was moderated by its distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya.
CPD made the report based on the survey in 252 garment factories with 2,123 workers.
According to the survey, the employment growth in the sample organisation declined to 3.3 per cent in 2012-2016 although according to BBS, the average national growth of garments sector jobs was 4.01 per cent.
Moazzem told New Age that the sample survey on job growth was still a preliminary work and they would work further on the issue.
Regarding the female workforce, Moazzem showed that although the ratio of female workers has declined in the RMG sector, the sewing and finishing departments of the sector were still female worker-driven with the highest, 74.90 per cent female, working at sewing sector while the percentage was 58.60 in finishing section.

Without the corporations in Export Processing Zones, the learn about prepared a data ordinary of some 3,596 garment factories with 35.04 million workers.
In the survey, Moazzem showed that girl employees have been less involved to work in some of the departments of garment factories inclusive of cutting section.
‘It is encouraging for the quarter that a giant component of RMG organisations were hooked up throughout 2013-2016, following the Rana Plaza building collapse,’ he said.
The learn about discovered an uneven development in the quarter as the social up-gradation scored 60.9 which were a bit higher than the monetary up gradation.
Moazzem stated that garment factories made good sized progress in social upgrading due to the international stress after Rana Plaza building give way but the overall score of economic upgradation was lower than social upgradation due to bad score in technique upgradation, product upgradation and functunal upgradation.
According to the study, the board of directors of 89 per cent of garment factories are usually family based and owners are still playing fundamental role in fee negotiation with buyers.
Managerial posts in the RMG area are nonetheless male dominated and 50 per cent managers have post graduate levels however the disciplines of commencement have little relevance with administration and operation of industrial enterprises, the find out about read. The survey found widespread share of foreign gurus in distinct area of pattern agencies due to lack of adequate talent and high-quality of home professionals. CPD located that about 16 per cent of sample organisations employed foreign group of workers contributors working in commonly production planning, merchandising, quality assurance and washing sections.
The study discovered decrease gender-wage gap in the RMG sector showing employees monthly wages on an average at round Tk 7,270 for male employees and Tk 7,058 for girl workers.
It additionally discovered big disparity in the quantity of exchange unions and employees participation committees in the RMG sector.

WPC have been formed in 91 per cent of factories while only the trade unions exist in only 3.3 per cent factories, the survey found.
CPD chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan said that trade unions in the readymade garments sector were divided in several small groups under 70 federations but they have to bargain jointly. ‘Factory owners are not divided. BGMEA is only one association of owners to bargain,’ he said. Sobhan, however, suggested RMG factory owners to adopt 21st century’s business module instead of 19th century. ‘You always work on 19th century model but this is 21st century. With the old model you will be a part of global supply chain but not a partner of the supply chain,’ he said. Sobhan suggested entrepreneurs should invest on their workers and make them shareholders of business. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Md Siddiqur Rahman proposed for sectoral trade union in the RMG sector.
Regarding workers wages, he said minimum wage board would finalise a wage for the workers considering workers needs and sector’s strengths. Babul Akter, former secretary general of IndustriALL Bangladesh Council, said that real trade unions were not being formed in the RMG sector due to various reasons. He said that trade unions were still not allowed in large enterprises in the RMG sector although labour law allow unions in all type of establishment.
Demanding Tk 16,000 as minimum wage for the workers, Babul said that the government should consider the social safety issue of workers.

 

Chinese mobile brands growing rapidly

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Chinese mobile brands growing rapidly

Chinese mobile phone brands are building up their presence in Bangladesh, doubling their share within a year.

In 2017, Chinese brands accounted for 22 percent of the smartphones imported, up from 12 percent a year earlier, according to local importers.

All the global leading Chinese brands such as Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, Tecno, and Vivo are doing business in Bangladesh and have gained much popularity.

The brands’ import more than doubled to 39.40 lakh units in 2017 from a year earlier, whereas the overall market grew only 11 percent to 3.44 crore, according to data collected by the top importers of the country.

The growth is even higher in case of basic phones: imports by Chinese brands surged 117 percent year-on-year to 21.68 lakh units last year.

Counterpoint, a Hong Kong-based technology market research firm, also came up with the similar numbers in the first three quarters of 2017. It has not published the full-year report yet.

“We did not get as a whole lot commercial enterprise as we had anticipated in 2017. Chinese corporations would possibly be growing here,” stated Jakaria Shahid, managing director of Edison Group, the father or mother company of cellular handset brand Symphony.

Shahid, additionally the universal secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association (BMPIA), stated the pattern of the business is additionally changing in Bangladesh due to the fact of the advancement of new technologies.

Symphony, the market leader for the closing various years, is planning to set up a handset assembly plant in the country.

“Once we begin the assembling in our very own plant, the hole will be narrowed and Symphony will take hold of greater market share and it will sooner or later enhance the nearby brands’ position.”

Walton, some other local brand, has already started out assembling handsets on its personal however has now not been able to create plenty have an impact on in the market. Some different local manufacturers are planning to set up meeting plants.

In the smartphone segment, total imports remained flat in 2017.

Last year, importers added 80.99 lakh pieces of devices, up barely from 80.05 lakh gadgets from a year earlier. Some sixty two percentage of the gadgets in the market had been imported by means of local brands in 2017, down from 71 percent in 2016, seventy eight percentage in 2015, and 84 percentage in 2014.

Rezwanul Haque, chief government officer of Transsion Bangladesh Ltd, a Chinese-branded machine that launched in Bangladesh a few months ago, stated the essential difference is that Chinese businesses are spending closely to establish their manufacturers throughout the country.

“About eighty percentage of the international cell handsets are made in China. That’s why the country’s backward linkage is very strong, enabling it to offer awesome products to customers,” said Haque, also the instant previous widely wide-spread secretary of the BMPIA. Bangladesh has already come to be a widespread market for cell phones. At present, the market share of smartphones is at about 35 percentage and is set to soar this year following the launch of 4G.

The growth prospect wooed Chinese brands to Bangladesh in the last couple of years. Tecno, a popular brand of Transsion Company, and Vivo entered the market last year, following in the footsteps of Huawei, the market leader among Chinese brands, Oppo and Xiaomi.

Infinix also made a foray into the market at the end of 2016 but has failed to get much traction. Huawei has done significantly well in terms of boosting its market share, said Ziauddin Chowdhury, deputy country director of Huawei Consumer Business Group (Bangladesh). “Last year, our focus was to bring high-quality products to Bangladesh and take them closer to customers. We are happy that customers have responded positively,” Chowdhury said.

Currently, Huawei has 12 smartphones and a tablet in the market that support 4G and are capable of delivering improved video calling, speedy data transfer, and fast internet, he said. Market insiders said as 4G would lead the handset market in the coming years technological advancement will give Chinese brands an upper hand.

Bangladesh to seek more Vietnamese investment

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Bangladesh to seek more Vietnamese investment

Bangladeshi businesses will seek more investment from Vietnam during the visit of the Southeast Asian country’s President Tran Dai Quang, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday. The bilateral trade volume is in favour of Vietnam, from where Bangladesh has been importing woven fabrics in bulk quantity since 2011 after the relaxation of the Rules of Origin by the EU for the least developed countries. The European Union started giving the zero-duty benefit to the exporters of apparels, including the ones made of imported fabrics. “We will ask for Vietnamese investment here so that the trade balance can be narrowed down at least to some extent,” said Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the FBCCI.

Still, Bangladesh will have to meet 65 percent of its demand for woven fabrics from imports because of a weak local backward linkage industry.

Thanks to spiralling Chinese investment, Vietnam has became into a major hub for fabric fabric for Bangladesh, which is additionally established on Vietnamese rice. In 2016-17, Bangladesh imported goods really worth $417 million and exported goods well worth $66.44 million even though the figures have been nearly the same in 2009-10, in accordance to records from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

The increase of Bangladesh’s export to Vietnam has constantly been very slow—from $37.2 million in 2009-10 to $66.44 million in 2016-17—compared to the imports.

In 2010-11, the import payment jumped to $459.26 million when Bangladesh started out importing woven fabric in bulk extent from Vietnam to avail the EU’s trade privilege. “Vietnam is already a huge investor in 12 countries. So, we can additionally deliver foreign direct investment from Vietnam for sectors like ICT, telecom and agriculture,” Mohiuddin told The Daily Star. He additionally stated a joint commercial enterprise council will be formed and an agreement between the FBCCI and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be signed to improve bilateral trade. He highlighted the rise of Vietnam, which was struggling with poverty even in late 1980s.

Mohiuddin said the Southeast Asian united states of america ought to come to be a primary economy in Asia as it has created an investment-friendly environment. In 1986, Vietnam launched a slogan known as Đổi Mới to promote the country’s transition to a market economy. The country’s achievements had been high-quality in the first 20 years.

Vietnam’s economy grew at an average annual price of 7.5 percent in the 1991-2000 period. Vietnam grew to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995 and completed the full membership of the World Trade Organisation in 2007, which helped the country’s FDI attain an all-time excessive of $71.7 billion in 2008. Vietnam has strategic partnerships with China, Japan, Russia, India, England, France, North Korea, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Vietnam is a strong competitor in apparel trade for Bangladesh globally, especially to the US markets.

Vietnam’s phenomenal export growth is realised if the US market is analysed.

In 1992, Vietnam’s export to the US was zero and import was recorded at $4.6 million, according to the US Census. In 2017, Vietnam’s export to the US jumped to $46.49 billion and import was $8.17 billion.

In 1992, Bangladesh exported goods worth $831 million to the US and imported goods worth $188.1 million. In 2017, Bangladesh’s export to the US was $5.69 billion and imported goods worth $1.47 billion.

Vietnam is now in the third position when it comes to garment export to the US after China and India while Bangladesh is the sixth on the list. In 2017, Vietnam sent textile and apparel worth $12.20 billion to the US, up 7.70 percent on 2016. In 2017, Bangladesh exported textile and apparel items to the US market worth $5.28 billion, down 3.98 percent on 2016, according to the US office of textile and apparel.

Hospitality, agro processing, consumer goods and infrastructure could be some of the potential sectors for the Vietnamese investors, said Abul Kasem Khan, president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bangladesh’s bad loan ratio higher than India, Nepal

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Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir speaks at a regional banking conference organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management at its auditorium in the capital yesterday. Photo: BIBM

 

Bangladesh’s bad loan ratio higher than India, Nepal

The high non-performing loan ratio remains a key concern for the banking sector, said a country paper on Bangladesh that was presented at a conference yesterday. Between 2014 and 2018, the NPL ratio has been hovering above the 10-percent mark, according to the paper titled “A Review of the Activities and Performance of the Banking Sector of Bangladesh”.

The NPL ratio would go up to 17 percent if rescheduled or restructured loans are included, it said.  The paper was presented at the Regional Banking Conference organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management held yesterday at its auditorium in the city.

The state banks are another major concern for policymakers.

Regular capitalisation of the country banks through the government with public money has brought on anxiety, raising the demand for immediately broad-based corrective movements and legal measures, said the paper introduced by using Shah Md Ahsan Habib, professor and director of the BIBM.

Nepal’s NPL ratio is less than 2 percent, in accordance to Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank.

Strong legislation and stringent application of rules have enabled Nepal to hold that ratio, he said.

India has managed to maintain NPL within 7 percentage thanks to strong policies as well, stated Yasin Ali, a supernumerary professor of the BIBM.

India’s central bank discloses the names of wilful defaulters whereas in Bangladesh bankers cannot even dare to send notices to defaulters, he said. Bangladesh saw an big amplify in the quantity of banks in the last decade however the industry’s potential has not increased as much, said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director and chief govt officer of Dhaka Bank.

He blamed the lack of governance for the greater bad loans in the banking sector. “We can not bring the defaulters to the negotiation desk due to the inadequacy of the legal system,” he said, whilst emphasising on improving ability and independence of the regulatory body. Bangladesh’s financial savings price is above 20 percent, but it does no longer prove sound corporate governance, said Faisal Ahmed, chief economist of the BB.

“Weak company governance has tempted the bad borrowers,” he added.

BB Governor Fazle Kabir, who inaugurated the two-day conference, said the banking sector in Bangladesh has grown manifold since independence, accompanied by steady and inclusive growth. The sector has undergone successive rounds of major structural and regulatory reforms, supporting the emergence of a vibrant private sector. “The central bank has steered this transformation by promoting market-based principles and macro-financial stability,” he added.

Prices of onion, sugar on the rise, vegetables fall

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A file photo shows a vendor arranging onions at a shop at New Market in Dhaka. The prices of onions and sugar witnessed an upward trend in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday while the prices of some of the vegetables decreased in the period. — Focusbangla photo

 

Prices of onion, sugar on the rise, vegetables fall

The prices of onions and sugar witnessed an upward trend in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday while the prices of some of the vegetables decreased in the period. The price of the local variety of onions increased by Tk 5 a kilogram over the week and the item was selling at Tk 50-60 a kg on Friday, while the imported onions were retailing at Tk 50-55 a kg. Traders said that the price of the local variety of onions increased due to a supply shortage as the harvesting season of the crop was yet to start in full swing.
Like the previous week, the prices of sugar maintained an upward trend and the refined and imported sugar were selling at Tk 55-60 a kg, while the locally produced sugar was selling at Tk 70-75 a kg in most of the Dhaka markets on Friday.
The prices of vegetables decreased slightly in the city’s kitchen markets over the week.
A kilogram of aubergine was sold at Tk 40-60, bitter gourds at Tk 60-80, okra at Tk 80-100, papaya at Tk 20-25, beans at Tk 30, cucumber at Tk 30-40 and each piece of bottle gourd was priced at Tk 40-50.
Cauliflowers and cabbages were selling at Tk 15-20 a piece and Tk 20 a piece respectively on Friday. The prices of green chilli remained unchanged and the item was selling at Tk 80  while potatoes were retailing at Tk 18-20 on the day. Garlic imported from China was retailing at Tk 110-120 a kg while its local variety was selling at Tk 80-90 a kg and garlic imported from India was selling at Tk 100 a kg on Friday.
The prices of fish remained unchanged over the week.
Rohita was selling at Tk 200-300 a kg, Katla at Tk 200-300 a kg, Pangas at Tk 120-180 a kg and Tilapia at Tk 120-160 a kg, depending on size and quality.
The price of eggs remained unchanged at Tk 28-30 a hali (four pieces) in the city markets over the week.
The local variety of red lentil was selling at Tk 120 a kg while the coarse variety of imported red lentil was retailing at Tk 70-80 a kg over the week.
A one-litre container of soya bean oil was selling at Tk 105-107, while a five-litre container at Tk 515-540 in the city’s kitchen markets on Friday.
Unpacked soya bean oil was selling at Tk 98 a kg, while palm oil was selling at Tk 85 a kg.
The prices of ginger remained unchanged with its local variety selling at Tk 80-90 a kg and the imported variety at Tk 100-110 a kg.
Fine-quality packaged salt was selling at Tk 38 a kg, while the refined variety of salt was retailing at Tk 28 a kg in the city markets.
Beef was selling at Tk 460-480 a kg while mutton was selling at Tk 700-750 a kg in the city markets.
Broiler chicken price remained unchanged at Tk 130-140 a kg while the locally bred hens were selling at Tk 300-350 a kg on Friday.
The prices of rice remained high in the city’s kitchen markets over the week.
A kilogram of coarse variety of rice was selling at Tk 44-48 on Friday.
The fine variety of Najirshail rice was retailing at Tk 70-72 a kg and its standard variety was selling at Tk 62-65 a kg in the city markets.
BR-28 rice was retailing at Tk 52-55 a kg, while Miniket rice was selling at Tk 62-68 a kg in the city markets on Friday.
The coarse variety of Miniket rice was retailing at Tk 58-59 a kg on the day.

 

More gas discoveries likely

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More gas discoveries likely

Bangladesh’s prospects of unearthing more gas have brightened further after the latest discoveries in Bhola, experts said yesterday. “I am not saying that Bangladesh is floating on gas, but I am also not saying that we don’t have any more gas,” said Badrul Imam, a professor of the Dhaka University’s geology department.

The fact is that there is a big amount of gas lying underground — waiting to be used. There is ample scope for finding petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir especially in the southern coastal region, he said.

Imam’s comments came at a seminar on “Prospects of Bhola Gas Field and Energy Security”, organised by the Forum for Energy Reporters Bangladesh (FERB) at the Dhaka Club.

State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) has began manufacturing of fuel on an experimental basis from a newly observed field in Bheduria union placed on the northern section of Bhola.

The gas area has been named Bhola North and is about 32km north of the Shahbazpur Gas Field in the district.

Last October, Bapex observed 700 billion cubic feet of gasoline in the east of the current Shahbazpur gasoline field. The two gas fields in Shahbazpur and Bhola North have a cumulative recoverable reserve of 1.2 to 1.5 trillion cubic toes of gas, in accordance to preliminary estimates.

Further upscale reserve increase is possible relying on extra appraisal and exploratory drillings in the island, in accordance to Imam.

Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, chairman of the Dhaka University’s geology department, echoed the same.

The discovery in Bhola has opened up a new horizon: before that, it was presumed that only the Sylhet basin had massive gasoline fields, he added. Bangladesh stays one of the least explored petroleum nations in the world, as explorations have so far centered only easy and easy-to-find fold structures, in accordance to Imam.

“The offshore is even less explored. A more superior and mature exploration is lacking.”

He said the current gasoline discoveries in Bhola have positioned the island and the southern coastal belt as a workable fundamental natural gas hotspot in the making. A committed exploration campaign is required to virtually unearth the reserve plausible in the area, Imam said.

Revisiting the database of formerly wells drilled and deserted in the southern coastal areas pointedly exhibit that these are not dry; they as a substitute exhibit signs of gas flow.

The cause they did now not yield positive output include use of overbalanced mud, unwillingness to produce tight fuel sand, peripheral well, wrong location, incomplete trying out and so on. Retesting and/or strolling drilling programmes in these possibilities with suitable technology may additionally lead to gasoline discoveries in previously declared dry wells, he added. The government is working on two fronts, stated Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the top minister.

“We are exploring new prospects. Besides, we are importing liquefied natural gas to hold the economy running.”

LNG will be introduced to the national network within the next two to three months, he added.

Tumanov Sergey, managing director of Gazprom EP International Investments, said the Russian oil employer can work with Bangladesh in specific ways, as it has know-how and procedures. Arun Karmaker, chairman of the FERB, and Sadrul Hasan, government director, additionally spoke.