Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[Nilgiri]

Indian roads are pretty bad i thought Bangladesh would be better..

So I guess it correlates to GDP per capita pretty well hehe. Thats the good news (means things will improve everywhere in region with time).

 

[Gibbs]

So I guess it correlates to GDP per capita pretty well hehe. Thats the good news (means things will improve everywhere in region with time).

Does it though ? I feel with the increase of wealth/ Expendable income masses have been able to afford vehicles of their own mostly two wheelers and small cars, And without adequate infrastructure they have added to the woes.. Atleast thats my personal observation as far as Lanka goes

Also rise in GDP does not directly correlate to the rise in social awareness or adherence to the rule of law with the masses, sometimes sudden rise in wealth in the middle class as we see in developing nations like India can turn in to a curse if the rules and regulations does not evolve concurrently

 

[Nilgiri]

Does it though ? I feel with the increase of wealth/ Expendable income masses have been able to afford vehicles of their own mostly two wheelers and small cars, And without adequate infrastructure they have added to the woes.. Atleast thats my personal observation as far as Lanka goes

Also rise in GDP does not directly correlate to the rise in social awareness or adherence to the rule of law with the masses, sometimes sudden rise in wealth in the middle class as we see in developing nations like India can turn in to a curse if the rules and regulations does not evolve concurrently

There is a "sweet spot" when chaos is biggest for sure (during the lag between prevalence of transport and capacity of physical and teaching/standards infra)...but every society goes through that over time....and eventually it smooths out.

Bangladesh to me is charging up this hump and I feel its about the same stage India (well the parts I know at least) saw in the mid to late 90s...India is somewhere around where the hump is levelling out (i.e max chaos) and in some places even on the way down at the other side (as capacities catch up)....of course different parts of India are at different points given India in many ways is a collection of many countries.

I think once Dhaka gets a full fledged metro rail system, it can have more room to help transition into next stages for overall transport supply/demand (capacity ratio)....that will later be a model for rest of BD cities to follow as well. But for next decade I see more over-leveraging if its anything like I've seen in most Indian cities I've been to over the years.

 

[Bilal9]

Airport Road to Uttara images - don't know where else to post these...

Looks like the new billboard bans have not been enforced in Uttara yet, or these may be older images.

Kalyanpur

US Bangla starting Dhaka-Guangzhou flight soon. But before that - KL and Singapore will be added in first week of March next.

 

[Mage]

Not sure this is the correct thread..but I'm gonna post it here anyway.

Bangladesh joins China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative: meeting challenges, building the future

BANGLADESH celebrated forty years of relations with China in 2015 and formally declared its joining in China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative during the visit of China’s President Xi Jinping in 2016. All major political parties welcomed the visit of President Xi, the first by a Chinese President in three decades.

President Xi’s visit to Bangladesh was marked by local media as the start of a “new era of friendship.” As China is one of the biggest development partners of Bangladesh, it was expected that the bilateral partnership would grow in all areas of cooperation.

China’s economic growth has made it a strong economic force in driving global trade. As its trading partner, Bangladesh expects from China, principally, increasing amounts of Chinese direct investment, better access for Bangladeshi products in China’s market and China’s continuing support in developing the infrastructure of the country.

Currently, China has been providing project loans and development assistance and wishes to increase investment in the information and communication technology industry, river management, industrial zones, land reclamation and maritime cooperation. As part of the Bangkok Agreement, China provides Bangladesh duty free access to a list of Bangladeshi products. It is expected that bilateral trade between China and Bangladesh may exceed US$30 billion by 2021.

China wishes to build mega infrastructure projects within the Belt and Road areas to increase trade and service, offering substantial prospects for Bangladesh. This initiative meets Bangladesh’s need for wider connectivity within the region. While Asia is currently experiencing increasing economic development centering on China, if the OBOR is fully implemented, Asia will become the center of gravity for the world economy.

Bangladesh has already expressed interest in actively participating in the OBOR and, as a part of the initiative, the BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar) corridor is now in its final stage. As both Bangladesh and China believe in regional cooperation and have common interest in the corridor, this offers additional impetus. China has been increasingly developing its cooperation with South Asian nations. In this context, Bangladesh should pay more attention to its Look East policy to activate the connectivity further and thus increase bilateral trade. While Chinese investors have interests in Bangladesh’s garment industry due to the availability of cheap labor, the Chittagong and Mongla ports are also of great interests for China to develop connectivity for its Southern gateway.

The global economy is increasingly shifting its gravity from West to East and the role of the two Asian economies — i.e. China and India — are therefore gaining wider scope to work for regional integration.

India is in the BCIM initiative which is in line with the Chinese OBOR initiative. Since India needs to engage in its efforts in developing regional integration, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Myanmar along with China can therefore play wider and more sincere roles to access opportunities in the region by resolving the issues of mutual mistrust.

Given the reality, it is now urgent for Bangladesh to build a secure relationship with India and China on the basis of mutual respect, trust and friendship. Since China’s OBOR initiative fits into Bangladesh’s goals of connectivity and increased trade, Bangladesh now needs to make all efforts to ensure good governance and political stability so that it can achieve the aims and expectations of OBOR, which could have a great impact on the long term future of the economy of Bangladesh.

 

[Bilal9]

Market Insight: How the Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Sector is Performing in 2015


The Pharmaceutical sector is one of the most developed among the manufacturing industries in Bangladesh, although it is still small compared to other comparable sectors. The increase in awareness about healthcare, higher income and increasing government expenditure have resulted in higher demand for medicine.

The Drug Policy of 1982 has helped the industry grow by 65 times from BDT 1730 million to BDT 113 billion now. In 2000 there were 173 active and licensed allopathic drug-manufacturing units in the country, while the figure now stands at 300 at present.

According to the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), there are currently 200 active allopathic companies in Bangladesh. About 22,000 brands of drugs are sold which cover 1500 types of medication. There are 1495 wholesale drug license holders and about 37700 retail drug license holders. The industry meets 98% of the demand for medication in the country and can be considered to be self-sufficient.

The sector employs 1,15,000 workers and between 2013 and 2014, the growth stood around 11.37%. According to IMS Health, annual pharmaceutical sales in the local market may reach BDT 160 billion within 2018.

Figure 1 Local Sales (Source: IMS /4th quarter report – data visuals by EBL Securities)



Export scenario
The industry is also exporting abroad. Currently, formulations are exported to 92 countries around the world. The major destinations for Bangladeshi medicines are Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Kenya, while nearly 50 countries import Bangladeshi medicines regularly. The growth in exports has averaged over 10% from 2010 to 2014. In 2015, the exports was over $ 41.17 million. Pharmaceutical companies are trying to export to regulated, unregulated and moderately regulated markets.

Figure 2 Exports (Source: IMS /4th quarter report – data visuals by EBL Securities)



Domestic competition
The domestic market is highly concentrated and competitive. The local manufacturers dominate the industry capturing market share of 90%. While the multinationals cater to the remaining demand. According to IMS Health, the top 10 companies hold 68.5% market share, the top 20 hold 85.73%, and the top 31 hold 94.1%, while the remaining 169 companies shared 5.9% among them.

Square Pharmaceuticals led the industry with a market share of 19.21%. Incepta and Beximco took 2nd and 3rd positions with market shares of 10.42% and 8.47% respectively.

Figure 3 Top 10 companies (Source: EBL Securities Ltd)

MNCs

Although a number of MNCs are operational in Bangladesh market, no MNCs are in the top ten in terms of domestic sales. Out of the top fifteen pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh, only two players are MNCs. Among the MNCs, Sanofi has the highest market share while Novartis has the highest growth as of 2014.

Figure 4 Top MNC pharmaceutical companies (Source: EBL Securities Ltd)

Backward integration

Due to lack of backward integration, the sector is at a competitive disadvantage, as pharmaceutical players still have to import 90% of raw materials from 98 indenters around the world. Most APIs or their raw materials have to be imported from countries like China, India, Korea & Italy. This generates higher factor costs which can be up to 30-40% of the cost of medicine. The API Park which was supposed to be established has been delayed due to various problems like rise in production cost, slow gas connection and slow handover. The manufacturers are also concerned about their capability to shift their entire production in the API Park. For many APIs, The domestic market is too small to justify an API manufacturing plant other than the reduction of cost. Although the companies have the technical knowledge to produce APIs, there is not enough demand in the market. This means that once the API Park is established, we would need to export the additional products abroad. Export channels need to be set up now.

TRIPS
According to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), all signatories are bound to incorporate 20 year product patent protection for pharmaceutical products in their domestic legislation. Currently, total 48 LDCs, including Bangladesh, are not obliged to enact legislation on product patent rights till 2016. TRIPS provided Bangladesh pharmaceutical firms with patent free production rights domestically until 2016 and limited exporting advantage. A major challenge to the current scenario could have been the expiry of the agreement. But on November 6, 2015, the TRIPs council meeting approved extension of the transition period for pharmaceutical products for least developed countries till 2032. Bangladesh secured additional protection for LDCs, including additional waiver as well as the previous waiver.

Conclusion
The ability of the Bangladeshi drug industry to manufacture drugs for all kinds of needs is beyond doubt. While some manufacturers are already able to produce world class quality drugs, others would require considerable assistance to be able to reach that target. Bangladesh is a natural candidate to supplement or substitute other international manufacturers to the developing country markets of both finished drugs and APIs. In order to maximize growth, the pharmaceutical players need to set their sight in the global market.

 

[Bilal9]

Market Insight: The Smartphone Industry in Bangladesh



The global Mobile handset market, in recent times, has been influenced by the rise in demand for smartphones. This trend has slowly crept into the Bangladeshi market, as the users make the leap from the old flip-phones to smartphones.

Industry Background: Status Quo:

The mobile handset industry in Bangladesh has traditionally been dominated by the Finnish giant Nokia due to its low cost feature phones. This preference for inexpensive alternatives has kept buyers away from industry giants like Samsung. Today, it is a non-collusive oligopoly with local brands like Symphony dominating the market. They have successfully competed with international giants like Samsung and Nokia (which still closely follow suit.)

A survey by LightCastle on a random sample of different age groups of mobile phone users in Dhaka, based on their preferred operating systems, can be seen below.

The following pie chart shows the demand data for smartphones in the current Bangladesh market based on the brand:

The above data shows that the key players in the market are Symphony, Walton, and Samsung, with Symphony being the leader in terms of market share.

Growth and Capacity:

As of now, the growth in the smartphone sales in Bangladesh, especially, Dhaka, is much higher than the global average of 20.3%, according to high officials from Samsung. The following factors have attributed to the growth in this sector:

• Provision of low-cost high speed 3g internet services throughout the country
• Equal Monthly Installment plans provided by banks to buy phones
• Various discounts and bundle offers provided by different companies to boost sales
• The population consisting mostly of a younger demographic

According to BTRC, the number of GSM subscribers in Bangladesh has gone up by 34% in the past year and has reached 119.62 million this November. This is not surprising, given that Bangladesh is trying to elevate its status from a low to middle income nation. The burgeoning upper middle-class segment, coupled with the existing young and dynamic labor force, is driving the shift in demand from feature phones to smartphones. Despite of this, there is room for growth in the market. According to a GSMA report, only 67.1 million people, amongst the potential 160 million, are unique subscribers.

Prices:

The list of phones above has one commonality, similar specifications, and one difference, price variance. Most smartphone prices have followed a downward trend, with local brands such as Walton and Symphony trimming down costs of production to maintain a competitive edge over the well-known names.

According to the sales people, Walton phones, within the range of BDT 6000 -BDT 14000 are very popular. Although brand loyalty has generated growing demand for Apple and Samsung products, their exorbitant prices have often stunted their sales potential. The marketing campaigns, undertaken by Symphony and Walton, which appeal to the patriotic sentiments, have also boosted sales. So has the fact that they do not have to share profits with shareholders abroad.

Government Regulations

The proposed budget for the current fiscal year has put the value added tax (VAT) on smartphone imports to 15% and Advanced Income Tax (AIT) to 5%, making the total cost of importing a smartphone subject to a tax of 20%, which is a 5% increase from the incumbent fiscal year’s regulations. This is highly problematic for manufacturers like Samsung and LG. The rise in the rates gives a competitive edge to manufacturers like Walton which assembles and manufactures locally.

Neighbor Dynamics

The dynamics in the much larger Indian economy has been similar to the Bangladeshi market. With tax rates on imports being higher in India (close to 25% -30%), depending on the country of import, local brands like Micromax and Karbonn, along with countless smaller brands, have dominated the market. Despite the strong regulations, Korean giant Samsung has been the biggest player in India, whereas, it is not so in Bangladesh. This may be due to existence of brand loyalty.

What the future holds

The growth in demands in recent years suggest that the prospect for smartphones in Bangladesh is very high. The influx of more advanced services, provided by the GSM operators, have played a phenomenal role in the growth of the smartphone market. Despite the existence of an oligopoly in the market structure, the local brands are favored, owing to government tax regulations. Thus, there still remains a significant amount of space to enter the market locally.

The Research for this sector report was conducted by Zuhayr Reaz.

Market Insight: Emerging Steel Industry in Bangladesh




The steel industry plays a fundamental role in not only driving economic growth, but also other complementary industries such as transportation, energy, heavy engineering and construction. The global steel industry, second in size only to oil and gas, produced 1,665 million tonnes of steel and had an estimated turnover of 900 billion USD in 2014. Despite dynamic shifts in the global scenario, the steel industry continues to be a source of employment for over 50 million people.

The global steel industry is currently undergoing a transition. The majority of both global production and consumption of steel was driven by China’s meteoric growth throughout the 2000s. The growth rate of the global steel industry jumped from 2.5% in 1995-2000 to 6.2% in 2000-05. In fact, 7 of the top 15 steel companies operating today are based in China.

However, the recent slowdown in China’s economic growth lead to a corresponding decline in steel sales, which contributed to a fall in steel prices. Consequently, the market shrank by 1.7% in 2015.

Currently, China occupies over 49% of the global market share in production and 46% of the market share in consumption, but this is expected to decline over time. As developing economies continue to grow, such countries will eventually drive new demand for steel. At the moment, there is a global supply surplus of over 100 million tonnes of crude steel, which is contributing to the falling steel prices.


The Growing Local Industry
With an estimated market size of 300 Billion BDT, the steel industry in Bangladesh is currently experiencing an upsurge in demand. This growth is driven mostly by government spending on infrastructure projects, which accounts for 40% of steel consumption in Bangladesh. As with the global market, there is also a supply surplus in the local steel industry: the current demand is around 4 million tonnes, while the total capacity is around 8 million tonnes.

The steel industry in Bangladesh produces mainly two classes of products: flat steel (mainly CI sheet and CR coil) and long steel (MS rod/TMT bar). Although there are currently over 400 active firms in the industry, the top 20 companies service more than half of the demand.

BSRM, the market leader, currently produces around 0.6 million tonnes of steel per year, with plans to scale up production capacity by 0.3-0.4 million tonnes a year. As BSRM and other top firms such as AKS, GPH and Bashundhara Steel expand their capacity and improve their technological capabilities, the industry is becoming increasingly more monopolistic.

The Need for Stronger Backward Integration

Of the over 400 steel re-rolling mills operating in Bangladesh, around 350 mills primarily source their raw materials from shipbreaking.

However, recent regulatory crackdown by the EU has put the shipbreaking industry in dire straits. New EU rules require that EU-registered ships to be recycled only at sustainable facilities approved by the EU. It is unlikely that ship-breaking facilities in South Asia (including those in Bangladesh), which often experience worker-related accidents, will receive this approval.

Furthermore, sourcing from shipbreaking makes the production more expensive compared to the cheap Chinese steel currently flooding the global market. Thus there is a supply-driven pressure on the local steel industry to shift away from shipbreaking as a raw material source in order to streamline its production.

Consequently, top players such as BSRM, GPH, RSRM, Rahim Steel and Bashundhara Steel are already producing the main raw material, billets. Although the country currently imports 1.2 million tonnes of billets each year, the annual demand for billets stands at 4 million tonnes. With the right strategies, local players can fill this large demand gap.

The Case for Growth
According to the SteelMint group, production capacity of the Bangladesh steel industry has more than tripled during FY14-15. Actual production is expected to double by 2022.

The steel industry in Bangladesh is still largely dependent on domestic growth drivers such as government infrastructure projects and the real estate industry. At the moment, per capita steel rebar consumption in Bangladesh is only 25 kg, compared to 57 kg in India and the world average of 217 kg in 2012. This is expected to grow to 50 kg by 2022.

Although there is a lot of room for growth in the domestic market, focusing on steel exports is key to future development of the industry. Already the production surplus is more than 50% of the total domestic demand.

Currently, Bangladesh exports 57.9 Million USD worth of iron and steel products and raw materials. Although big markets such as India currently feature among Bangladesh’s top export destinations for steel products, focusing more on other growing Asian markets as well may be key to future exports growth. As the global steel industry continues to transition to a new phase, the local sector has the prime opportunity to not only grow to satisfy the domestic demand but also secure position in the emerging export markets of tomorrow.

This research has been conducted by MS Rayed

 

[Bilal9]

US Ambassadors - past and present (Dan Mozena & Marcia Bernicat) talk about Bangladesh' partnership with the Unites States....

 

[Mage]

There's a new 'Asian Tiger'


When people talk about the "Asian Tigers," they're typically referring to Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. The four countries experienced rapid growth between the 1960s and 1990s.

But now there's another country that should come to mind: Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh economy has been one of the top performers in Asia over the past decade, averaging annual growth of more than 6%. Much like Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan during the industrialization of their economies, most of of the growth that Bangladesh has experienced has come from garment exports, which the CIA World Factbook says accounts for more than 80% of its exports.

In a note sent out to clients on Monday, Gareth Leather and Krystal Tan, Asia economists at Capital Economics, wrote that Bangladesh has picked up about two-thirds of China's low-end manufacturing market share in Europe.

But if Bangladesh is to reach the government's ambitious growth target of 8% a year by 2020, "it is essential that it starts to diversify out of the garment trade into other sectors, such as electronics and other consumer durables, where there is more scope to add value."

In order to diversify out of the garment trade, Bangladesh must do two things, according to Leather and Tan: Improve its infrastructure and investment climate.

Poor infrastructure makes it difficult to transport goods across the country. Additionally, more than 20% of the population of more than 156 million (about 31 million) aren't connected to the power grid, and companies often have to use their own back-up power generators because of the high susceptibility to blackouts.

Those factors, combined with high levels of corruption, make Bangladesh one of the hardest places in the world to conduct business. According to Capital Economics, "more needs to be done on reducing corruption, simplifying customs procedures, making land acquisition easier, improving private sector companies’ access to credit and making the security situation more stable."

Capital Economics

The government is already taking steps to improve the investment climate. Here's Leather and Tan:

"Among the measures the government is planning to introduce include removing red-tape to expedite the process of starting a business (to seven days instead of 19.5 days), issuing construction permits within 60 days (instead of the current 278 days) and reducing the time it takes for a company to be connected to the national grid to 28 days (compared with 404 days at present). There are also plans to simplify property registration, enhance contract enforcement, streamline cross- border trade procedures under a World Bank- sponsored agenda, and digitise tax payments to improve collection. Progress on these fronts would increase Bangladesh’s appeal as an investment destination."

The capital markets are taking notice. Bangladesh's local stock market, the DSE 30, rallied 15.5% during the first quarter of 2017. It's up another 2.3% in the first week of the second quarter.

In a note sent out to clients on Thursday, Exotix Partners Head of Frontier Markets Equity Strategy, MENA and South Asia Research, Hasnain Malik says the market is being powered higher by earnings growth, local interest in equities, and increasing foreign investor interest.

Malik believes there is a lot to like about the market's fundamentals:

1. Domestic political stability
2. Geopolitical support from regional powers China and India
3. Macroeconomic growth and currency stability
4. Fast-paced urban growth and extreme population density
5. Almost all of the 20 biggest publicly traded companies offer direct exposure to Bangladesh's domestic economy

"In our view, it is too early to let go of the tiger’s tail," Malik writes. "Bangladesh public equity valuations are just beginning to catch up with its high growth and high returns on capital..."

http://www.businessinsider.com/bangladesh-is-the-new-asian-tiger-2017-4

 

[Bilal9]

Banani Road 11 - together with Gulshan Avenue, one of Dhakas's five or so commercial hubs...

 

[Bilal9]

Agriculture in Bangladesh has seen very rapid mechanization in the last few years raising efficiency levels by magnitudes.....it will follow the mechanization examples set in East Asia in the last decade.....some implements that are being subsidized for use by the local Agricultural Extension Dept. (DEA). These were made by japanese Agri-mech companies ISEKI, KUBOTA and YANMAR, and to a lesser scale Korean cos. like DaeDong and also Chinese manufacturers who have similar implements. Harvest rates are a minimum of an acre per hour and increased size only dictates additional labor-saving capability.

Hand Operated Harvester

Mini Combine Harvester

Midi Combine Harvester

Maxi Combine Harvester

 

[Mage]

Bangladesh pitches for more investment from Luxembourg, Kyrgyzstan
Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2017-04-16 20:47:57.0 BdST Updated: 2017-04-16 21:12:02.0 BdST

• 
  
  

Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Kazi M Aminul Islam has briefed Bangladesh's honorary consuls in Luxembourg and Kyrgyzstan about the new measures it has taken to attract foreign investments.




Honorary Consul in Luxembourg Thierry Reisch and Kyrgyz Consul Temirbek Erkinov met him on Sunday, BIDA said in a statement.

Aminul Islam urged them to spread the message of reform in their countries.

They identified garments, particle board, ceramics, bicycle, and pen as some of the areas of Bangladesh’s business interest with Kyrgyzstan. Financial sector collaboration, particularly in banking, is a major area that Dhaka is looking to explore with Luxembourg.

BIDA, earlier in January, announced major reforms in several sectors as it tries to lure in both local and international investments by doing better in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing’ business ranking.

Bangladesh ranks 176th among 190 countries on the World Bank index. But the new state entity, which was formed by merging the Board of Investment and Privatisation Commission, plans to secure a place within 100 by 2021.
The BIDA reform initiative has been taken in line with the standards referred in those indicators to improve Bangladesh’s position in the ranking.

From Apr 10 to 13, it organised a workshop with the representatives of 40 government agencies and some private sector representatives on those reform plans.

The executive chairman also inaugurated a 10-day training for the capacity building of the BIDA officials on Sunday.

http://bdnews24.com/economy/2017/04...or-more-investment-from-luxembourg-kyrgyzstan

Chinese outward FDI and opportunity for Bangladesh

Mohammad Omar Faruk
At present, Bangladesh needs huge investment in infrastructure to boost the economy and attract foreign investment. Developed countries are seeking new global manufacturing hubs for foreign direct investment (FDI). Recently, some developing countries and big manufacturing hubs are shifting their focus from manufacturing to high-tech industry, like RMG to Super/Nano Technology. Chinese manufacturing firms are diversifying their investment with 'Go Global' Strategy. China has made the biggest outward foreign investment in the USA, Peru, UK, Australia, France, etc. But due to the inception of Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), China is focusing on investing more in Asian, African and European counties along BRI.


Recent development of Bangladesh is attracting Chinese investment in different sectors. China is also counting Bangladesh as a major destination for future investment. Chinese companies may likely play an important role in financing, building and operating infrastructure projects in Bangladesh. So, this is the time for Bangladesh to attract Chinese investment in all-around possible sectors.

China's outward FDI grew by 13.3 per cent in 2015 to a historical high of USD 139.5 billion. Over the past five years, China's average annual economic growth is 7.4 per cent and accumulated outward FDI has exceeded USD 1 trillion. Certainly, China is now the most formidable force in the international investment market.

One of the key challenges facing Bangladesh-China bilateral relationship is the existing high volume of trade gap between the two countries. Since the very beginning of bilateral trade relations, Bangladesh has been suffering from huge trade deficits with China. Despite the gap, both countries have shown clear commitment over the years to build "a positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship'.

Indeed, Bangladesh's relations with China clearly present a host of opportunities. It may be expected that in the coming years, Bangladesh and China will achieve a truly beneficial and strategic partnership conducive to the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous South Asia.

For this to occur, Bangladesh needs to ensure that its foreign policy is equipped with a strategic vision as well as economic considerations that realistically gauge the direction of regional and international changes. Better infrastructural development and investment opportunity of Bangladesh can reduce such challenges.

The accelerated economic transformation in China and the enhanced strength of Chinese companies amid the global economic recovery is helping these companies expand their presence overseas. Recently, a new range of new government policies has been providing even stronger support to Chinese companies as the government encourages them to go global. For example, under the newly revised Measures for Foreign Investment Management, the approval-based system has been replaced by simplified administrative procedures for overseas investments. Furthermore, the accelerated implementation of the Belt & Road Initiative strategy and increasing policy reforms will bring a new wave of outbound investment.

The Belt & Road Initiative strategy will encourage China's advanced industries and their overcapacity to move into countries along the routes. China has strong capabilities in the high-speed railway, nuclear power, aviation, telecommunications and other advanced manufacturing fields. The saturated domestic China market is prompting relocation of these leading production capacities. In particular, with the implementation of the BRI strategy, focusing on infrastructure and interconnection, China is expected to accelerate transfer of these leading industries to Asian neighbours, although they are ill-equipped in terms of financing and technology. So, it is understandable that as China transforms its economy, Chinese companies will move up the industry chain and their needs for advanced technologies will drive them to actively pursue investment opportunities in developed markets.

Chinese firms have a long experience history to build road, infrastructure, power and energy development projects around the globe. Therefore, Bangladesh can take experienced companies to make their dream projects come true. Success in some major infrastructural investment by Chinese firms in different developing and developed countries indicates that the decision of Bangladesh to firmly tie up with China for infrastructural development will likely be rewarding. Bangladesh government wants long term investment plans from China to invest in the power sector. As Bangladesh is involved in BRI, more Chinese investments in this sector are likely.

The writer is a MS student at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China. farukprofessional@gmail.com

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.c...se-outward-FDI-and-opportunity-for-Bangladesh

 

[Arthur]

Economic picture shines in new base year count
Kayes Sohel
Statistics is above politics: Muhith

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  Photo- Dhaka Tribune

Bangladesh has introduced a new base year of calculating economic growth to accommodate contribution of the emerging sectors in the basket. The estimates will now be based on 2005-06, instead of 1995-96.

“It is necessary to change the GDP base year to include financial information of various new sectors that are contributing to the economy,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith said, after launching the new base year at a meeting in Dhaka Wednesday.

The country’s economy grew 6.18% in the last fiscal year in accordance with the new base year, which is 0.15 percentage point higher than 6.03% as per the old base year (1995-96), according to latest data Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics released at the function.

Per capita income also increased to $1044 commensurate with the expansion of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2012-13.

As per the old base year, the per capita income was estimated at $923 in 2012-13. “Economy is expanding… no doubt about it. The statistics is ‘above politics’,” the minister told reporters, in response to a question. “This is the reflection of better performance in social sector.”

He said the growth has been measured meticulously, which must be acceptable to all.

To calculate the GDP as per the new base year, new items mainly from agriculture, industry and services sectors have been included, the meeting was told.

The agriculture sector alone contributed 24 new crops, making the total number of agricultural products in the basket to 124 while nearly 150 new products and services added from the industry and services sectors.

As a result, gross value addition from the agriculture sector increased by 9%, industrial sector 5% and services sector 16%.

New products like green coconut, poultry, mineral water, mining, mobile phone services and power subsectors are added to the GDP calculation.

In the financial intermediation sector, the new entrants are micro-credit, cooperative banking, Central Depository Bangladesh Limited, insurance agents and house building financing.

The saving-investment gap will fall sharply following the rise in investment in new base year calculation, said BBS, keeping the details to release later.

Planning Minister AK Khandker said updating the base year through revising the GDP estimates has become essential for reasons, including newer economic activities, progressive expansion and downsizing of different industries and economic sectors over the years.

It would facilitate the government to have a clear idea about the country’s economic trend and nature because of rebasing the year and inclusion of new products, he said.

Earlier a technical committee, led by its chairman Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, had approved the new base year with the revision of products and services those are considered for calculation of the GDP.

In Bangladesh, the GDP base year is generally is revised every 10 years while India revising it every five years to improve the quality and accuracy of data in an updated manner as far as possible.

- See more at: http://archive.dhakatribune.com/eco...ines-new-base-year-count#sthash.gZZAdMBI.dpuf

 

[Arthur]

Economy to look good in the new GDP base year count
Sun Online Desk 13th August, 2016 06:42:38

Mobile phone money services soar in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Bank sources, 17 banks now offer mobile financial services (MFS) within just three years.


The government has decided to introduce a new base year to calculate the country's gross domestic product GDP from the next fiscal year. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics BBS is working to calculate GDP under the newly decided baseline of the fiscal year 2015-16 by Ministry of Planning.



Once measured according to the new base, BBS officials said the size of country’s GDP and per capita income will gone up, Daily Sun’s sister daily Kaler Kantho reports on Saturday.


Country's GDP and per capita income at current prices now stand at $195.1 billion and $1400 under the old base year of 2005-06.




The changes in size of the real GDP will be mainly due to the inclusion of some new sectors in the calculation and price changes between the two periods. In Bangladesh the practice was to revise GDP base year in every 10 years. In 2013 the base year was changed from 1995-96 to 2005-06.



The new base will include 6 new sectors in the basket to make the new GDP series based on total 21 sectors. In the last two years BBS surveyed about new and emerging sectors, said the officials.



The stat agency has identified Entertainment and Publication as a new sector to be added in the GDP. Tourism, Forestry, Software and Captive Power has been identified as separate new sub-sector. Entertainment and Publication sector particularly drawn large investment in last two years. In the 2013-14 fiscal the sector added $ 15 million. This year, BBS added an estimated amount for this sector.



Change in the base year will best reflect the scenario of economy by accommodating these new and emerging sectors, officials said. Though BBS officials primarily proposed 2010-11 as new base year but conceded to the decision of Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. 2015-16 fiscal was free from natural disasters and political instability, thus best suitable as a base year, the minister argued.



But the BBS officials are not confident about availability of credible data especially household information for this immediate past fiscal and preferred another ‘stable’ period of 2010-11 as new base year.



When asked about concern on credible data, World Bank’s lead economist at Dhaka, Zahid Hussain said, ‘New statistics of household income and expenditure is being gathered now and will take time finalize.’ The government should collect data as much as possible from different sources before revising the base year to calculate GDP, he added.



Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said, ‘We’ll consult with all stakeholders before finalizing the new base year.’ New sectors which have emerged in last two years, like Mobile Banking, need to be included in the GDP count, he said.




http://www.daily-sun.com/post/158821/Economy-to-look-good-in-the-new-GDP-base-year-count

 

[Banglar Bir]

Services of Teletalk, BTCL land phone are deplorable

A M K Chowdhury

It will be a serious understatement to say that the land phone service of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) has long been unsatisfactory because of corruption among its so-called line-men and probably other fourth class and third class employees. Unless a subscriber greases their (line-men’s) palms on a regular basis his telephone will remain out of order and will not work.
Many subscribers told me about this problem caused by these thoroughly corrupt line-men who are often found cutting off wire of the phone line with a pair of pliers (a small tool with two handles for pulling small things like nails, or for cutting wire). When approached they demand Taka 1200 (twelve hundred) for wire. And this happens at least once a year. For this reason many private subscribers have abandoned their land phones out of disgust and frustration.
The BTCL authority should do well to rectify the problem.

Teletalk’s smallest subscriber base
Teletalk Bangladesh Limited, whose brand name is ‘Teletalk’ is the only public sector GSM and 3G-based mobile phone operator in Bangladesh that started operating in 2004. As on August 31 2016, Teletalk has a subscriber base of 2.925 million—-the smallest number of subscribers—-as against 54.5 million subscriber base of Grameen Phone.
The call centre number of Teletalk is 121 redirected to 2. Its attendants are not attentive. When you lodge a complaint the person on the other end says that the problem will be solves in 24 hours; but problem remains. Then you call again and seek redress at which point she\he will answer in the same manner. Even after 48 hours they cannot solve the problem.

Teletalk recharge problem
Even in Dhaka city you will not find recharge facility in 50% of the shops where the Teletalk recharge agents give Teletalk flexiload in a very irregular manner.
Compare this base with Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as GP, is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh.
According to a news report, the government wants state owned mobile operator Teletalk to merge with an appropriate foreign company so that it can survive in a competitive market and provide better services to subscribers. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave such an order to officials concerned at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the NEC conference room at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said, “The prime minister gave an order to them ( Teletalk) to search for an appropriate foreign company to merge with to become a competitive player in the market and provide better services to their customers.” Contacted, State Minister of the Post and Telecommunications Division Tarana Halim refused to make any comment on the issue.
Teletalk is looking for funds to develop the fourth generation mobile network, although the planning commission has suggested going for a public-private partnership.

The project will cost about Tk 2,500 crore, according
With more than 54.5 million subscribers and 46.3% subscriber market share as of August 2016, Grameenphone is the largest mobile phone operator in the country. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom Corporation, a non-profit sister concern of the microfinance organisation and community development bank Grameen Bank.
Robi Axiata Limited, DBA Robi is the second largest mobile network operator of Bangladesh. It is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad, of Malaysia, Bharti Airtel Limited, of India and NTT DoCoMo Inc., of Japan. Axiata holds 68.7% controlling stake in the entity, Bharti holds 25% while the remaining 6.3% is held by NTT DOCOMO of Japan.
It has been reported that the government has urged Indian businesses, including Tata Communications, to invest in Bangladesh’s telecom sector, especially in state-owned mobile operator Teletalk. State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim placed her proposals before the Indian telecom giant and other Indian investors in several meetings held in Kolkata.
The Indian entrepreneurs were urged to invest in any Bangladeshi telecom company they want, officials who attended the meetings said. Tata showed its interest to invest in Bangladesh’s telecom sector and discussed related regulatory issues. Tarana, who is now on a four-day visit to Kolkata at the invitation of the West Bengal government, shed light on the potential of Bangladesh’s telecom sector at the meetings.
As we are aware, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL)is the largest telecommunications company in Bangladesh which was earlier known as the Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB). On July 1, 2008 the BTTB became a public limited company and was renamed as BTCL which provides land-line telephone services in Bangladesh’s urban areas, including domestic long-distance call and internet services.
BTCL provides dial-up Internet access in all 64 districts of the country, making it the most-accessible Internet service provider in the country. As of January 2009 its total dial-up subscriber is 32,433.[citation needed] Since the beginning of 2007 BTCL have improved its Dial-up Internet service for better customer satisfaction. It also handles the .bd domain.

Revenue loss
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) suffered revenue loss of at least Tk2,000 crore in last six years due to corruption, revealed a TIB study April 31, 2014. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) identified tampering with the BTCL’s international call records as one of its major corrupted areas.
Bangladesh’s state-owned telecommunications company is refusing to reconnect a British firm to the country’s network despite having been ordered to do so by the courts. London-based Zamir Telecom has been cut off from the Bangladesh network since March, causing it significant financial damage.”Tk 2,000cr lost for graft in 6 years”. The Daily Star. 1 May 2014.
The last decade has brought the first wave of the truly mobile generation which is built around mobile phones, short messaging service (SMS), and portable electronic assistants, says ASA University Review, Vol. 5 No. 2, July–December, 2011. The mobile communications industry has been one of the most flourishing sectors within the ICT industry
and, in general, within the economy. Grameenphone and Robi are the biggest mobile phone operators in our country and their contribution is very great to our economy.
The research has provided insights like what are positive and negative aspects of both of the operators. For instance, the total number of customers of Grameenphone are very high than Robi. Grameenphone Company spent a large amount of money in the establishment year for the tower purpose and is doing better for the network facilities.
On the other hand, Robi is doing better in case of call rate, low price SIM card, friends and family number facilities, bonus system etc.
Robi needs to improve its poor network coverage, problem related to SIM eplacement, insufficiency of the scratch card and easy load facilities, lack of convenient location of the service center and discount facilities etc.
On the other hand Grameenphone is in a better position in comparison to Robi. It is doing better in case of following services like network coverage, effectiveness of network, solution of the problem related to SIM replacement, reconnection and migration, availability of the scratch card and flexi load facilities, location of the service center etc. But it can not be said that its services is much attractive to the customers. It has some other problems like lack of limited friends and family (FnF) number facilities and lack of bonus system (Free talk time, SMS), high call rate, lack of special offers to the customers, lack of pulse facilities etc. If GP takes initiative to remove or reduce these drawbacks, then it will be more successful in the telecommunications industry of Bangladesh.

Forbes ranks Dhaka among Asia’s 5 dirtiest cities

WT24 Desk

Indian scavengers look for coins and other valuable items from among the offerings of devotees in the Ganges at Varanasi on April 5, 2009. More than 400 million people live along the Ganges River. An estimated 2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in the river, which is considered holy by Hindus. In the Hindu religion it is said to flow from the lotus feet of Vishnu (for Vaisnava devotees) or the hair of Shiva (for Saivites). While the Ganges may be considered holy, there are some problems associated with the ecology. It is filled with chemical wastes, sewage and even the remains of human and animal corpses which carry major health risks by either direct bathing in the water (e.g.: Bilharziasis infection), or by drinking (the Fecal-oral route). AFP PHOTO/Prakash SINGH
Forbes has recently made a report on five dirtiest cities in Asia, based on local media articles and non-governmental organization data, topping it off with Dhaka.
Dhaka is joined by Indonesia’s Kalimantan, India’s Mumbai, New Delhi and China’s Xingtai.
Dhaka is ranked first based on lack of access to safe water, according to a 2011 UNICEF finding, alongside “spotty storm drainage, coarse air pollution and other elements” reported by IRIN.
Kalimantan’s cropland fires on the western side create hazardously hazy air. Use of mercury among small-scale miners to extract gold has led to wide-reaching air pollution. Some of the 43,000 people who depend on gold mining also smelt at home, trapping toxic air indoors.
India’s Mumbai is affected by poor garbage disposal, sometimes-undrinkable tap water, air pollution, construction dust, industrial emissions etcetera.
New Delhi, on the other hand, suffers from public urination, off-the-chart air pollution, cropland burning and festival fireworks, which adds to the pollution density.
Xingtai, 400km from Beijing, suffers from high particulate matter in the air. Its coal production is also to blame.