BANGLADESH beats INDIA in knitwear export, to come third globally

Dhaka, Aug 8 ( bdnews24. com)—Bangladesh has gained third place in
the global market for knitwear exports, leaving India behind, the
head of the country's knitwear industry group said this week.
Talking exclusively with bdnews24. com on Friday BKMEA president
Fazlul Hoque said Bangladesh has been lucky, but he warned there was
nothing to be complacent about. "We exported knitwear worth $6.43
billion in FY 2008-09 , despite the recession, which is up by 16
per cent in comparison to the prior fiscal year," Hoque said, adding
that growth could have surpassed 30 per cent had the global
recession not hit. According to Export Promotion Bureau figures,
Bangladesh earned $15.26 billon in the past fiscal of which $6.43
billion came from the knitwear sector and $5.92 billion from the
woven apparels sector. India, meanwhile, saw a 25 per cent slump in
knitwear export in the last quarter, said Hoque. "We are optimistic
about reaching second position leaving Turkey behind by the year
2010. " The global economic meltdown may be opening up new prospects
for the Bangladesh knitwear industry, despite both prices and exports
witnessing a decline due to the slump, said Hoque. "The negative
impact on export was not as intense in Bangladesh as it was on other
countries." "This recession may be a boon for the knitwear industry
provided power supply and government policy support are in place. Many
countries will be weak from the recession. But we will be able to
enter new markets as we export comparatively low cost apparels and
cheap labour," said Hoque. The BKMEA president expressed some
frustration over the government's promised support to export sectors
so far, in fighting the recession. "The government has allocated Tk
5000 crore for the export sectors in the current budget to offset
the loss from the recession. But there was no discussion over how the
money will be spent. " The finance minister in a post budget press
conference on June 12 said this issue would be settled in discussion
with exporters, but no such initiative has yet been taken, said
Hoque. Hoque said smaller knitwear industries are going through
difficulties; if they do not get assistance they may collapse. Hoque
also urged all concerned to be aware that the country's image to
international buyers does not become sullied due to unrest in the
garment industries. "Vandalism and arson in the industry in the
name of worker unrest cast a negative image abroad leading to
negative impact on exports." He advocated exemplary punishment to
those responsible for recent unrest, that involved arson and riots
in Savar, to prevent a repeat of violent incidents in the garment
industries.

Ministries 'at odds' over new IP right agency

Dhaka, August 7 ( bdnews24. com) – The government is working toward a
coordinated policy and approach to protect intellectual property
rights in Bangladesh, and wants to bring all related agencies under
one roof. Two ministries are already working on it. However,
officials of the industry ministry and the culture ministry are not
seeing eye-to-eye. At present, the patent, design and trademark
registry offices are under one directorate of the industry ministry
while the copyright office is under the cultural affairs ministry. A
suggestion was put forward, in a meeting of the Bangladesh Better
Business Forum in June last year, to bring all offices related to
intellectual property rights under one roof with the creation of a
Bangladesh Intellectual Property Organisation (BIPO). The World
Intellectual Property Organisation ( WIPO) and development partners
have also suggested merging the related offices, say government
officials. Enamul Haque, registrar of the patents, designs and
trademarks directorate, told bdnews24. com earlier this week, "The
offices under this directorate, as well as the copyright office, are
all interrelated with one another. If they come under one roof then
better services can be provided." But, in spite of several meetings
between the officials of the industry and culture ministries they
have failed to agree on the proposed new agency. Officials of the
industry ministry say the cultural ministry is opposing the initiative
because the proposed BIPO would be under the industry ministry. "We
are trying to take the initiative to unite the four offices for
convenience. But we are unable to do so for objection from the
cultural ministry, " said one top official, not wanting to be named.
Cultural secretary Sharful Alam told bdnews24. com, "We are not for
any kind of rushed decision. We will have to do our homework and
analyse the positive and negative aspects of such a move." "We are
yet to reach any conclusion." "We have said that a conclusion could
have been reached had there been inter-ministerial meetings to
discuss the pros and cons before making such a decision," said Alam.
The present patents, designs and trade marks directorate itself
emerged from a similar decision not long ago to unite the previously
independent trademarks registry and controller of patents offices
that had once been under the control of the commerce ministry. The
Trademarks Act and The Patents and Designs Act in 2003 "to ensure
effective functioning of the merged offices newly styled as the
'Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Directorate" under the industry
ministry. The copyright office, meanwhile, was founded in 1962 to
govern copyright and related rights for books, music and other
creative works in Bangladesh. It is situated at the National Library
building at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The culture ministry on its website
says, " Copyright law is a section of 'Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR)' law." Tanjib-Ul Alam, a Supreme Court lawyer specialising in
intellectual property rights law, said, "All these related issues are
dealt with by one agency in many countries in the world," he said.
"But here, we have to go to the trademark office for a logo and to
the copyright office for a name." Businesses and industry say they
need better copyright, patent and design policies to keep pace with
the international community Industries minister Dilip Barua has
repeatedly stressed the importance of intellectual property rights,
and their proper application in business, for socio-economic
development. "It is very sad that Bangladesh has had no
comprehensive intellectual property policy," said Barua in April. He
said the current world scenario requires modern legislation. The
government has taken initiatives on this since coming to power in
January. It passed the Trademarks Law 2009 and is formulating an
updated patent and design law, say industry ministry officials.
Barua has recently mentioned a diversity of cultural products that
needed protection, such as Jamdani saris, rosh malai, famous
folksongs, traditional dances, and the rich culture of indigenous
communities. Bangladesh Computer Association President, Mostafa
Jabbar, has said there is absolutely no application of copyright law
against piracy in bangladesh. The music, film and software
industries were on the verge of ruination "thanks to piracy", say
industry leaders. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has been named the worst
offender for software piracy in the Asian Pacific region and the
second worst in the world. According to the Global Software Piracy
Study 2008 , conducted by IDC, the IT industry's leading global
market research and forecasting firm, software piracy in Bangladesh
rates at a staggering 92 percent. The worst offender is Georgia at
95 percent, followed by Armenia and Zimbabwe joining Bangladesh at
92 percent. The IDC report warned that piracy is crippling the
local industry and costing local retailers $102 million a year.
Officials say land has already been allocated at Agargaon for the
Bangladesh Intellectual Property Organisation (BIPO). Automation of
patents, designs and trade marks directorate is also underway. All
that remains is for the two ministries is to bury their differences
in the interests of strengthening intellectual property rights in
Bangladesh to safeguard local industries and raise the country's
reputation abroad.

JAPAN could eye BANGLADESH for ITO service

Dhaka, Aug 6 ( bdnews24. com)—Bangladesh could acquire a significant
share in the global market for IT Outsourcing through public private
partnership projects with developed countries like Japan, says a
visiting IT specialist from Osaka City University. Bangladesh has
potential to build a strong ITO industry, said Professor Keiko
Morisawa, of the Graduate School for Creative Cities under Osaka City
University, speaking at a workshop on ICT services development by the
Embassy of Japan at a Dhaka hotel on Thursday. Morisawa suggested
following the recent example of the Philippines and also Vietnam,
who since 2005 have rapidly secured significant shares in the highly
lucrative global ITO industry. ITO (IT Outsourcing), BPO (Business
Process Outsourcing) and KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) include
offshore services such as call and contact centres, back office
support, transcription, animation, software, website and game
development, as well as software engineering. Morisawa also said
Japan is offering to train up overseas students to increase human
resources in the global IT industry and aims to welcome 3 million
students by around 2020 as a part of a ' global strategy' Currently,
China leads among Japan's offshore destinations for ITO, BPO, KPO
services, followed by India, Philippines and Vietnam. Globally, the
BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are predominant in
this offshore service industry. The total value of transactions
among these countries (both direct and indirect) in 2008 was $1 b.
But BRIC countries faced recent problems, Brazil and China could not
utilise their potential and Russia lacks government support, which is
where Philippines and Vietnam secured their place, said Morisawa. She
said non-BRIC countries like Philippines were successful as they
emphasised IT education and chose cooperation with India over
competition. Vietnam ensured success by developing IT education and
cooperation with Japan through both private and public partnership.
There is also a scope for Myanmar and Bangladesh to follow their
examples, she said. She suggested Bangladesh should pursue the
Philippines' example in particular for near- shoring with BRIC
countries, specifically India. It should also be keen to get BPO
(Business Process Outsourcing), not only ITO (IT Outsourcing) work
orders. Bangladesh could also increase offshore work orders directly
from Japan by developing ITEE ( IT Engineers Exam) skill standards,
which is globally recognised and a must to get into the BPO market,
she said.

BANGLADESH PAJATAN CORPORATION to go mvltilingual with online

Dhaka, Aug 8 ( bdnews24. com) – The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation
website will soon be available in up to eight languages, including
Bangla, as part of an online makeover to better the tourism needs of
domestic and foreign travellers. The website of the state-owned
agency is English-language only at present. It will be available in
Bangla, English and Japanese from November. Five more international
languages will be included in phases, BPC executive officer (IT)
Ehsanul Kabir Bappi told bdnews24. com on Friday. "Besides new
languages we have plans to modernise the website. There will be
attractive video clips along with high resolution photographs on the
country's special tourism attractions." "The site will also contain
web links of private travel companies and special features on local
food," said Kabir. He said they had especially considered private
tour operators in the new web design. "One will be able to get all
information including contact numbers, email addresses of the private
operators on the new site." "We are modernising the website keeping
in mind it should be the first site that people in Bangladesh and
foreign countries browse prior to travel," he said. The new moves
have been taken at the suggestion of civil aviation and tourism
minister GM Kader, he added. BPC is likely to sign an agreement with
private organisation Connectbd Limited this week to implement the
project within three months starting from August, said Kabir. "We
are also discussing some funding of the project with a private mobile
phone operator." The current website is not available on mobile
internet, he said. "One will be able to browse the new site on
mobile phones allowing people to get information from anywhere,"
Kabir said. BPC authorities has also finalised online reservation
systems through credit cards. "We are waiting for government
approval," said Kabir. Reagrding the inclusion of Japanese, before
other world languages, he said: "We get many emails and letters from
Japan every year." "They come to Bangladesh to visit special
Buddhist sites such as Paharpur monastery and temples in the hill
tracts region." BPC is operating its current website through a
Singapore server, Singtel, with support from Bangladesh
Telecommunications Company Limited.

CITI group may set loose its $100 million

NEW YORK, Aug 7 , (bdnews24. com/Reuters) - Citigroup Inc may give
control of its Phibro commodities business to Andrew Hall, the
energy trader making headlines for demanding a $100 million payday
under his contract, The New York Times said on Thursday, citing a
person with knowledge of the negotiations. The possibility is one of
many options that Citigroup is considering after it had mulled a
sale of Phibro to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, the
newspaper said. Talks with the billionaire investor went nowhere, and
there was no firm discussion of price, it said. Citigroup and
Berkshire did not immediately return calls seeking comment. A bank
spokeswoman told the newspaper: "We are evaluating the best way
forward for stakeholders." The newspaper said Citigroup may decide
to transform Phibro into a partnership led by Hall, turning the bank
into a limited partner with a smaller share of the profits, and
requiring the bank to find new investors in that business. Other
options include asking Hall and other traders to work without
contracts, replacing Phibro's leadership, or winding down the unit,
the newspaper said. These options could backfire given that Phibro
has provided Citigroup with considerable recent profits, and that
much of Phibro's worth is thought to derive from Hall's abilities and
continued presence. Citigroup is trying to shed troubled assets
after huge losses resulted in the government giving the bank $45
billion of taxpayer funds and taking a 34 percent equity stake.
Known for owning a castle in Germany and for his collection of
expensive art, Hall runs Phibro in Westport, Connecticut. His pay
has gotten caught up in a political spectacle over how much companies
accepting taxpayer money should be allowed to pay their top workers,
including those whose compensation is contractually required. If the
companies were to pay too little, the argument goes, top workers
could flee to rivals not bound by pay limits, hurting the companies
and thus taxpayers' investments. Next week, the government pay czar,
Kenneth Feinberg, is expected to start reviewing compensation
structures at several companies that received bailouts. These
companies are Citigroup, American International Group Inc, Bank of
America Corp, Chrysler Financial, Chrysler LLC, General Motors Co
and GMAC Inc.

IMF boosts loan to PAKISTAN by $3.2b

The International Monetary Fund said it had approved an additional
3.2 billion dollar loan to Pakistan after the country asked for more
help to weather the global economic crisis. The IMF said on Friday
the extra funds for the loan program to Pakistan would 'help the
country address increased balance of payment needs' and increase the
total loan to 11.3 billion dollars. The IMF executive board also
approved an extension of the loan to the end of 2010, an additional
three months, and the payment of a third instalment of the loan of
1.2 billion dollars, the multilateral institution said in a statement.
Four billion dollars had already been disbursed from the 7.6
billion dollar Stand-By Arrangement agreed in November to bolster the
South Asian nation amid the worst global contraction since the Great
Depression. Pakistan approached the IMF last year for a rescue
package as it grappled with a 30-year high inflation rate and
fast-depleting reserves that were barely enough to cover nine weeks
of import bills. The board decisions were made after IMF completed
its second review of the country's progress in addressing its
heightened balance of payments needs. 'The macroeconomic outlook
for 2009/10 remains difficult, and the external position is subject
to considerable downside risks,' said Murilo Portugal, IMF deputy
managing director, in the statement. The extra IMF aid 'will help
mitigate these risks and enable the implementation of the
government's fiscal program; however, this financing is temporary and
should be used as a bridge until the revenue reforms bear fruit.'
The board also agreed that part of the additional funding 'could be
used to finance priority spending until the disbursements of donor
support pledged for 2009-2010 are received.' IMF mission chief to
Pakistan, Adnan Mazarei, told reporters in a conference call that the
funds would help the government build the social safety net and
provide assistance to internally displaced persons in the
violence-riddled country. Mazarei said the funds were intended as
' bridge financing' until the Friends of Pakistan donors honour their
pledges from a Tokyo meeting in April, which he said was roughly $5.7
billion over two to three years. 'Here I must stress that because
IMF financing for the budget is temporary, it is very critical that
donors deliver their pledged support without any delay,' he added.
The IMF said the board had approved Pakistan' s request for waivers
for failing to meet certain criteria, including a budget deficit that
is 0.9 per cent of economic output and continued weakness in banking
supervision and tax policy. 'Pakistan's economy has continued to
stabilize, ' Portugal said. He welcomed Pakistan's progress in
reforms in the financial sector and the foreign exchange market and
in strengthening the social safety net. 'These achievements are
appreciable, considering the security developments that resulted
among others in the large number of internally displaced persons, the
global economic recession, and the difficult domestic political
environment,' Portugal said.

Yen gains in Asia stocks slip

The safe-haven yen rose and the euro fell in Asian trade Wednesday as
falling stock prices injected a dose of caution into the market,
dealers said. The dollar slipped to 95.01 in Tokyo afternoon trade
from 95.24 in New York late Tuesday. The euro dropped to 1.4385
dollars against 1.4410 and to 136.68 yen from 137.24. 'Players
wanted to shed their positions ahead of the summer holidays,' Keiichi
Iguchi, a dealer at Resona Bank, told Dow Jones Newswires.
'Bearish stock performance was a good reason for them to sell'
riskier currencies, Iguchi said. Investors were waiting for more US
data due out later in the day including an employment report by
payrolls firm ADP as well as surveys of activity in the factory and
service sectors, ahead of official jobs data on Friday. The euro,
which has benefited from an increased market appetite for risk, gave
back some of its recent strong gains. 'There's a feeling that the
euro's spike ( recently) may be overdone,' said Yoshihisa Kanzaki, a
trader at Shinkin Central Bank. 'It's not a surprise that investors
took profit.' Analysts expect the European Central Bank and the
Bank of England to leave their key lending rates unchanged at record
lows on Thursday to give the region's economy more time to recover
from the recession. Against Asian currencies, the dollar rose to 1.
4348 Singapore dollars from 1.4335 a day earlier, to 1,224.40 South
Korean won from 1, 220.15, to 9,895.00 Indonesian rupiah from 9,
858.75 and to 32.72 Taiwan dollars from 32.69. At the same time it
slipped to 47.86 Philippine pesos from 47.90 while holding steady at
33.98 Thai baht.

Wall street senses recovery as rally gathers steam

Wall Street has stretched its summer rally to four weeks amid
increasing optimism about an end to recession, reinforced by data
suggesting the economy has bottomed and is now strengthening. The
market has hit its best levels of the year, and analysts are hotly
debating whether the run-up can continue. One key for investors in
the coming week will be the message from Federal Reserve
policymakers, who are unlikely to modify the near-zero interest rate
policy, but could offer clues on recovery and the timing of any rate
hike. In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of
blue chips climbed 2.16 per cent to 9,370.07, capping a four-week
surge of 15 per cent and reaching its best levels since last
November. The Standard & Poor's 500 index broke through the
psychological barrier of 1,000 points, gaining 2.33 per cent for the
week to 1, 010.48, marking a stunning gain of some 50 per cent from
lows hit in March for the broad- market index. The tech-dominated
Nasdaq added 1.1 per cent to 2000.25, bringing its year-to-date
advance to a hefty 26.8 per cent. The sparkling gains come from a
growing consensus that the recession is ending if not already over.
'Recent data reinforce our view that the US recession ended in
June,' said Dean Maki at Barclays Capital, which is calling for
third- quarter US growth of 3.5 per cent. 'We continue to expect a
recovery that is stronger than the past two but not as robust as
those that followed deep recessions in the past.' 'The rally in
equities has been nothing short of spectacular,' said Avery Shenfeld
at CIBC World Markets. 'In part, of course, it reflects the depths
of the earlier selloff ... But more importantly, markets rallied,
just as they fell, due to a dramatic change in risk aversion,
combined with an unprecedented dose of monetary easing.' But
Shenfeld said the market is 'getting closer to the end of that source
of equity momentum.' 'The next leg of the rally has to come from
earnings,' he said. 'Moderate economic growth and cost-cutting will
leave room for progress on that front, but the market will become
more selective as it looks for companies positioned for bottom line
gains.' Others also suggest the market may have gone too far in
light of a still-fragile economy. 'The rally in risky assets has
gone from strength to strength — from relief that the worst is
behind us to pricing in a 'V-for-Vigorous' recovery,' says Manoj
Pradhan, economist at Morgan Stanley. But Pradhan said that 'the
painful adjustments to household and corporate balance sheets that
are likely, given the excesses of the past, are enough to make the
economic recovery a slow and tenuous one over the medium term.'
Others contend that the market will be able to build on its rally as
company earnings improve with the economy. 'The intermediate to
longer-term trend of the major market indices from a technical
perspective is up,' said Fred Dickson at DA Davidson & Co. 'We
continue to believe that market dips will be short and shallow as
more investors focus on the possibility that the recession is finally
coming to an end. Even a modest recovery should help boost corporate
profits and hiring over the next 12 months.' Bonds were hammered
on the shifting economic view. The yield on the 10-year Treasury
note jumped to 3.854 per cent from 3. 501 per cent a week earlier and
that on the 30- year bond climbed to 4.603 per cent from 4.311 per
cent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. The
coming week's focus will be the two-day Federal Reserve meeting
Tuesday and Wednesday. Additionally, investors will get data on the
US trade balance, retail sales, consumer inflation and industrial
production and quarterly results from retail giant Wal-Mart.

US jobs data boosts recovery hopes

A surprise improvement in the US unemployment rate amid narrowing job
losses has boosted hopes that the world's biggest economy is
emerging from the grip of recession, analysts say. The jobless
rate fell one-tenth of a point to 9. 4 per cent in July as job losses
narrowed to 247, 000 from 443,000 in June, a Labour Department report
showed. The report provides a clear signal that the labour market
and the economy have likely turned the corner after a brutal
recession that began in December 2007, said analysts. 'With the
fall-off in the pace of job losses appearing to be gaining some
traction and the improved tone of other economic reports, it appears
that the US recession may well be in its last throes,' said Millan
Mulraine, economic strategist at TD Securities. 'In fact, given
the recent flow of economic reports, it is now conceivable that the
US economy may post its first quarterly growth for some time in the
third quarter.' This report and other upbeat data 'reinforce our
view that the US recession ended in June,' said Dean Maki, economist
at Barclays Capital, which is calling for growth at a 3.5 per cent
pace in the third quarter. 'After a period of massive wealth
destruction, consumers are building savings and reducing borrowing.
As the labour market begins to heal and financial wealth recovers, we
believe this will support a subdued recovery in consumer spending.'
The report 'confirms that the recession is certainly diminishing in
intensity if it hasn't ended already,' said Peter Kretzmer, senior
economist at Bank of America. 'It appears unemployment may have hit
its peak. We are starting to see the signs of a turning point, but
it will take some time for job losses to diminish.' Robert Brusca
at FAO Economics went further. 'The jobs turnaround is actually
about as rapid as you could hope to see,' he said. 'The transition
from job losses to gains could come as soon as August.' Other
analysts warned against celebrating too quickly for an economy in
which payroll employment has fallen by 6.7 million since the
recession began. Eugenio Aleman, a senior economist at Wells
Fargo, explained the shock figures by saying that a significant
number of disenchanted workers had left the labour force and were not
therefore listed as unemployed. Those in the labour force fell by
422,000. 'I was surprised about the unemployment number coming
down to 9.4 per cent, but that was because of people dropping out of
the labour force, so that is probably not going to be repeated in
the future,' Aleman said. He argued that the jobless rate will
likely rise in the coming months, 'because all those people who have
been out of the labour force are going to come in because of better
job prospects.' Unemployment could still hit as high as 10 per
cent, even with an improving economy, he warned. Joseph LaVorgna,
economist at Deutsche Bank said the report suggests a fragile
recovery is underway. One key is that aggregate hours
worked—sometimes seen as a proxy for economic activity—edged higher
overall and in the factory sector. 'The rise in the workweek,
small gain in earnings and smaller than expected decline in payrolls
suggest personal income may be on the cusp of flattening out,' he
said. 'We are still targeting 10 per cent unemployment by year
end, but we are beginning to wonder whether the unemployment rate
has peaked ...the general tone of the labour market indicators became
considerably less negative last month.' LaVorgna is forecasting
second-half growth of 2.25 per cent and a likely acceleration in
2010, helped by the Federal Reserve's easy money policies. 'As
long as the Fed does not pre-emptively raise interest rates, a
self-sustaining economic recovery should soon be underway,' he said.
President Barack Obama jumped on the data to suggest his
administration had saved the US economy from catastrophe and that the
worst of the recession may be over. 'While we have rescued our
economy from catastrophe, we have also begun to build a new
foundation for growth,' he said.

AIG backs in profit

Bailed-out US insurance giant AIG announced Friday its first profit
in almost two years with second-quarter earnings of 1.8 billion
dollars. AIG was the largest single recipient of US bailouts with
the government pumping more than $170 billion into the firm to keep
it afloat and taking a controlling stake in the group in the
process. The company said its return to profits came as some
'businesses stabilized and the company's results reflected positive
valuation changes. AIG also achieved several important milestones in
its restructuring program.' Second-quarter net income of 1.8
billion dollars compares with a net loss of 5.4 billion dollars in
the same period last year. In the first quarter of 2009, the
bailed-out insurer lost $4.3 billion. 'Our results reflect
stabilization in certain of our businesses,' said AIG chairman and
chief executive Edward Liddy. 'We continue to focus on stabilizing
and strengthening our businesses, but expect continued volatility in
reported results in the coming quarters, due in part to accounting
charges related to ongoing restructuring activities,' said Liddy, who
is retiring on August 10. AIG has named insurance industry veteran
Robert Benmosche as president and chief executive. The results
excluding special items amounted to a profit of $2.57 per share, well
above the $1.67 expected by analysts. Revenues rose 48 per cent
from a year ago to $29.53 billion, better than the figure of $26.15
billion expected on Wall Street. The company was on the verge of
collapse late last year after backing trillions of dollars in risky
financial products amid a home mortgage meltdown that triggered
financial turmoil. Liddy was named last year to head AIG as it
wound down key operations after the government rescue. The company
has been selling off various units as it seeks to steady its financial
operations that suffered heavy losses from insuring risky bets on the
US real estate market. 'We continue to make significant progress in
our efforts to restructure the organization, stabilize its capital
structure, and maintain our liquidity position,' Liddy said. 'We
remain focused on the overriding goal of putting AIG in the best
possible position to meet our obligations to stakeholders, including
US taxpayers, by protecting and enhancing the value of our
businesses and positioning our key franchises for the future. The
time frame and path for achieving this goal will continue to be
highly dependent on market conditions.'

BANGLADESH government follow to WORLD BANK to appoint Rupali Bank CEO

The government is likely to amend the memorandum of association of
Rupali Bank to appoint a chief executive officer in the bank
following instruction of World Bank, official sources said. 'We
will place a proposal before the finance minister for his approval
for bringing amendment to the memorandum of association of Rupali
Bank for appointment of a CEO in the bank,' said a senior official of
finance ministry. According to the Article 158 of the memorandum
of association of Rupali Bank, the board of directors of the bank
cannot appoint a CEO and general managers, he said, adding that' s
why the provision was needed to be amended for appointing the CEO by
the board. The WB, in its recent aide-memoire under the enterprise
growth and banking modernisation project, instructed the government
to amend the memorandum of association of Rupali Bank for
appointment of a CEO and four general managers in the bank. It
also instructed the government to provide Rupali Bank with management
support by appointing a CEO and four general managers in the key
areas of operation as soon as possible as its current state of affairs
was of grave concern. The major activities of Rupali Bank remain
suspended for about two-and-a-half-year, and its financial condition
and operational competence also deteriorated considerably. The WB
mission visited Bangladesh in June to evaluate the performance of
four state-owned commercial banks — Sonali, Rupali, Agrani and
Janata. Meanwhile, the Rupali Bank had passed a resolution at an
emergency general meeting in October last empowering its board of
directors to appoint a CEO. The finance ministry, however, did not
accept the resolution.

5 cos to issue IPO work tk 58.5cr

Five companies have applied to the stock market regulator seeking
approval to issue their initial public offering worth Tk 58.5 crore in
total. The five companies are Crystal Insurance Company Ltd, RN
Spinning Mills Ltd, Industrial and Infrastructure Development Finance
Company Ltd, Keya Cotton Mills Ltd, and Vantage Electrical and
Electronics Ltd, according to the website of Dhaka Stock Exchange.
Crystal Insurance Company has applied to float nine lakh shares of Tk
100 each totalling Tk 9 crore. Incorporated on November 11, 1999,
the company commenced its business on the same day. The
authorised capital of the company is Tk 20 crore and paid up capital
Tk 6 crore, according to the company's draft IPO prospectus. ICB
Capital Management Ltd is the issue manager. RN Spinning Mills
Limited has sought permission to raise Tk 30 crore, issuing 30 lakh
shares of Tk 100 each. Incorporated on November 4, 2004, the
company commenced its business operation of producing synthetic yarn
for export-oriented dyeing/textile industries from July 2007. The
authorised capital of the company is Tk 150 crore and paid up capital
some Tk 67.30 crore. The proceeds from IPO will be used for loan
repayment and expansion of business activity of the company, the
company has said in its draft IPO prospectus. Industrial and
Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd has applied to float 5
lakh shares of Tk 100 each totalling Tk 5 crore. Incorporated on
December 19, 2000, the company commenced its operation May 2001.
The authorised capital of the company is Tk 100 crore and paid up
capital some Tk 32.11 crore including bonus share for the year 2007.
The proceeds of the present issue are planned to be utilised for
financing company's operational activities in the course of normal
business. Keya Cotton Mills has sought SEC's permission to raise
Tk 5 crore, issuing 50 lakh shares of Tk 10 each. The company has
also sought Tk 5 as premium for each share. Incorporated on June
15, 2004, the company commenced its business operation in 2006.
The authorised capital of the company is Tk 100 crore and paid up
capital Tk 24.70 crore. The principal activities and operations of
the company are manufacturing and selling cotton yarn, the company
has said in its draft IPO prospectus. The proceeds of IPO will be
used for repayment of long-term liabilities and lease liabilities.
Vantage Electrical and Electronics has applied for permission to
float 9.5 lakh shares of Tk 100 totalling Tk 9.5 crore. The
company was incorporated on May 28, 1998. The authorised capital
of the company is Tk 50 crore and paid up capital Tk 9.95 crore.
The company is engaged in manufacturing and selling of electrical and
electronic power supply and power support products, according to the
draft IPO prospectus of the company. IPO proceeds will be used to
pay off existing bank loan and increase its existing capacity.

BANGLADESH BANK suggests new law to curb withful defaulters

Bangladesh Bank has proposed a default loan law which will hold bank
officials responsible if the amount of default loan rises in the
commercial banks. Besides, the law will offer the sick industry
defaulters' special waiver of their default amounts. The central
bank has proposed the default loan law to cut number of the wilful
defaulters. 'We have already sent the proposed law to the finance
ministry for their review,' said a senior official of the central
bank. The official said the finance ministry also formed an
'Executive Council' to devise a way out for the sick industry
defaulters. The sources said the central bank prepared the new
default loan law following an instruction of finance minister AMA
Muhith to the central bank for a new law to check intentional loan
defaulters. According to the proposed law, the central bank will
be able to take legal action against the bank officials in case of
their failure to reduce the loan defaults. Under the proposed law,
the amount of the default loan will have to be rescheduled within
one month. In the case of default loan of the sick industry, the
government will give up to Tk 10 lakh rebate to the owner of the sick
industries. Condition of cost recovery rate and down payment of
sick industry will be relaxed for loan defaulters of the sick
industries. Besides, the central bank will introduce online
programme with the commercial banks for updating the Credit
Information Bureau their default loan status. According to the
existing rule, the CIB gets default loan information from the
commercial banks on monthly basis.

Hitachi ships first terabyte HDD

Like death and taxes, larger hard drives are inevitable, and the
latest biggest, a two terabyte (2TB), 7200 RPM hard disk drive comes
from the usual suspect, Hitachi, which also shipped the first 1TB
drive back in 2007, according to media report. The new, colossal,
2TB Deskstar 7K2000 blends high performance and high capacity with low
power and other eco-friendly features designed to enable Energy-Star
rated computers and other high performance desktop systems.
Leveraging a solid track record for reliability, the new Deskstar
7K2000 is now in its fourth- generation using the company's unique
five- platter design with relaxed bit density and proven
perpendicular magnetic recording technology. Couple this with an
ultra-quiet operation, a 32MB cache and a 3Gb/s SATA interface, and
the new Deskstar 7K2000 is the ideal desktop drive for power users,
gamers or anyone looking for a big, fast hard drive. In addition
to the new 2TB Deskstar 7K2000, Hitachi GST is also refreshing its
high-volume desktop hard drive family. The new 7200 RPM Deskstar
7K1000.C family will deliver up to 500GB per platter, and will come
in capacities of 160GB to 1TB, hitting the capacity and performance
sweet spots for mainstream desktop applications. Like previous
generations, both the 7K2000 and 7K1000.C Hitachi Deskstar drives
feature industry-standard 512-byte sector formatting, a patented ramp
load/unload design to increase shock protection, and Thermal
Fly-height Control (TFC) to maintain a consistent fly-height during
the read/write process for added data reliability. Volume production
and worldwide availability of the new Deskstar 7K1000.C will begin
in Q3. Leveraging the company's eighth-generation power management
technology, including power-saving innovations like the Hitachi
Voltage Efficiency Regulator (HiVERT™), the Deskstar 7K2000 and
7K1000.C deliver outstanding power management and thermal emissions
to help manufacturers meet energy compliance targets for their
computer systems and storage-based solutions. For example, the new
Deskstar 7K2000 offers 10 percent idle power savings over previous
generations, and on a watt-per-GB basis, idle power has improved
more than 120 percent. The new Deskstar 7K1000.C is expected to
deliver best- in-class power efficiency at 4.4 watts or less idle
power, which is the best in the industry when compared to current
generation, competing desktop drives.

Sugar refiners want zero import duty

With global sugar price hitting 28-year peak, local refiners have
demanded immediate withdrawal of import duty to help them procure
enough stock before the sweetener's price shoots up further. In an
urgent letter to the Prime Minister's Office, commerce ministry and
industries ministry on Thursday, local refiners drew attention of
the government to the global sugar market volatility. They urged for
incentives to encourage sugar imports to keep local supply and price
of the sweetener stable in coming months. 'Considering unusual
increase in raw sugar price, the industry requests the government to
withdraw duty on imports,' the Bangladesh Sugar Refiners Association
wrote. Local market is dominated by four to five private sector
refineries, which source raw sugar mainly from Brazil and also import
some quantity from Thailand and elsewhere. Raw sugar is subject to
a flat import duty of Tk 4,000 per tonne. Bangladesh consumes more
than 12 lakh tonnes of sugar annually while the state-owned sugar
mills produced only 75 thousand tonnes in the just-ended fiscal
2008-09. The private sector refiners pointed out that opening of
the fresh letters of credit for raw sugar imports were almost stopped
in the past couple of weeks due to the wild hike in global prices.
The association argued that zero duty may lure refiners into booking
advance orders for coming months. They claimed that sugar price is
still lower in Bangladesh compared with the present level of
international prices. Retailing between Tk 42 and Tk 44 a kilogram,
sugar became costlier by at least 30 per cent in the past couple of
months as refiners adjusted their prices to global price increases.
Delwar Hossain, a leader of Bangladesh Sugar Merchants Association,
said wholesale sugar market remained shaky and local supply could be
hampered when local refineries would run out their stocks. Taherul
Haque, a leading commodity broker said, 'Sugar future has really
become unpredictable now.' Global sugar price soared by $120 a
tonne just in 10 days and reached $519 at New York Commodity
Exchange last weekend, setting its highest price in 28 years.
Projected shortfall in production in Brazil led to global sugar
market volatility and poor output in India sent the world's second
largest sugar producer to import market, further worsening the
situation, market sources said. According to media reports, at
least two months back the Indian government had withdrawn entire
duty on sugar imports to help build a safe stock as sugar price
doubled to 37 rupees per kg in one year in India, whose sugar output
is feared to fall to 150-155 lakh tonnes this year from 263 lakh
tonnes in the year back. Sugar is retailed at 50 rupees in
Pakistan. 'Not only by withdrawing duty, the government should do
everything possible to encourage sugar imports to keep its supply
smooth in the coming months,' said Taher, whose company represents
ADM, world's 3rd largest grains company.