Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

We do not only know AL deception, but we also know the Jamaat deception since 1971. It is so power hungry that it has become just a small tail of BNP. It uses all the BNP privileges while in power. Nizami was an agriculture minister during BNP.

Except that he is honest personally he did nothing that helped the agriculture in BD. Because of his Jamaati policy, BD had to import an extra $600 million worth of food from your favourite RAW country India. So, if today it is AL deception, yesterday it was Razakar DECEPTION.

Awami regime is setting up another scheme for looting money from transmission line scam. They could not even supply electricity to existing lines and users. What these new lines will do sitting idle making some Awami looters rich.

Lol... this is a traditional business of bangladesh... but however your question has been answered in the 1st 2 paragraph of the article...

It is because to increase the transmission capacity to 20000 MW even though current capacity is 4000 MW and as all the current existing transmission lines are aging.

According to the government estimate they are planning to increase the capacity to 10000 MW by 2015 and may be towards 20000 to 25000 by the year 2020.

Lets see to what extend government become successful while doing all these or all these stuff turned out to be an empty vessel and a looting scheme.

Only time will say what is what.

 

[eastwatch]

Nizami story is a long past story.... what the military backed caretaker government did.... what the awami government is doing regarding importing food from RAW country india???

Will you clarify this to me?

No, I will not clarify that. Because our biggest internet asset Idune talks as if India is taking away all our assets and all our land because AL is in power. He fancies his sentebces with the catchphrase DECEPTION all too often. So, my answer was to that kind of posts.

By the way, total yearly import from India is now around $2.8 billion. But it was more than $3.5 billion a few years ago. So, which Party is selling the interest of our country to India?

 

[TopCat]

Awami regime is setting up another scheme for looting money from transmission line scam. They could not even supply electricity to existing lines and users. What these new lines will do sitting idle making some Awami looters rich.

Thats your problem as well as your BNP jamatis. You cants see the future. Govt is working to have 20,000 MW of electricity by 2021. So they need transmission line for that. Otherwise what will you do with all the powerplants if you cant transmit the power to the consumers? Current transmission line is not even good to transmit 4000 MW of electricity let alone 20,000 MW.

 

[eastwatch]

Thats your problem as well as your BNP jamatis. You cants see the future. Govt is working to have 20,000 MW of electricity by 2021. So they need transmission line for that. Otherwise what will you do with all the powerplants if you cant transmit the power to the consumers? Current transmission line is not even good to transmit 4000 MW of electricity let alone 20,000 MW.

But, I thought the Jamaatis & KOKKO have already built many thousand kms of KHAMBA transmission lines. Are these lines not sufficient to carry power?

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

But, I thought the Jamaatis & KOKKO have already built many thousand kms of KHAMBA transmission lines. Are these lines not sufficient to carry power?

Those are called distribution line ... not transmission line. Electricity department in bangladesh is separated in to 3 parts.. generation, transmission and distribution.

Main part of the transmission is to connect the generating unit to distribution unit ie. 33/11 kv sub station. From the sub station to users home... this is known as distribution line... where kokko might have done khamba business.

But do not worry. Read the article... it said that government has a plan to build 60000 km worth of distribution line and will take this mega project soon .

This is couple of times bigger project than the projects were undertaken by bnp-jammat jot sorkar. If they can impliment it than it is really great... else you can imagine there is a huge chance of corruption.

 

[eastwatch]

But do not worry. Read the article... it said that government has a plan to build 60000 km worth of distribution line and will take this mega project soon .

This is couple of times bigger project than the projects were undertaken by bnp-jammat jot sorkar. If they can impliment it than it is really great... else you can imagine there is a huge chance of corruption.

I wonder who are going to be the next KOKKOs.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Govt to set up SME village in Keraniganj

Sunday, 04 July 2010 21:46

Govt to set up SME village in Keraniganj

Govt to set up SME village in Keraniganj
Says managing director of SME Foundation
Star Business Report

The government has selected Keraniganj for establishing the first ever cluster village in the country for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the managing director of SME Foundation said yesterday.

Syed Rezwanul Kabir said the feasibility study of the cluster village will be complete within December this year and the government will then go for land acquisition.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide fund for the project.

Rezwanul Kabir was speaking at a discussion on 'development of plastic industries' at Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) office in Dhaka. BPGMEA and SME Foundation co-organised the discussion.

The cluster village will have facilities for light engineering, plastic, electric and electronic industries, news agency BSS said, quoting the MD of the SME Foundation.

The SME village will be fully operational in two years subject to availability of support from all corners including the trade bodies, Rezwanul Kabir said.

Leaders of the plastic goods sector demanded low-interest loans and arrangements to provide training for the workers in the sector.

They also called for establishing an international standard testing laboratory, and polymer, mould and recycling industry to accelerate the growth of the sector, now growing at 20 percent annually.

The SME Foundation has extended support to the association to help develop its ICT capacity.

Shahedul Islam Helal, president of BPGMEA, said the sector is already stuck with such problems as misinterpretation of the environmental law and its use, and absence of export subsidy.

The industry indirectly exports products worth around Tk 1,200 crore a year to countries including the US, Canada and in Europe, he added.

The plastic industry has a domestic market of Tk 5,000 crore and provides jobs to around six lakh people in 3,000 factories across the country, Helal said.

The SME Foundation MD said the government has already declared plastic as a thrust sector.

He said the SME Foundation will help the association get a paperless environment and ensure an easy access to information.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Sea Pearl Beach Resort to make debut early 2012

Saturday, 26 June 2010 21:45

Sea Pearl Beach Resort to make debut early 2012

Sea Pearl Beach Resort to make debut early 2012
FE Report

Construction of Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa, country's first eco-friendly luxury resort, being built in Cox's Bazar started in January this year and is expected to be completed in April 2012.

Addressing a press briefing, Alwyn Dixon, Director, Sales of the Resort disclosed this Saturday in the city.

The company borrowed a syndicated loan service from a number of private commercial banks led by Prime Bank Ltd.

Besides mentioning different features of the Resort, Alwyn Dixon also explained Vacation Ownership and Interval International's role in helping the Resort maintain international standards meticulously.

Located on over 7.0 acres of land at Inani Beach of Cox's Bazar, Sea Pearl Beach Resort will have 200 suites and studio apartments, among which, 150 will be reserved for the timesharers and the rest 50 will be used as the normal hotel condominiums.

The Resort will be the first hospitality property to introduce Vacation Ownership in Bangladesh. Vacation Ownership is a form of ownership or right to the use of a holiday property in which multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time - typically one week - in which they may use the property.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Dhaka gets $129m IDB loan to set up deep-sea oil unloading facility

Saturday, 26 June 2010 21:51

Dhaka gets $129m IDB loan to set up deep-sea oil unloading facility

Dhaka gets $129m IDB loan to set up deep-sea oil unloading facility
Monira Munni

The government has sealed a US$129 million soft credit from Islamic Development Bank to build the country's first offshore floating platform aimed at saving billions of taka it spends in unloading oil in deep sea.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith signed the deal with the Jeddah-based development lender, paving the way for building a 'Single Point Mooring' in the Bay of Bengal, he said.

"The pipeline from the floating platform will save both time and money," Muhith told the FE after returning to the capital from central Asian country of Azerbaijan where the IDB held its annual meeting.

"It will help unload crude oil and refined petroleum from mother vessels in the deep sea without landing in the port," the minister said, adding the unloaded oil would be brought to the shore through pipeline.

Construction of the offshore platform will start within the next two to three months and is expected to be completed by 2011, he said.

State-run refinery, Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL), and the country's lone oil importer and distributor, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), will install the oil unloading facility.

The platform would be set up in south-west of Kutubdia island in the Bay of Bengal, about 70-kilometre south of the Chittagong port. A 77-kilometre-long 36-diameter pipeline would link ERL with the Single Point Mooring.

Rezaul Alam, the managing director of ERL, said the "pay-back time" of the 9.54 billion taka is four and a half years, meaning the project would save at least 2.50 billion taka a year in unloading cost.

"Currently, two ships of the BSC (Bangladesh Shipping Corporation) unload crude from the mother vessels and then carry it back to ERL landing stations. It is time-consuming and very costly," he said.

"Now 10 to 12 days is required for unloading imported petroleum or crude from a mother vessel. We count huge amount of extra fare to the vessels for any delay in unloading," said an ERL official.

After constructing the pipeline and the floating platform in the Bay only two days would be required to unload oil and supply it to the ERL, the official added.

The country imports nearly 3.7 million tonnes of crude and refined oil by ships from different countries especially from the Gulf to meet growing demand. The amount is set to soar as the country has undertaken series of new diesel-fired power plants.

 

[bd_4_ever]

NBR revenue earning shoots past target in 2009-2010

Surpassing figure reaches Tk 8b


Doulot Akter Mala

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has exceeded its target for the 2009-2010 fiscal surpassing it by nearly Tk 8.0 billion, thanks to the outstanding performance in collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) and income tax, according to a provisional data.

VAT collection has exceeded its target by Tk 7.0 billion, while income tax by Tk 5.27 billion in the just concluded fiscal.

The revenue board has collected Tk 617.98 billion revenue against its target Tk 610 billion for the just concluded fiscal.

The government every year slashes revenue earning target but for the just concluded fiscal the target was kept the same as before after observing the performance of the revenue department, officials said.

The NBR has maintained 18 per cent growth in revenue collection compared to the previous fiscal.

Both income tax and VAT departments have achieved growth for over 23 per cent compared to that of the corresponding period in the last fiscal, the provisional figure said.

Revenue earning from the customs posted a poor growth of 9.67 per cent but impressive growth of VAT and income tax has offset the loss.

The NBR has collected income tax worth Tk 170.87 billion against its target for Tk 165.60 billion.

The VAT department has collected Tk 214.36 billion tax against its target for Tk 207.35 billion for 2009-2010 fiscal.

The revenue authorities collected around Tk 228 billion as customs duty during the 2009-10 fiscal against the target of Tk 232 billion.

The NBR has failed to achieve its target in 2008-09 fiscal, but it was close to target. The revenue board

collected Tk 525 billion revenue against its target for Tk 530 billion for the year.

The NBR officials said the government should encourage revenue officials in their work by providing incentives to maintain the upward growth.

"The tax officials have worked hard to surpass the target despite insufficient logistics and manpower at the tax offices," said a senior tax official.

The target for the current fiscal was set at Tk 725.90 billion for NBR which would be a challenge for the tax departments, he added.


NBR revenue earning shoots past target in 2009-2010

 

[eastwatch]

Govt okays Ctg-Cox's Bazar rail link | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

Govt okays Ctg-Cox's Bazar rail link
Tue, Jul 6th, 2010 11:14 pm

Dhaka, July 6 (bdnews24.com) — The government has given approval to set up rail links between Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar, which will eventually be stretched to the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the Tk 18.52 billion project on Tuesday, said the planning minister.

"The ultimate goal to extend this single-line railway track to the border point of Ghundum is to connect with China as well as to keep corridor for the Trans Asian Railway," AK Khandker told the press after the ECNEC meeting.

Of the total projected cost to build the railway network, Tk 6.7 billion will be funded from the state coffer while the remaining Tk 11.82 billion would come from foreign aid.

Khandker said that the ADB is interested to fund this project.

"However, talks are also going on with China for funds."

The project is expected to be implemented by July 2014.

Replying to a query, the planning minister said that the project's initial stages, like land acquisitions would start despite no commitments from the development partners yet on the project.

Tuesday's ECNEC meeting altogether gave the green signal to eight projects worth Tk 40.44 billion, which includes a Tk 4.1 billion to renovate the Gulshan-Baridhara-Banani lake, Tk 1.2 billion for infrastructure development of Dhaka University and Tk 2.3 billion for the energy and mineral resources division's '2-D Seismic Survey under Fast Track Program' project.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Exports rise on apparel rebound

Tuesday, 06 July 2010 21:02

Exports rise on apparel rebound

Exports rise on apparel rebound
Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Overall exports grew 2.48 percent to $14.49 billion in the first 11 months of the immediate past fiscal year compared to the same period a year earlier, Export Promotion Bureau data showed yesterday.

The state-run promotional agency also pointed to the $1.64 billion exports in the single month of May, showing a 16.71 percent growth over this month a year ago. The annual export target for FY2009-10 was set at $17.6 billion.

Exporters attributed the rise to a sharp rebound of readymade garment and the addition of raw jute and jute products to the export basket.

During July-May, Bangladesh fetched $5.85 billion from knit exports, $5.39 billion from woven, $182.43 million from raw jute and $441.11 million from jute goods.

Fazlul Hoque, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said month-wise garment export registered the second highest growth in May after July of FY 2008-09.

In May, knit exports were $632.32 million and woven $555.98 million. The rates of growth in these two sub-sectors are 9.29 percent and 12.68 percent respectively.

"The trend is positive, despite many hurdles. Frequent labour unrest, acute energy crunch and poor infrastructure are some of these hurdles," the knit sector leader said.

He also pointed to the enhanced rate of orders international buyers now place to Bangladesh. He said China, the largest supplier of apparels, is now faced with acute shortage of workers and frequent unrest in manufacturing units.

Hoque expressed his unhappiness that the central bank is yet to disburse the stimulus fund to apparel makers, although the finance ministry directive came at least two months ago.

"The time-bound disbursement of stimulus money to manufacturers, especially the small and medium factory owners, will help a lot to keep exports in positive trend," he said.

 

[akash57]

Jute exports surge, tea dips in FY 2009-10

Jute and jute products from Bangladesh shined on the export markets when tea was on the edge of losing earnings, thanks to production shortfall for a late monsoon.

The latest Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) review tallied 69.82 percent rise in exports of jute goods and 44.35 percent in the raw jute export on robust demands from the eco-cautious consumers.In the just ended 2009-10 financial year, jute sector fetched around US $548 million from overseas market, substantially higher from the amount of the previous year.

Draught-hit tea lost its place on the market mainly because of short supply to the global buyers when producers consolidated their efforts to meet the domestic demands. Tea export in 2009-10 was recorded only US $6.01 million, over 50 percent lower than previous earnings.

The EPB review also noted least satisfaction in export earnings for the past financial year when the prices of most commodities on global market declined due to slim demands from recession-hit consumers.

The review registered 2.51 percent rise in the trade volume, but 1.54 percent fall in export earnings that resulted in 8.67 percent decline in the total export earnings in the end of April.

The country in July-April of the past fiscal year earned US $12,940.05 million against a target of US $14,168 million. The earning, however, was 19.03 percent higher than US $12,816.11 million of 2008-09.

The EPB review does not have any figure for the last two months of 2009-10 financial year, but recent data from Bangladesh Bank (BB) showed a rebound in the export market against the backdrop of the global recovery.

The New Nation - Internet Edition

 

[akash57]

Malek Spinning to establish petrochemical complex

The IPO lottery of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd. was held Tuesday in the city amidst huge and unprecedented participation from investors.

A total of 80,000 applicants won the lotteries against 1.50 million applicants..

The IPO subscription of Tk 1.0 billion has fetched a huge sum of Tk 16.31 billion which is 16.31 times higher than the IPO amount.

Company sources said the refund warrants will be distributed from July 10.

"It is the highest IPO over-subscription record in textile sector in Bangladesh," said Azizur R Chowdhury, Director, Malek Spinning Mills Ltd.

A Matin Chowdhury, Managing Director of the company said Malek Spinning will utilise the proceeds from the IPO to establish a PetroChemical Complex, which will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh producing Bottle Grade PET resin and Textile Grade Chips along with Polyester Fiber.

"This will result in import substitution which will translate into significant savings of foreign currency as well as stimulating tremendous growth in the polyester manufacturing industry", Mr Matin added.

Moshiur Rahman, Director of the company stated that MSM is one of the leading spinning mills in Bangladesh and one of the very few spinning mills which has a turnover of above Tk 3.0 billion per annum.

MSM is a cotton USA licensee equipped with state-of-the-art machinery producing yarn used in the export market and is one of the only two factories in Bangladesh which has been awarded the USTERIZED certificate by the Uster Technologies, Switzerland.

B.K Chaki, DGM, Accounts & Finance said, starting with a capacity of 6,000 spindles and annual sales of Tk 95 million, MSM now has a capacity of 63,624 spindles along with an open-end capacity of 40 tons daily with a projected annual sale of approximately Tk 3.88 billion per annum, a staggering growth rate of 40 times in 21 years.

In his welcome address, the MD expressed gratitude to the investors and thanked the regulators, Issue Managers and Post Issue Managers for their guidance and support in taking the process forward smoothly.

Malek Spinning to establish petrochemical complex

 

[fallstuff]

Bangladesh may benefit from rising labour costs in China



Bangladesh may benefit from rising labour costs in China

JAKARTA, July 4 (AFP): Labour costs and the value of China's currency are sending ripples around Asia as countries jostle to lure manufacturers that are rethinking their Chinese operations, analysts and officials said.

Worker unrest at foreign-owned factories and the prospect of higher wage costs are forcing some manufacturers to consider countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, where wages remain relatively low.

Bangladesh, which has the lowest minimum wage in the world at just 25 dollars a month, is poised to reap the benefits as long as it can resolve its own chronic labour disputes and fix its crumbling infrastructure, experts say.

"Bangladesh has a huge opportunity to capitalise on rising costs in China," said Ifty Islam, an investment banker at Dhaka-based Asian Tiger Capital.

"But it is difficult to get more foreign firms to come if we can't prevent labour unrest," he said.

In September a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, MHI Aerospace Vietnam, opened the country's first aircraft parts plant, citing Vietnam's relatively low wages.

A study by the Japan External Trade Organization found that a Vietnamese manufacturing worker earned 101 dollars a month against 217 in China.

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn recently said the Japanese automaker was paying "a lot of attention" to strike action in China but this did not mean there would be any change in its plans to ramp up production in the country.

Even so, Ghosn announced last week that the company intended to double capacity of its assembly plant in Indonesia, which he said could become an "export force" if it improved its creaking infrastructure.

His point underscored the fact that despite the slight appreciation of its currency and corresponding higher wage costs, China was light years ahead of its rivals in terms of supply-chain infrastructure like ports and railways.

Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said in January that there was a "permanent trend" of shoe manufacturers shifting from China to Indonesia, resulting in 1.8 billion dollars of investment over the last four years.

Bruce Tsao, an analyst with Capital Securities in Taipei, said dramatic wage hikes in the mainland were "adding more woe to labour-intensive industries in China already troubled by low profit margins".

Link:
Bangladesh may benefit from rising labour costs in China