Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

B'desh exports to up by $3b a year: Faruk

EU new rules for GSP
B’desh exports to up by $3b a year: Faruk
FE Report

Commerce minister Faruk Khan said Wednesday Bangladesh’s exports to the European Union (EU) could go up by US$ 3.0 billion a year, thanks to the new trade preference scheme.

Bangladesh along with other poorer nations will enjoy new rules of origin for the EU’s generalised system of preferences (GSP), which are relaxed and simplified.

The new rules, which come into effect from January 1, next year, will have single stage for apparels while 30 per cent value addition criteria for industrial products.

“The EU’s policy support has opened up new opportunities for Bangladeshi exporters to bump up their exports by manifold,” Mr Khan said.

His comments came at a seminar on EU-Bangladesh trade at a city hotel, with the EU delegation’s political and trade head Andrew Barnard in the chair.

Last year, Bangladesh exported goods worth 5.8 billion euros to the EU market, making up as much as 50 per cent of the country’s total shipment.

Besides new trade preferences, Mr Khan said that efficient and hardworking labour force, competitive wages and government support would help boost exports more to the 27 nation regional group.

Mr Khan said that Bangladeshis would overcome all challenges including its infrastructure shortages.

He struck an upbeat tone about Bangladesh’s future and said there is a positive rating on Bangladesh in many countries across the world.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s speech, he said there would be no severe power crisis in the country after 2012.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Local cement plants in mad race for capacity expansion

Local cement plants in mad race for capacity expansion
Multinationals stay on the sidelines

Mushir Ahmed

Local cement firms are pouring billions in new plants in an investment bonanza never seen in the sector, eclipsing their giant foreign rivals in a fierce battle for control of one of the fastest growing construction markets.

Led by Shah, the largest cement manufacturer, the companies are installing new clinker grinding plants worth around 20 billion taka that will double the country’s production capacity to over 30 million tonnes.

They are bolstered by fact that the cement sector has been growing at a record 20 per cent year-on-year since 2009 and near-freezing of investment by five multinational cement giants who operate here, officials said.

Company executives said if the boom continues, Bangladesh is going to be the world’s largest clinker importer by 2015 with demand driven by home builders, individual house owners and infrastructures.

“I’ve never seen such a scale of investment in cement sector in the past one decade,” said Abdus Sattar, who installs cement plants in local factories.

Sattar who hardly had holidays in the last six months now has a bulging order from six companies and expect to land few more in the next couple of months.

“There is a mad-race going on between the local cement companies. All the big and medium sized firms are bringing in large plants with per-day production capacity ranging between 3,000-4,000 tonnes,” he said Owned by the country’s top conglomerate, Abul Khair Group, Shah has brought in a 7,000 tonne daily capacity plant this year, which would bring its total daily production to 14,000 tonnes by early 2011.

Basundhara, whose investment was frozen during the caretaker government, is setting up four new plants outside the capital and at Mongla, which will take its capacity to more than that of Shah.

Medium-sized companies like Seven Circle, Fresh, Premier, Crown and Diamond have over the last six months ordered new plants to boost production, said a top official whose company sold machines to these firms.

He said smaller firms scattered nationwide like Madina, Metro, Royal, Aramit, Dubai Bangla, Doel, Olympic have also taken the fight to their more illustrious competitors by doubling or trebling their capacities.

“If every thing goes according to its plan, we see Basundhara emerging as the country’s largest cement producer by end of 2011. They may eclipse Shah provided they succeed in marketing,” he said.

Shah controlled 15 per cent of the country’s 13 million tonnes annual cement market in 2010 and the new plant would take its installed capacity close to three million tonnes, according to a report of a multinational cement company.

Company executives said a 20 per cent annual hike in cement use in the past two years have compelled the factories to scale up production. They also forecast a big jump in demand due to forthcoming investment in infrastructures.

“If the government goes ahead in building elevated expressways, the bridge over the Padma, new bridges over Meghna and fly-overs, there will be a massive spurt in demand,” said Amirul Haq, managing director of Premier Cement.

Premier has bought Chittagong-based National Cement for 800 million Taka and is adding another 4,000 tonne daily capacity new plant outside Dhaka to position itself for the upcoming bonanza.

Ramakanta Bhattacharya, a director of Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh, the owner of Scancem, said 75 per cent of the demand is still driven by individual house owners who are investing their savings in new constructions.

“Our estimate is that individual house owners will remain a key driver of growth until 2015 when we expect Bangladesh to be the largest import of clinker in the world,” he said.

Bhattacharya said multinational companies have almost frozen new investment in the past two years because of the worst global recession since the Second World War.

But he added that his company would add a 750,000 tonnes per annum capacity grinding plant in Chittagong next year in a bid to keep its number two position in the local market.

Others like Holcim, La Farge and Cemex — all ranked in the top five companies in the world — are monitoring demand-side development, said an official.

“We want to see how the demand holds out. Gas and power crisis still remain key barrier to new investment,” said a top executive of a multinational company.

He admitted that local companies having more confidence in the country’s future growth than the multinationals had overshadowed their foreign rivals in the past few years.

“It shows how far Bangladeshi investors have treaded in the past one decade,” he said.

Industry insiders said uncertainty over La Farge’s fate might have prompted local cement plants to go for major capacity expansion in the backdrop of growing demand for cement in the country. La Farge has withheld new investment for quite sometime as it is awaiting Indian Supreme Court verdict on its limestone extraction plant in the state of Meghalaya.

The last time Bangladesh saw investment boom in cement sector was in 2000-1 when top multinationals and their local counterparts poured around six billion taka in new plants, according to the industry.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

http://www.theindependentbd.com/bus...ore-tourism-promotional-campaign-planned.html

Tk 260 crore tourism promotional campaign planned
BSS

DHAKA, Dec 26: The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry is to seek Taka 260 crore from the finance ministry for implementing its aggressive tourism promotional campaign ‘Visit Bangladesh-2011’. “The government has declared the year 2011 as the tourism year and set a target to attract one million tourists through a huge promotional campaign,” Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister G M Quader told BSS today.

On an average, four lakh foreign travelers visit Bangladesh a year. The ministry would place the Taka 260 crore budget for carrying out the campaign at the next meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Tourism to be chaired by Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on December 27. After getting nod of the committee the detailed promotional programme would be placed for final approval at the National Tourism Council chaired by Prime Minister sheikh Hasina.

“We have already chalked out a huge promotional campaign with traditional and cultural flavor at home and abroad next year targeting the foreign tourists, who are looking for new destinations of making holidays,” the minister said.

The year-long programme also includes staging of road shows and Bangladesh week in different countries as well as inviting renowned international writers and journalists to visit Bangladesh. The country has lots of tourist tempting treasures in terms of both natural beauty, culture, heritage and archeological aspects, he said, adding, “but we have never conducted such huge international promotional campaign to attract travelers.”

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

BB to review Tk 200cr fund for shipbuilders
Posted on December 26, 2010

BB to review Tk 200cr fund for shipbuilders

BB to review Tk 200cr fund for shipbuilders
Bss, Dhaka

The booming shipbuilding industry may get a Tk 200 crore refinancing fund, as the Bangladesh Bank (BB) will review the scheme tomorrow at its board meeting.

The central bank is keen to start funding the industry under the scheme, said an official of the central bank yesterday.

The BB earlier sanctioned the fund to give a further boost to the sector, which is considered to be the country’s second largest export industry after readymade garment.

Once approved, shipbuilders will get loan at a 10 percent interest rate. The other criteria of the scheme will be disclosed elaborately after the finance ministry’s approval, the BB official added.

Industry insiders said the much expected refinancing is being delayed due to an apprehension that such funding may influence the rising inflation.

But people from the banking sector, dismissing the fear, said the fund is too small to impact inflation.

High financing cost is the only bottleneck in the growing industry, said Abdullahhel Bari, president of Association of Export Oriented Shipbuilding Industries of Bangladesh

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Posted on December 28, 2010

Pharma sector to get API Park

Pharma sector to get API Park
UNB

Dhaka, Dec 28: The longstanding demand of country’s pharmaceutical companies for a specialized park that got stuck due to complexities over acquiring lands has seen the light again following the completion of land acquisition. The work of land-filling for the country’s first specialized industrial park – Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Park – in Gajaria upazila of Munshiganj district for the pharmaceuticals sector is now going on in full swing.

“The land-filling work will be completed by June next year. Once the land-filling is done, we’ll immediately allocate plots,” Industries Minister Dilip Barua told the agency over phone.

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to inaugurate the formal works of the park after completion of land-filling. Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) under the Ministry of Industries has taken up the project in a bid to facilitate production of basic raw materials locally, enhance local and foreign investment and to boost foreign exchange earning through exports.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Meghna aims to double turnover, jobs

Meghna aims to double turnover, jobs



Sajjadur Rahman

When many domestic businesses are stuck in energy crisis and have shelved new ventures or expansion ideas, Meghna Group of Industries has taken the risk of investing Tk 1,400 crore ($200 million) for expansion and setting up new lines of business.

Presently, the $1 billion turnover group, dubbed as the second biggest conglomerate after Abul Khair, has taken an ambitious plan of setting up a number of industries, including the biggest chemical factory in the country, a condensed and a powdered milk factory, a paper mill, a salt factory and a composite hatchery.

Also the group is marching fast with expansion of many of its existing industries. The list includes sugar and oil, flour, power, shipbuilding, mineral water, printing and packaging and cement production.

“Rising domestic demand and export potential have prompted us to take the risk of investing a huge amount,” said Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of the group.

Meghna Group started its business humbly by setting up a small vegetable oil mill in 1987 on a small piece of land at Meghna Ghat in Narayanganj. Now it runs over 25 industries on over 1,000 bighas of land.

The group runs on its own electricity of 34 megawatts generated in two units. Another unit of 25-megawatt capacity has already been built to meet the growing demand. The Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate the plant next month.

“The new industries and expansion of the existing ones will double our annual turnover and the number of employees in five years,” said Kamal.

Presently, the group employs 10,000 people permanently and another 5,000 on makeshift basis.

Of the new industries, the chemical plant would be the most capital intensive. Nearly $40 million would be invested to build the factory that is expected to go for production in early 2012. The factory will produce import substitutes sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide and liquid chlorine for textile mills.

The next big investment would go to a composite hatchery where breeding, egg producing and meat processing would be done on a land of 100 bighas. Acquisition of land is going on in full swing.

A state-of-the-art salt factory is being built with Swiss technology and machine. The condensed milk and powdered milk plants will have the capacity of 120 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes a day, while a soya seed-crushing factory will have 120 tonnes.

The group is also expanding a number of existing industries. The capacity of its sugar refinery is being expanded to 3,000 tonnes per day from present 2,000 tonnes. The flourmill’s capacity will increase to 280 tonnes a day from current 150 tonnes.

The gram factory will double its capacity to 700 tonnes per day, and the oil refinery to 1,200 tonnes.

Also, the group is enhancing the capacity of its mineral water, feed, printing and packaging, shipbuilding, paper, cement bag and cement factories.

The cement factory will soon double its capacity to 7,000 tonnes per day to meet the growing demand of the product, according to the chairman of the group.

“We will pump nearly $50 million in two phases in 2011 and 2012 to expand the capacity of our cement factory,” said Kamal. “We predict a lot of construction works will take place in the country.”

The group seems to be lucky in terms of gas supply. When hundreds of factories around the country are facing gas shortage, the group is not to that extent, as the supply is better in the area where most of its plants are located.

Meghna Group that mainly produces in the name of ‘Fresh’ brand has paid over Tk 500 crore to the state exchequer in fiscal 2009-10. Presently, the group is supplying 15 megawatt of electricity to the national grid and another 10 megawatt will come next month from its new plant.

sajjad@thedailystar.net

 

[Skies]

Bangladesh's manpower export drops by 21 percent
Bangladesh's manpower export drops by 21 percent

2010-12-29 17:00:00

Dhaka, Dec 29 (IANS) Bangladesh's labour export, the country's second biggest source of foreign exchange, has fallen by 21 percent, an official study has said.
Besides, the remittances have gone up by only 1.4 percent during 2010, the lowest in the last three decades.

The poor performance, belying hopes of a surge after global recession ended, Tuesday prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to appeal to the newly appointed envoy of Kuwait to take in more Bangladeshi workers.

Kuwait, that had 40,000 Bangladeshi workers some years back, accepted only 21 persons this year.

Kuwait reflects the declining trend noticed in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf region took over a half of Bangladeshi workers abroad who sent home $10 billion in 2008-09.

Hasina, during her recent visits there, has appealed to the governments in these countries to increase their intake of Banladeshi workers.

What is more worrying to the government is that there has been a negative flow of manpower to the largest Bangladeshi manpower market, Saudi Arabia, since the beginning of the year 2009.

Of the estimated seven million expatriate Bangladeshis, two million are employed in Saudi Arabia, followed by 1.4 million in the UAE and 1.4 million each in Oman and Kuwait, Bangladesh's Financial Express newspaper said.

Manpower exports come next only to readymade garmaents and knitwears that fetched $12 billion in 2009.

The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) came up with the findings in its report, 'Labour Migration 2010: Achievement and Constraints'.

Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain admitted that export of the workers had decreased but argued that the demand for workers had shrunk in the international market, the New Age newspaper said.

He said that 385,000 Bangladesh workers went abroad in 2010, less than 475,000 in 2009.

'Manpower export will increase next year. I am hopeful that Malaysia and Kuwait will take workers from Bangladesh,' he said.

However, Tasneem Siddiqui, head of the RMMRU, said that the government had failed to find any new markets for the migrant workers due to the lack of coordination between the labour and employment ministry and foreign affairs ministry.

 

[Skies]

Traffic jam costs Bangladesh $1.7 billion
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-12-30 13:55

DHAKA - Traffic congestion in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka causes a loss of about $1.68 billion a year, an official said.

SM Salehuddin, additional executive director of Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB), said this at a seminar on Modernization of Bus Transport in Dhaka Wednesday, leading English newspaper The Daily Star reported on Thursday.

"Annual loss caused by traffic congestion in Dhaka city is approximately $1.68 billion," he was quoted as saying.

He said traffic gridlock causes economic losses by eating up travel time and burning of excess fuel. It also causes environmental damage and road accidents.

Salehuddin blamed lack of transport infrastructure, poor traffic management, illegal car parking, too little footpath and pedestrians' facility and absence of separate lane for bus for the city's nagging traffic jam.

Also contributes to it is the mixed traffic flow of motorized and non-motorized vehicles on the road, said Salehuddin.

To reduce congestion and thus economic losses, public transport systems, especially bus services, must be improved by allocating a separate lane for passenger bus in the capital, he said.

Earlier in this year, another study report said that traffic congestion in Dhaka eats up 195.55 billion tanka ($2.79 billion) a year.

Senior officials of the country's Roads and Highways Department carried out the study which finds that about 3.2 million business hours are lost every day, which is about one hour per working people.

 

[monitor]

Govt invites some IOCs to work with BAPEX for gas exploration

UNB, Dhaka

Instead of moving for any international bidding, the government has invited some particular international oil companies (IOCs) to work under joint venture with state-owned BAPEX to explore hydrocarbon in some of the gas structures in the country.
According to official sources, these companies include Russian Gazprom, Thailand's PTT, Malaysian Petronas, Indian ONGC, and a Chinese company.
"We've sent letters of expression of interest (EOI) to these companies from the BAPEX to work under joint venture in some potential gas structures," said Petrobangla chairman Dr Hossain Mansur. BAPEX (Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company) is one of the subsidiaries of the state-owned Petrobangla, which is responsible for any gas and oil exploration as well as production in the country.
The structures in which BAPEX plans to conduct exploration works under joint venture with the foreign companies include Patiya, Jaldi, Sitapahar and Semutang.
Sources said BAPEX sent EOIs to these companies about 20 days ago and after its move, the first response came from the Russian Gazprom.
Last week a delegation from the Gazprom came to the country and held meetings with BAPEX, Petrobangla and Energy Ministry officials to discuss the government offer on joint venture initiative. Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company.
Gazprom was created in 1989 when the Ministry of Gas Industry of the then Soviet Union transformed it into a corporation, keeping all its assets intact. The company was later privatized in part, but currently the Russian government holds a controlling stake.
Hossain Mansur indicated that a deal might be signed with Gazprom during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's proposed visit to Russia in near future. He said that the government has initiated such a move as part of its strategy to address the nagging gas crisis at the shortest possible time.
After assuming office in 2009, the Awami League government had announced that it would go for international bidding for exploration of gas in the onshore areas.

 

[eastwatch]

Govt invites some IOCs to work with BAPEX for gas exploration

UNB, Dhaka

Instead of moving for any international bidding, the government has invited some particular international oil companies (IOCs) to work under joint venture with state-owned BAPEX to explore hydrocarbon in some of the gas structures in the country.

I do not think, finally many IOCs will respond positively towards the BD call for joining hands. IOCs want free hand in deciding where to sell their products and at what price. But, BD policy is not to allow a sell to international market.

Moreover, the IOCs have not seen any prospect of big gas fields, say, @ tune of 10 trillion cft in one single field. So far it has not happened. BoB has not yet shown any prospect of oil, which is an easy to transport commodity and, therefore, sellable to a foreign country.

Foreign companies cannot show interest to a possible pitfall whereby they invest more than $100 million, but do not find any commercial quantity. On the other hand, when they find a big field, they are not allowed to sell it to others. They cannot sell even their own share of gas/oil.

These are the reasons why now BAPEX is forced make out of the counter gesture towards the IOCs. But, will the IOCs respond positively and take such a big risk?

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

New Age | Newspaper

Simplified market access to EU cheers export industry
Kazi Azizul Islam

The export industry is upbeat about the EU, the largest market destination for Bangladesh, simplifying market access to the LDCs from January 1.

For Bangladesh’s apparel industry, simplification of market access would mean attires made of imported fabrics or less of value addition would get duty free access to Europe.

More than two thirds of Bangladesh’s export shipments are destined to European countries and they imported $5.72 billion worth of Bangladeshi goods out of $8.3 billion, the entire exports in five months of the current fiscal in November.

Until now, more than 90 per cent of Bangladeshi knitwear shipments enjoyed duty-free access to EU but around one third of the shipments of woven or cut and sewn apparels did not enjoy the facility.

With the Europeans leaning to diversify imports from Bangladesh and buy high value apparels from it due to costing, some in the industry, however, are for raising the prices for the Europe bound shipments for the development of the industry and its workers.

Zillul Hye Razi trade adviser to the delegation of the European Commission in Dhaka described the EU decision to simplify the import regime from the LDCs as the beginning of a new chapter.

He called it a liberal market access for Bangladesh and other LDCs to the European market.

Razi said new EU trade regime would provide duty free market access to non-textile exports as well.

Sayeeful Islam, chairman of the Concorde Garments Group, a leading exporter of shirts, said that simplified market access created a new opportunity to export to Europe high value products.

He, however, advised that the exporters need to remain rationally aware that the EU measure aimed at the development and welfare of the industry and workers in the LDCs.

He said explaining that if a shirt made in Bangladesh cost a European buyer $5.65 with 13 per cent duty earlier, from January 1 it would cost $5.

He said that the industry needed to develop negotiating skills if wanted justify why wanted to increase the price of export products.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, described the new EU trade regime as a ‘golden opportunity’ for Bangladesh.

‘It would,’ he said, ‘open up newer opportunities for the export of apparels, especially of woven and high value knitwear and outerwear as well as non-textile products.’

But he cautioned that the scope to import fabrics and yarns, it would create, could take away the competitive edge of the domestic backward linkage textile industries.

He, therefore, advised the government to provide cash incentives and other support measures to encourage the use of local fabrics and yarns.

Professor Mustafiz also advised the government to enhance trade facilitation service to the exporters so that they could overcome all non-tariff barriers to exploit the diverse high value marketing opportunities in the EU.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Self-sufficiency in cement

Heavy Industry
Self-sufficiency in cement



Sarwar A Chowdhury

It is hard to pinpoint where and when the uses of cement were first discovered, or who invented it. Some say it was in ancient Rome, where engineers first used concrete made from volcanic rock and ground brick or pottery. Now, in modern times, concrete is a composite construction material composed of cement and other materials.

Regardless of when the use of cement began, cement has become the major construction material for many centuries in the world. From housing to infrastructure, cement is a must.

Cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together.

Many countries cannot produce enough cement to meet their internal demand, and they depend on imports. However, Bangladesh is self-sufficient in fulfilling local demand for cement. Even so, the installed production capacity is higher than local demand.

In Bangladesh, there are around 55 cement-manufacturing companies, most of which are in operations either on a large or small scale. A total of 34, including multinational cement manufacturers, are in commercial production.

The installed production capacity of the 34 cement factories is 1.85 crore tonnes a year, according to Bangladesh Cement Manufacturers Association (BCMA) data.

Cement consumption was 1.3 crore tonnes in 2009 and 1 crore tonnes in 2008. Consumption for 2010 has been estimated at 1.45 crore tonnes, the cement association data shows.

Dhaka and Chittagong account for nearly 65 percent of total consumption.

“We are self sufficient in cement production and meeting local demand. We don’t need to import cement, not even a single bag,” says Amirul Haque, managing director of Premier Cement.

“Bangladesh is over capacity. The entire industry and local demand is controlled and fulfilled by the Bangladeshi cement companies,” he says.

Some factors can manipulate the demand or consumption of cement to go up or down, as was seen in cement consumption in the last few years.

The cement sector experienced a downward trend, particularly in sales, in 2007-08 when the army-backed caretaker government was in power. The real estate sector was at a low ebb and no infrastructure development project was undertaken, leaving a negative impact on demand for cement.

But the cement industry regained momentum soon after an elected government took power in January 2009.

“Infrastructure, industrialisation, urbanisation and housing are the major factors that can have an impact on demand for cement,” says Mostafa Kamal, president of BCMA.

“We are seeing an ever-increasing growth in the cement sector, as the government looks seriously on some big infrastructure projects, such as flyover, airport, bridge and monorail, where cement will be a basic raw material,” he said.

There will be no problem in meeting the cement requirements to implement the infrastructure projects. “We are not only self sufficient in cement production, we also export to our neighbouring country, India,” says Kamal, also the owner of Fresh Cement.

In view of a bright future, many entrepreneurs are expanding their production capacities. “Currently, we have the capacity to produce 4,000 tonnes of cement a day, and we plan to add 4,000 tonnes of capacity this year and another 4,000 tonnes next year,” says Kamal.

As it is a heavy industry, huge investment is needed to set up a unit with backward and forward linkage facilities. It will cost around Tk 1,000 crore, if a unit has the capacity to produce 10,000 tonnes of cement a day with adequate backward and forward linkages.

The backward and forward linkages refer to the transportation of raw materials and shipment of finished products by a company’s own transportation chain, in which, ocean going vessels are included.

Haque of Premier Cement says cement is almost a seasonal product. Winter is the best season for construction. “Cement consumption rises to a peak in winter,” he says.

In the rainy season, construction works, especially on housing projects in rural and urban areas, go slow. “Every company cuts production in the rainy season,” Haque says.

With high demand for cement comes greater competition. It is a market for ‘maximum volume but minimum profit’, he says.

“Otherwise, one will be thrown out by competition.”

Although Bangladesh is self sufficient in cement production, it needs to import all the raw materials used in cement manufacturing. The main ingredients for cement include clinker, gypsum and fly ash, which are mainly imported from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and China.

Bangladesh has surplus production capacity of cement, and with existing growth domestic demand can be met by local production in next 4 to 5 year, said Jasim Uddin Khandaker, vice-president of sales and marketing of Holcim.

“However, many companies are now going for expansion. Bangladesh will not face any problem meeting its local demand up to 2020,” he added.

Among local brands, Shah Cement, Meghna Cement, Crown Cement, Fresh Cement, Premier Cement and Seven Circle Cement are famous across the country.

The five multinational cement companies in operation are: Holcim, Heidelberg, Lafarge Surma, Cemex and Emirates.

sarwar@thedailystar.net

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Bad politics key hurdle to economic progress
DCCI proposes to build 4 zones around Dhaka

Bad politics key hurdle to economic progress

FE Report

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) proposed Wednesday to establish four industrial zones around the capital to ease the city's perennial traffic congestion.

The chamber body also proposed to relocate Old Dhaka's shoe factories and within-city apparel units to the outside Dhaka and accommodate those in two separate industrial parks.

"Sonakanda at Keraniganj can be the right place to relocate these factories because there exists huge empty khas land," president of DCCI Asif Ibrahim said.

The proposals came when newly elected governing body of the chamber met with industries minister Dilip Barua at his office.

The government should provide financial support to the SME sectors especially light engineering, electronics and food processing to promote them, he said, seeking incentive for the establishment of cold storage for perishable products.

DCCI chief said energy and power crisis, anomaly in tax structure and lack of infrastructure support hindered growth in the industrial sector whose current contribution to the national economic output is 17.87 per cent.

"Industrial sector is suffering from energy and power crisis while duties on imported finished products are less than raw materials," Mr Ibrahim said.

Growth of manufacturing sector was 5.92 per cent in 2009-10 fiscal year, which was 6.68 per cent in 2008-09 fiscal, he said.

Employment in industry is only 24.3 per cent now whereas agriculture is still provides employment for 48.4 per cent people, he said.

The DCCI president identified inconsistent policies, weak regulatory framework, transportation problems, and high bank interest and charges as the reasons behind the slow industrial growth to support the manufacturing sector.

The chamber body, however, appreciated the guidelines of new National Industrial Policy-2010 and said Bangladesh can turn into a middle-income country by 2021 through proper implementation of the policy directives.

Dilip Barua said his government is accelerating industrialisation in the country by providing technical and logistic supports to entrepreneurs.

But he said destructive politics and publicity is the major roadblocks to economic progress.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

$29.9m deal to import 255 CNG buses from Korea signed

$29.9m deal to import 255 CNG buses from Korea signed

Sonia H Moni

Bangladesh Tuesday signed a US$29.9 million deal to import 255 compressed natural gas (CNG) run buses with Daewoo International Corporation, a Korean trading firm.

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) chairman Major (Retd) MM Iqbal told the FE, "In behalf of BRTC and Daewoo International Corporation senior vice president Chan-Kunhan signed the deal worth US$29.9 at BRTC head office."

"Under the deal we will import 255 CNG buses and necessary spare parts within six to eight months after opening letter of credit (L/C). We will try to open L/C by 15 days."

Mr Iqbal said, "Among these buses 150 vehicles will be air conditioned and 105 buses will be non air conditioned. Each of the buses will cost around Tk 6.0 million to 7.0 million."

"These luxury buses will be superior to the existing buses running in the city and at inter-district level. We are importing these buses with a view to encouraging people to travel in buses rather than private cars," he added.

The deal will be financed out of Korea's Economic Development Corporation Fund, BRTC sources said.

State-run BRTC imported a total of 100 CNG buses from award winning Dongfeng Yangtse Company Ltd of China at a cost of Tk 325 million which was around 70 per cent lower than its actual cost of Tk 900 million as part of an ambitious plan of the government to offer cheap and eco-friendly transport to the citizens.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Bangladesh says growth on target
Tuesday, 04 January 2011 00:00

Bangladesh says growth on target | International

DHAKA - Bangladesh's economy is on course to achieve its 6.7 percent growth target in the fiscal year to June 2011 and may reach 7 percent the year after, despite the global slowdown, the central bank governor said last week.

Atiur Rahman said in an interview that although the number of workers migrating had fallen due to employer nations' economic woes, and inflation was still high, exports had been buoyant during the first half of the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Clothing exports, which together with remittances from overseas workers are Bangladesh's main source of foreign exchange, were particularly strong, he told Reuters.

"Exports of ready-made garments have seen a steady increase over the first half of the year and this is very encouraging, and assured us of a strong possibility of attaining the GDP growth of 6.7 percent this year," Atiur said.

The governor said the south Asian country's economy had been greatly helped by successive bumper crops of rice, the main staple for its more than 150 million people, thanks to friendly weather and stepped-up government subsidies to farmers.

Atiur envisioned a more robust export and farming future for his country, which officials and economists say still struggles to attract foreign investment owing to concerns about the rule of law and about widespread corruption.

Bangladesh has produced an annual average of around 34 million tonnes of rice in the past few years, cutting its dependence on imports. But it still needs to buy around 1.5 million tonnes of rice and wheat annually to ensure food security, especially in case of natural disasters like floods and cyclones, officials have said.

Atiur said that, as the global economy slowly recovers, Bangladesh will also see an upturn.

"Our economy had shown enough resilience in the early stages of the slowdown. Now it is showing a steady uptrend, as the global economy is recovering," the governor said. "We are hopeful of doing well."

He praised the performance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since she took office two years ago, noting that the country had not had to confront any big natural disasters in that time.

"So far she made relentless efforts to achieve promised goals and made her administration to act. The central bank as guardian of the finances has also streamlined the banking sector to be more friendly to productive sectors," Atiur said.

Hasina had promised to attach top priority to agriculture, exports and education, to take Bangladesh beyond its recent past, which had been characterised by corruption, poor law and order and towering animosity between the main political parties.