Business
Laxman Narasimhan becomes Starbucks' new CEO
Starbucks officially has a new CEO. The Seattle coffee giant said Monday that Laxman Narasimhan has assumed the role of CEO and joined the company’s board of directors. Narasimhan succeeds longtime Starbucks leader Howard Schultz, who came out of retirement last spring to serve as interim CEO while the company searched for a new chief executive. Schultz will remain on the company’s board.
Starbucks announced last Septembe that Narasimhan would become its new CEO. Narasimhan, 55, most recently served as CEO of Reckitt, a U.K.-based consumer health, hygiene and nutrition company.
Prior to that he was a longtime executive at Pepsico. Since he was named incoming CEO, Narasimhan has traveled to more than 30 stores, manufacturing plants and support centers around the world, the company said.
He also earned his barista certification. In a prepared statement, Narasimhan said he was humbled as he stepped into his new role. “The foundation Howard has laid – building from scratch an iconic global brand fueled by a lasting passion to uplift humanity – is truly remarkable, and I am honored to have the opportunity to build on this deep heritage,” Narasimhan said. Narasimhan is scheduled to lead Starbucks’ annual meeting on Thursday.
Read more: Starbucks to have 6,000 stores in China by 2022
In his year as interim CEO, Schultz has announced hundreds of millions in investments to improve worker pay and benefits and revamp Starbucks’ North American stores.
The company posted record sales in its most recent quarter, which ended Jan. 1. But Schultz also faced a growing unionization effort at its U.S. stores, which the company opposes. Schultz is scheduled to testify March 29 before a Senate committee examining the company’s labor record.
'FundForward': IPM hosts conference on building sustainable startup scene in Bangladesh
Index Project Management (IPM) Sunday hosted a conference on building a sustainable startup scene in Bangladesh with the growing collaboration of global investors.
"FundForward" was held at Gulshan Club in the capital. More than 50 entrepreneurs joined it.
Digital market, technology, and investment experts discussed the opportunity to foster sustainable growth through collaborations between startups and global investors.
The speakers at the event also talked about the possibilities of a safe and transparent ecosystem of digitally connected businesses and communities globally.
The event was followed by three core sessions – eGaming and Metaverse, fintech and digital finance, and the challenges in the startup industry.
The sessions featured Max Garza III, chief blockchain officer at Faction Ai, Nazir Shaheen, CEO of South Asia Peninsula Universe, Efty Islam, chairman of AT Capital Partners, Max Decker, producer and director of CM Studios, Kyo Izuchi of Deloitte, Japan, Sami Ahmed, MD and CEO of Startup Bangladesh, Abdul Hannan Chowdhury, dean School of Business and Economics at NSU, Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, former managing director of the Bangladesh Hitech Park, Shariful Islam, founder and MD of Bangladesh Brand Forum.
RFL holds dealers' conference in UAE
Business conglomerate RFL Group recently hosted a dealers' conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The programme was held at a Dubai hotel, according to a media statement.
More than 230 leading distributors of various brands of RFL – RFL Houseware, Sera Water Tank, Sticky Adhesive, Saudi Lubricants, Playtime Toys, Good Luck Stationery, Winner Hotpot and Flask, RFL Door, Comfy Bedding, MS and GI Pipe, TEL Plastics, Rainbow Paints, Walkar Footwear, Italiano Melamine and Getwell Medical Appliances – attended the event.
They also visited various tourist sites in the UAE.
RN Paul, managing director of RFL Group, Toukirul Islam, executive director of Durable Plastic, Masudur Rahman, business unit head of Stationery Group, Esfaquel Hoque, head of marketing of Durable Plastic, Juhirul Islam, head of marketing of Banga Building Materials, and other high officials of the Group joined the event.
Global stocks sink after Credit Suisse takeover
Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes.
Hong Kong's main index slid 2.7%. London, Frankfurt and Paris opened down more than 1%. Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney also declined. Wall Street futures were off 1%. Oil prices plunged more than $2 per barrel.
Swiss authorities on Sunday announced UBS would acquire its smaller rival as regulators try to ease fears about banks following the collapse of two U.S. lenders. Central banks announced coordinated efforts to stabilize lenders, including a facility to borrow U.S. dollars if necessary.
Switzerland’s share benchmark was down 1.8%, while Credit Suisse’s shares plunged 63% and rival UBS, which is acquiring it, sank 14%.
Also Read: UBS to buy Credit Suisse for nearly $3.25B to calm turmoil
Investors worry banks are cracking under the strain of unexpectedly fast, large rate hikes over the past year to cool economic activity and inflation. Prices of bonds and other assets on their books fell, fueling unease about the industry’s financial health.
“Investors are waiting to see where the dust settles on the banking saga before making any bold moves,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 1.6% to 7,220.62. Frankfurt's DAX fell 1.4% to 14,555.79 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.2% to 6,842.36.
On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was off 1%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 lost 1.1%. The Dow fell 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.7%.
In Asia, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2.7% to 18,879.20 after being down 3.3% at one point. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 1.4% to 26,945.67.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5% to 3,234.91 after the Chinese central bank on Friday freed up more money for lending by reducing the amount of their deposits commercial lenders are required to hold in reserve.
The Kospi in Seoul retreated 0.7% to 2,379.20 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 lost 1.4% to 6,898.50.
India's Sensex lost 1.3% to 57,241.45. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also declined.
The Swiss government said UBS will acquire Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion after a plan for the troubled lender to borrow as much as $54 billion from Switzerland’s central bank failed to reassure investors and customers.
U.S. regulators have also tried to calm fears over threats to banking systems. The Federal Reserve said cash-short banks had borrowed about $300 billion in the week up to Thursday.
Separately, New York Community Bank agreed to buy part of failed Signature Bank in a $2.7 billion deal, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Sunday. The FDIC said $60 billion in Signature Bank’s loans will remain in receivership and are expected to be sold off in time.
Investors worry about other lenders with shaky finances. Credit Suisse is among 30 institutions known as globally systemically important banks.
Traders expect last week’s turmoil to push the Fed to limit a rate hike at this week's meeting to 0.25 percentage points. That would be the same as the previous increase and half the margin traders expected earlier.
A survey released Friday by the University of Michigan showed inflation expectations among American consumers are falling. That matters to the Fed, which has said such expectations can feed into virtuous and vicious cycles.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude plunged $2.45 to $64.29 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.61 on Friday to $66.74. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil, lost $2.67 to $70.30 per barrel in London. It retreated $1.73 the previous session to $72.97.
The dollar declined to 130.70 yen from Friday’s 131.67 yen. The euro retreated to $1.0647 from $1.0681.
UBS to buy Credit Suisse for nearly $3.25B to calm turmoil
Banking giant UBS is buying troubled rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion, in a deal orchestrated by regulators in an effort to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
Swiss authorities pushed for UBS to take over its smaller rival after a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers. Shares of Credit Suisse and other banks plunged this week after the failure of two banks in the U.S. sparked concerns about other potentially shaky institutions in the global financial system.
Credit Suisse is among the 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities worried about the fallout if it were to fail.
The deal was “one of great breadth for the stability of international finance,” said Swiss President Alain Berset as he announced it Sunday night. “An uncontrolled collapse of Credit Suisse would lead to incalculable consequences for the country and the international financial system.”
Switzerland’s executive branch, a seven-member governing body that includes Berset, passed an emergency ordinance allowing the merger to go through without shareholder approval.
Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann called the sale “a clear turning point.”
“It is a historic, sad and very challenging day for Credit Suisse, for Switzerland and for the global financial markets,” Lehmann said, adding that the focus is now on the future and in particular on the 50,000 Credit Suisse employees, 17,000 of whom are in Switzerland.
Following news of the Swiss deal, the world’s central banks announced coordinated financial moves to stabilize banks in the coming week. This includes daily access to a lending facility for banks looking to borrow U.S. dollars if they need them, a practice which widely used during the 2008 financial crisis. Three months after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September of 2008, such swap lines had been tapped for $580 billion. Added swap lines were also rolled out during market turmoil in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020.
“Today is one of the most significant days in European banking since 2008, with far-reaching repercussions for the industry,” said Max Georgiou, an analyst at Third Bridge. “These events could alter the course of not only European banking but also the wealth management industry more generally.”
Read: Startup-focused Silicon Valley Bank becomes largest bank to fail since 2008 financial crisis
Colm Kelleher, the UBS chairman, hailed the “enormous opportunities” that emerge from the takeover, and highlighted his bank’s “conservative risk culture” — a subtle swipe at Credit Suisse’s reputation for more swashbuckling, aggressive gambles in search of bigger returns. He said the combined group would create a wealth manager with over $5 trillion in total invested assets.
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said the council “regrets that the bank, which was once a model institution in Switzerland and part of our strong location, was able to get into this situation at all.”
The combination of the two biggest and best-known Swiss banks, each with storied histories dating to the mid-19th century, amounts to a thunderclap for Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial center — leaving it on the cusp of having a single national champion in banking.
The deal follows the collapse of two large U.S. banks last week that spurred a frantic, broad response from the U.S. government to prevent any further panic. Still, global financial markets have been on edge since Credit Suisse’s share price began plummeting this week.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde lauded the “swift action” by Swiss officials, saying they were “instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability.”
She said the banks “are in a completely different position from 2008” during the financial crisis, partly because of stricter government regulation.
UBS officials said they plan to sell off parts of Credit Suisse or reduce the bank’s size in the coming months and years.
The Swiss government is providing more than 100 billion francs in aid and financial backstops to make the deal go through.
As part of the deal, approximately 16 billion francs ($17.3 billion) in Credit Suisse bonds will be wiped out. European bank regulators use a special type of bond designed to provide a capital cushion to banks in times of distress. But these bonds are designed to be wiped out if a bank’s capital falls below a certain level, which was triggered as part of this government-brokered deal.
Berset said the Federal Council had already been discussing a long-troubled situation at Credit Suisse since the beginning of the year and held urgent meetings in the last four days amid spiraling concerns about its financial health that caused major swoons in its stock price and raised the specter of the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Investors and banking industry analysts were still digesting the deal, but at least one analyst was sour on the news because it could damage Switzerland’s global banking image.
Read: Ford to cut 1,100 jobs in Spain after other European layoffs
“A country-wide reputation with prudent financial management, sound regulatory oversight, and, frankly, for being somewhat dour and boring regarding investments, has been wiped away,” said Octavio Marenzi, CEO of consulting firm Opimas LLC, in an email.
Credit Suisse is designated by the Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors the global financial system, as one of the world’s important banks. This means regulators believe its uncontrolled failure would lead to ripples throughout the financial system not unlike the collapse of Lehman Brothers 15 years ago.
The Credit Suisse parent bank is not part of European Union supervision, but it has entities in several European countries that are. Lagarde reiterated what she said last week after the central bank raised interest rates — that the European banking sector is resilient, with strong financial reserves and plenty of ready cash.
Many of Credit Suisse’s problems are unique and do not overlap with the weaknesses that brought down Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, whose failures led to a significant rescue effort by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve. As a result, their downfall does not necessarily signal the start of a financial crisis similar to what occurred in 2008.
The deal caps a highly volatile week for Credit Suisse, most notably on Wednesday when its shares plunged to a record low after its largest investor, the Saudi National Bank, said it wouldn’t invest any more money into the bank to avoid tripping regulations that would kick in if its stake rose about 10%.
On Friday, shares dropped 8% to close at 1.86 francs ($2) on the Swiss exchange. The stock has seen a long downward slide: It traded at more than 80 francs in 2007.
Its current troubles began after Credit Suisse reported on Tuesday that managers had identified “material weaknesses” in the bank’s internal controls on financial reporting as of the end of last year. That fanned fears that Credit Suisse would be the next domino to fall.
While smaller than its Swiss rival UBS, Credit Suisse still wields considerable influence, with $1.4 trillion assets under management. The firm has significant trading desks around the world, caters to the rich and wealthy through its wealth management business, and is a major advisor for global companies in mergers and acquisitions. Notably, Credit Suisse did not need government assistance in 2008 during the financial crisis, while UBS did.
The Swiss bank has been pushing to raise money from investors and roll out a new strategy to overcome an array of troubles, including bad bets on hedge funds, repeated shake-ups of its top management and a spying scandal involving UBS.
Jobs Circular in Dhaka Custom House 2023: Custom House, Dhaka will hire 48 posts
Custom House, Dhaka has published a circular for the recruitment of manpower for multiple posts.
48 people in 12th to 20th grade will be appointed in this institution for 11 category posts.
Interested candidates should apply online.
1. Post Name: Statistical Researcher
No. of Posts: 1Qualification: Second Class Bachelor's Degree (Honours) or Master's Degree in Mathematics/Statistics/Economics from a recognized University.
Pay Scale: TK.11,300–27,300 (Grade-12)
2. Post Name: Typist cum Computer Operator
No. of Posts: 2
Qualification: Bachelor's degree or equivalent with CGPA with Second Class or equivalent from arecognized university. Computer proficiency and minimum transcription speed of 80 words per minutein English and 50 in Bengali; The minimum speed of computer typing should be 30 words per minute in English and 25 words in Bengali.
Pay Scale: TK.11,000-26,590 (Grade-13)
3. Post Name: Senior Assistant
No. of Posts: 2
Qualification: Bachelor's degree or equivalent with CGPA with Second Class or equivalent from arecognized university. Computer skills and minimum computer typing speed of 30 words per minute in English and 25 words in Bengali.
Pay Scale: Tk 10,200-24,680 (Grade-14)
4. Post Name: Cashier cum Computer Operator
No. of Posts: 2Qualification: Bachelor's degree or equivalent with CGPA with Second Class or equivalent from arecognized university. Computer proficiency and minimum transcription speed of 70 words per minute in English and 45 in Bengali; The minimum speed of computer typing should be 30 words per minute in English and 25 words in Bengali.
Pay Scale: Tk 10,200-24,680 (Grade-14)
5. Post Name: Office Clerk cum Computer Typist
No. of Posts: 1Qualification: HSC or equivalent pass with second division or equivalent GPA. Computer skills. Theminimum speed of computer typing should be 20 words per minute in English and 20 words in Bengali.Pay Scale: TK.9,300-22,490 (Grade-16)
6. Post Name: Driver
No. of Posts: 1Qualification: Junior School Certificate or equivalent pass. Valid light driving license to drive lightvehicles. Experienced drivers will be given preference.Pay Scale: TK.9,300-22,490 (Grade-16)
7. Post Name: Telephone OperatorNo. of Posts: 1Qualification: HSC or equivalent pass. Should have three years experience in related work.Pay Scale: TK.9,300-22,490 (Grade-16)
8. Post Name: Sepoy
No. of Posts: 35Qualification: SSC or equivalent pass. Height for males is minimum 5 feet 4 inches for males, minimum 5 feet 2 inches for females. Chest size minimum 30-32 inches (both cases).Pay Scale: Rs.9,000-21,800 (Grade-17)
9. Post Name: Despatch Rider
No. of Posts: 1Eligibility: SSC or equivalent pass with second division equivalent GPA. Holder of a valid license issued by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority to drive a motorcycle; Computer skills.Pay Scale: TK.8,800-21,310 (Grade-18)
10. Post Name: Duplicating Machine Operator
No. of Posts: 1
Qualification: SSC or equivalent pass. Must have two years practical experience in operating duplicatingmachines.Pay Scale: TK.8,800-21,310 (Grade-18)
11. Post Name: Security Guard
No. of Posts: 1Eligibility: 8th class pass.Pay Scale: TK.8,250-20,010 (Grade-20)
Districts where candidates can apply: All districts except Manikganj, Chandpur, Feni, Joypurhat and Gaibandha for posts 1 to 10. All districts except Dhaka, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Madaripur, Noakhali, Naogaon and Barguna districts for post number 11. However, orphans and physically challenged candidates of all districts can apply
Age limitAge limit is 18 to 30 years as on 1st March 2023 for general candidates, minor ethnic groups, orphans, Ansar-VDP candidates and grandchildren of veer mukti joddha/martyr veer mukti joddha. Age limit is 18 to 32 years in case of children of veer freedom fighter/martyr veer freedom fighter and physically challenged.
If the age of the applicant is within the maximum age limit as on March 25, 2020 then the candidate will be eligible to apply. The tenure of departmental candidates is relaxable up to 40 years for the posts of Clerk-cum-Computer Operator, Senior Assistant, Numismatic-cum-Computer Operator and Office Assistant-cum-Computer Numerologist.
How to apply on Dhaka Customs Job Circular
Interested candidates should apply by filling the form on this website (http://dch.teletalk.com.bd/).
If there is any problem in applying, you can dial 121 from Teletalk number or mail to [email protected]. Apart from this, you can also communicate through messages on the Facebook page of Teletalk's job portal. The subject of the mail and message must mention theorganization and position name, user ID and contact number. A candidate can apply for only one post.
Detailed information regarding the recruitment can be known on the website of Dhaka Custom House (https://www.dch.gov.bd/) .
Application fee for Dhaka Customs house job
Within 72 hours of filling the form online, the total application fee is Tk 334 including Tk 300 for post number 1 and Tk 34 service charge of teletalk; A total of Tk 223 including Tk 200 and Teletalk service charge Tk 23 for posts 2 to 7 and Tk 100 for posts 8 to 11 and Tk 112 including Teletalk service charge Tk12 should be submitted via SMS from Teletalk prepaid mobile number.
Application Deadline: March 23 to April 12, 4 PM.
Daily transaction of MFS crosses Tk3200 crore: BB
The Average daily transaction of mobile financial service (MFS) has crossed Tk3200 core and its volume shows a growing trend, said the latest report of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
Analysing the data of 13 MFS in the country the BB report said that MFS gets popular in Bangladesh due to convenient transaction opportunities and payment facilities.
The BB has released the updated statistics of MFS with information on 13 service providers. It has been seen that in the first month of this year January, customers transacted Tk1.05lakh crore. This figure is the second-highest recorded transaction on mobile so far.
“There is no fee to open an account. Money can be sent everywhere instantly. At the same time, many new services have been added including payment of shopping bills, and loan facilities. These are contributing to an increase in the number of users,” said Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of the BB.
The central bank officials say inward remittances are also coming through MFS. As a result, people's interest and dependence on MFS are increasing. The volume of transactions with customers is also increasing because of multifold uses of this service.
According to the BB, in January on average daily transactions through MFS was Tk3245 crore, excluding Nagad mobile finance operator as this MFS provider is not included under the BB financial report.
If the Nagad transaction is added, then the MFS’ daily transaction volume would cross Tk4200 crore.
The BB report revealed that 60 percent of the transaction was money deposit and windrowing while 40 percent was digital payment in January 2023.
The number of customers is increasing day by day with transactions in mobile banking.
Currently, 13 banks are providing mobile banking services under different names including Bkash, Rocket, U Cash, My Cash, and Sure Cash.
At the end of January 2023, the number of customers registered in mobile banking stood at 19.41 crore. And the number of mobile banking agents has reached 15.69 lakh till January.
World shares up after First Republic aid spurs Wall St rally
Markets advanced Friday in Europe and Asia, tracking a rally on Wall Street after a group of big banks offered a lifeline to First Republic Bank, the latest U.S. lender in the spotlight for troubles in the banking industry.
Shares rose in Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong but edged lower in Mumbai. U.S. futures edged higher, while oil prices gained.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.8% Thursday, erasing earlier losses following reports that First Republic Bank could get help or sell itself to another bank. Markets have gyrated this week on concerns over the toll on banks from the fastest set of interest rate hikes in decades. The turmoil flared with last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history.
“The market remains cautious; traders do not want to get overexcited, especially with investors still focusing on what can go wrong instead of what could go right,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report.
Germany's DAX gained 0.9% in early trading, to 15,102.37 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7% at 7,075.74. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 7,471.98.
The future for the S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged.
Also Read: Asian shares mostly sink on jitters after US bank failure
In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8% to 19,548.26 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.7% to 3,450.55.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2% to 27,333.79 and the Kospi in Seoul was up 0.8% at 2,395.69. Shares in major Japanese banks rebounded after falling sharply at times this week.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 6,994.80. India's Sensex was 0.1% higher while Taiwan's Taiex surged 1.5%.
Stocks rallied Thursday on Wall Street after 11 of the biggest banks offered help for First Republic with a combined deposit of $30 billion.
Since SVB's failure, investors have been on the lookout for banks with similar traits, such as many depositors with more than the $250,000 limit that’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., tech startups and other highly connected people who can spread worries about a bank’s strength quickly.
First Republic Bank rose 10% Thursday after slumping as much as 36% early in the day.
The Federal Reserve’s fastest barrage of hikes to interest rates in decades, to drive down inflation, has shocked the banking system following years of historically easy conditions. Higher rates raise the risk of recession and hurt prices for stocks, bonds and other investments. That latter factor hurt Silicon Valley Bank, since high rates forced down the value of its bond investments.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a Senate committee on Thursday that the nation’s banking system “remains sound” and Americans “can feel confident” about their deposits.
Wall Street increasingly expects this week's turmoil to push the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates next week by only a quarter of a percentage point. That would be the same sized increase as last month's, half the hike of 0.50 points that was earlier expected.
The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its key rate by half a percentage point, brushing aside speculation that it may reduce the size because of all the turmoil around banks.
All the stress in the banking system has raised worries about a potential recession because of how important smaller and mid-sized banks are to making loans to businesses across the country. Oil prices have slid this week on such fears.
Reports on the U.S. economy are showing mixed signals. A report said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected.
In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 73 cents to $69.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It picked up 74 cents on Thursday to $68.35 a barrel.
Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, climbed 78 cents to $75.48 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 133.26 Japanese yen from 133.76 yen. The euro rose to $1.0664 from $1.0611.
Simplified policy, product diversification could boost exports to UK over $12 billion by 2029: Study says
Speakers at a discussion meeting said that products exported to the United Kingdom would cross $ 12 billion by 2029 if Bangladesh could utilise developing countries' trading scheme (DCTS) facilities of the UK.
They said the DCTS of the UK can be a catalyst in boosting exports of non-garments items while the continued duty-free access under DCTS is set to help Bangladesh’s clothing exports even after LDC graduation.
The speakers said this while speaking at a stakeholders’ consultation programme titled “Expanding and Diversifying Export to the UK Market”. Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), a think tank, organised the event with the support of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of UK, held in the capital on Thursday.
Senior commerce secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh was present as the chief guest. Dr Duncan Overfield, deputy development director of FCDO, Md Faizul Islam, Chairman of Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission, MAM Ahsan, vice chairman and CEO of Export Promotion Bureau also spoke on the occasion.
Stakeholders in leather, footwear, electronics, shrimp, and frozen food sectors were also present in the discussion.
A study report presentation on the topic by Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of RAPID, revealed that Bangladesh’s export volume to the UK was $500 million till fiscal year (FY) 2000, which expanded to $4.8 billion in FY 2022.
He pointed out that the UK is the third largest export destination of Bangladeshi products and the UK accounts for over 9 percent of the country’s merchandise exports.
“The country (Bangladesh) will enjoy the same LDC benefits for export of all items till 2029 through the DCTS comprehensive preferences,” he said.
The UK has specified more liberal product-specific rules (PSRs) only for LDCs. Bangladesh will allow import inputs and raw materials from more than 95 countries and yet be eligible for duty-free exports.
After LDC graduation in November 2026, Bangladesh will continue to enjoy the same LDC benefits for another three years (until November 2029), according to the study.
As an LDC, Bangladesh also stands to benefit from more generous UK Rules of Origin (RoO) requirements. The minimum value-added requirement for LDC non-garment products has been reduced to 25 percent from 30 percent under the previous GSP, it said.
LDC textile and clothing exports to the UK will continue to benefit from the single-stage transformation, The UK DCTS offers relaxed and liberal product-specific rules and extended cumulation facilities, allowing inputs to be imported from 95 countries and yet the LDC manufacturers of final products to be eligible for duty-free exports, the study said.
The study of RAPID found that Bangladesh has potential products for export diversification in leather goods and footwear, light engineering, agro and food processing while fish and shrimp are prominent non-garment export sectors.
Consultations with the exporters and manufacturers revealed that a lack of knowledge and information about the UK market obstructs expanding exports of non-garments products.
The government policy support for product diversification and capacity development of Bangladesh entrepreneurs would help the export expanding opportunity in the UK, the study said.
BGMEA President for collaborative approach to build sustainable supply chain
The issue of responsible business and sustainable trade should not be confined to the manufacturer’s level, said Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA.
“Because manufacturers are a part of the supply chain and very individuals within the supply chain has their own roles and responsibility. So, a hand-holding approach is needed to ensure sustainable business environment within the supply chain,” he said urging all stakeholders to put efforts together in a collaborative approach to build a more sustainable and resilient supply chain.
He came up with the observations while addressing the opening plenary of the 4th edition of the Sustainable Apparel Forum in Dhaka on March 16.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, MP attended the program as the chief guest.
Peter D. Haas, US Ambassador to Bangladesh, Charles Whiteley, Ambassador and Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union in Bangladesh, Salim Rahman, Managing Director, KDS, Ranjan Mahtani, Executive Chairman, Epic Group, Naureen Chowdhury, Head of Labour Rights Programme, Laudes Foundation also spoke at the session as guests of honor.
Faruque Hassan, who attended the opening plenary as a guest of honor, said sustainability was a key priority for BGMEA and in the RMG industry of Bangladesh at large.
“And our strides towards sustainability, particularly in the areas of environmental and social sustainability in past decades testify to the fact. We have ensured 100% in the workplace which has restored global confidence in us. We have taken a number of initiatives to ensure the better wellbeing of our workers,” he said.
He continued: “We also have taken further steps to make the industry greener and cleaner. We have now the highest number of LEED green factories certified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) which is 192. Also, 53 out of 100 world’s top green garment factories are situated in Bangladesh.”
Instead of country-specific or trading block-specific legislation, he underscored the importance of the human rights and environmental due diligence which are accepted by the all players in the global fashion industry.
The fashion industry needs to agree on a globally standardized approach to purchasing practices and due diligence, the BGMEA President said, adding that otherwise it would become too difficult for the suppliers to comply with thousand different structures.
He urged all stakeholders to collaborate, and exchange knowledge and expertise to ensure more decent employments, and build a resilient and sustainable fashion industry.