EPZ industries show little export growth

The industries at the Export Processing Zones showed little growth in
business with $2.6 billion earnings for the past fiscal ended on June
30 this year. Official data shows the growth in earnings was only 6
per cent over the previous fiscal year's figure. Officials at
Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority held ongoing global
recession responsible for the deceleration. The worst hit industries
are those producing non- garment products. The apparel manufacturers
in the EPZ are also facing the impact of the financial downturn, they
said. Compiling the export bills on the goods produced in
industries in eight of EPZs, the BEPZA totaled the export proceeds for
2008-2009 fiscal year at $2582 million. In the previous 2007-2008
financial year, export earning from EPZs units was $2430 millions with
nearly 18 per cent growth over the previous year. 'Global recession
has depressed the export market for Bangladesh manufacturers as it
doses for others. And EPZ industries have suffered much as they are
depending on exports only' , said a senior official at the authority.
He said due to the recession fallouts, export target of EPZ
industries was missing with a gap between the achievement and the
goal. The official admitted that for the just ended fiscal they had
eyed $2.8 billion export earnings, but the global recession down sized
the earnings to 2. 6 billion. 'The amount is not huge, but the
downtrend is a concern', he pointed out and added the industries would
suffer much should the trend continues. The BEPZA officials said
industries other than the textile and garment units suffered much as
the demands for their products fell in the global recession-hit
markets. Eight EPZs in the country accommodate more than 300
industrial units when nearly half of the industries are engaged in
producing goods other than textile and garment. Productions in
these units include tents, golf shafts, camera parts, automobile
accessories, and light engineering products like iron chains. The
BEPZA officials, however, expressed the hope that exports from EPZ
would increase significantly in the current fiscal year as many new
entrants would start their productions. They also referred to the
very recent trend in the global economy that is showing some sort of
rally. 'This is good for our export market and may take the export
earnings indicator to up again,' they said. BEPZA made agreements
with some large Chinese and Taiwanese shoemakers and furniture
manufacturers, who are going to productions this year.

Steps under way to realise Tk 6,500cr in revenue

The government has taken initiatives to realise about Tk 6,500 crore
revenue, which remains unpaid by various organisations, from income tax,
value addition tax and import duty due to cases at the higher court.
Additional attorney general MK Rahman told the news agency that a
request was made to the chief justice for forming necessary benches for
speedy disposal of these cases on the basis of the recommendations of the
government. Earlier, the law ministry advised the office of the
Attorney General for taking necessary measures for speedy resolution of
these cases and based on this, the Attorney General office took the
necessary initiatives. He said the hearing of these cases and their
resolutions are being done at three benches at present and some other
benches have also the jurisdiction of disposal of the cases. Lawyers and
law officers experienced with revenue issues have been given the
responsibilities for handling these cases. The resolutions of these
cases are essential for realising the huge amount of government money, he
said adding that 16,000 cases are under trial. Of the total cases,
Tk 1,700 crore revenue remains unpaid against 1,500 income tax related
cases, Tk 3,000 crore against 2,000 VAT related cases and Tk 1,700 crore
against 12,000 import duty related cases, he said. The National Board of
Revenue is providing assistance to the Attorney General office in
conducting the cases, he said. The NBR has already prepared a list of tax
and VAT default companies. These companies are AB Vegetable Oil
Industries, Korean company Samhoan Corporation, Media World, Inspector
Bangladesh Ltd (EBL), BRAC, Prime Fisheries, Grameen Bank, Pioneer
Apparels, Bengal Development Corporation, Eastern Housing and City Group.
Besides, more companies are involved in these cases. They are Nestle BD
Ltd, Navana Industries Ltd, Quader Textile, Monwara Textile, Bangladesh
House Building and Finance Corporation, Chittagong Jute Manufacturing
Company, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd, Eastern
Bank, Royel Cement, BD Foods Ltd and Bengal Fine Ceramics Ltd.

Porsche axes CEO, sets stage for VW merger

Sportscar maker Porsche conceded a months- long power struggle to
mass-market rival Volkswagen by axing its chief executive and said it
would raise at least 5 billion euros in equity as the two prepared for a
merger. After an all-night meeting of its board of directors, Porsche said
Wendelin Wiedeking, Germany's best-paid executive and its CEO for the past
16 years, along with finance chief Holger Haerter, would quit the group
immediately. Their hasty exit will be sweetened by payoffs of 50 million
euros and 12.5 million euros, respectively. Wiedeking, who had opposed
selling Porsche to Volkswagen, which would have helped the company reduce
the debt he had run up in a botched attempt to take over VW, will be
succeeded by Porsche's production head Michael Macht, the board said in a
statement early on Thursday. The meeting of the non-executive directors,
which include the Piech and Porsche families that between them control
Porsche, approved Wiedeking's proposal to raise fresh equity -- either in
cash or through a contribution in kind -- and endorsed talks to sell a
stake to the Gulf state of Qatar. "This should lay the foundations for the
creation of an integrated automobile group consisting of Porsche SE and
Volkswagen," Porsche said. It was unclear from Porsche's statement who
would contribute to the capital increase and whether it would be taken up
by Qatar. A Porsche spokesman declined to comment further. The board's
unanimous approval signals that the powerful Porsche and Piech clans may be
open to surrendering some of their influence at the maker of the 911
sports coupe. Between them they control 100 percent of Porsche's voting
shares and have resisted selling a stake to an outsider. At 0820 GMT,
Porsche shares were up 1 percent, while Volkswagen's were down around 3
percent, compared with a 0.8 percent fall in the DJ Stoxx auto index and a
flat German market. JOINING FORCES A source at Volkswagen, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told Reuters it was still open whether oil-rich
Qatar would take a stake in the Porsche SE holding company or directly in
Volkswagen, or in both groups. The issue was due to be discussed by
Volkswagen's own board of directors, which gathers for an extraordinary
session on Thursday in Stuttgart, where Porsche's Zuffenhausen
headquarters are based, rather than its own headquarters in Wolfsburg.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, declined to comment. The moves
came as Porsche enters the final stretch of negotiations with Volkswagen to
create what both sides have called an " integrated" auto group, in which
Porsche would essentially become the 10 th brand in Volkswagen's sweeping
automotive empire. Porsche SE, the holding company that controls sportscar
maker Porsche AG, needs to bolster its finances after accumulating more
than 10 billion euros in debt through its botched attempt to seize control
of VW. Porsche was forced to abandon attempts to win control over 75
percent of VW, leaving it with a stake of nearly 51 percent. The failed
takeover attempt opened the door to Ferdinand Piech, VW's powerful
chairman and himself a part-owner of Porsche, to turn the tables on
Porsche. The Porsche and Piech families had been at loggerheads for months
over how to resolve the company's debt woes and the role VW would play.
Piech has pushed for VW to take over Porsche, on condition that Porsche
fixes its finances first.

Asian markets move higher

Increased confidence that the US and Chinese governments will continue with
their loose economic policies, as well as a weaker yen, helped push Asia's
stocks higher on Thursday. TOKYO: Up 0.72 percent. The benchmark Nikkei-225
index rose 69.78 points to 9 ,792. 94. HONG KONG: Up 2.96 percent. The Hang
Seng Index closed up 569.53 points at 19 , 817.70. SYDNEY: Down 0.11
percent. The S&P/ASX200 closed down 4.4 points at 4 ,064.1. Weakness in the
banking sector outweighed gains in resources stocks, dealers said. SHANGHAI:
Up 0.97 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares,
climbed 31.88 points to 3 , 328.49. TAIPEI: Flat. The weighted index fell
4.44 points, or 0.06 percent, to 6 , 980.88. The slight fall ended seven
consecutive sessions of gains. SEOUL: Up 0.16 percent. The KOSPI added 2.45
points to end at 1 , 496.49. It was the index's eight consecutive gain, the
longest winning streak since June 2007. SINGAPORE: Up 1.39 percent higher.
The Straits Times Index rose 34.07 points to 2 , 484.90. JAKARTA: Up 1.65
percent. The Jakarta Composite Index added 35.1 points to end at 2 , 160.71.
KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.30 percent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 3.45
points to 1 , 152.15. Infrastructure group Gamuda added 2.70 percent but
Public Bank lost 1.0 percent to 10.20 ringgit. BANGKOK: Up 2.34 percent. The
Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 13.97 points to close at 612.19. The index
was lifted on strong buying in the energy sector as investors predicted a
rise in global oil prices, an analyst said. MANILA: Flat. The composite
index was down 0.38 points, or 0.01 percent, to finish at 2 , 612.00.
WELLINGTON: Up 0.63 percent. The NZX-50 rose 18.19 points to 2 , 918.63. The
market witnessed its eighth straight gain due to rising optimism. Auckland
International Airport rose three cents to 1.64 dollars. Air New Zealand rose
three cents to 98 cents. MUMBAI: Up 2.61 percent. The 30- share Sensex rose
387.92 points to 15 , 231.04.

Sonali Bank launches online banking

Sonali Bank has launched online and SMS banking services for its
customers. The customers of the bank will now be able to perform their
banking transactions from one branch to another more easily, a news
release said. For SMS banking service, the customers will be able
to obtain some instant information like account balance, interest
rate, account statement, currency rate and others. Beximco Computers
has provided technical support by giving software to Sonali Bank.
The services were launched at a ceremony held at Sheraton Hotel on
Tuesday. Sonali Bank chief executive officer and managing director SA
Chowdhury was present as chief guest in the ceremony while Beximco
Computers Limited general manager Abu Zafar Khan, Bangladesh Online
Limited chief operating officer Syed Samiul Wadood, Sayeeful Islam,
Software Shop Limited Wireless managing director were present as
special guests.