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ICCB-ADB’s workshop for women entrepreneurs held in Dhaka
A workshop on “Women Entrepreneurs How to Best Engage in International Trade” was held in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh jointly organized the workshop with Asian Development Bank (ADB) at a hotel in Dhaka, according to a press release.
Around 100 women entrepreneurs attended the programme.
ICCB Vice President AK Azad; Former Chairman and Director of MIDAS Parveen Mahmud FCA ; ADB Advisor and Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Steven Beck and ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman and ICC UAE Director Vincent O’Brien, were present at the workshop, among others, said the release.
Marcel opens exclusive showroom in Ashulia
Electronics brand Marcel has opened its exclusive showroom named 'Tamim Electronics' at Kathgara Bazar in Savar’s Ashulia.
“Now, local consumers will get 'Made in Bangladesh' tagged Marcel brand's world-class advanced technologies frost, non-frost refrigerators, freezers, LED and smart televisions, air conditioners, washing machines, generators, fans and various electrical, electronics, home and kitchen appliances at affordable prices,” a press release sent by the popular electronics brand, reads.
Deputy Managing Director of the company Md. Humayun Kabir, Marcel's Brand Ambassador, popular film actor Amin Khan and renowned comedian Abu Hena Rony inaugurated the showroom on Saturday (May 6, 2023).
Md. Humayun Kabir said: “Marcel is one of the top and most popular brands in Bangladesh. Our aim is to deliver international quality products at affordable prices. With the opening of this new showroom, customers in this area can now easily buy Marcel's products.”
He also said: “Marcel is engaged in conducting social activities, along with providing the best products and services. To ensure safe food, Marcel is creating awareness across the country through the organization titled 'We want adulterated free food'. We strongly believe that our activities play an important role in preventing food adulteration.”
After the showroom opening, 'Amra Vejal Mukto Khaddo Chai' (We want adulterated free food) organization in the financial support of Marcel arranged an awareness program at Tamiz Uddin Sarker Public High School's playground. With the participation of many people in the program, speakers delivered inspirational messages to create awareness on prevention of food adulteration under the slogan 'Our Bangladesh will be a country of unadulterated food'.
At the program, the winners in an essay writing competition on 'Harmful aspects of food adulteration' were awarded.
Among others, Marcel Distributor Network's North Zone In-charge Md. Shakhawat Hossen, Ashulia Union Chairman Shahabuddin Madbar, Social Activist Abul Kalam Azad, Tamiz Uddin Sarker Public School's Founder and Headmaster Tamiz Uddin Sarker, Marcel's Divisional Sales Manager Shafiullah Liton, Tamim Electronics Proprietor Abu Rayhan and other local dignitaries were present.
IBBL organized foundation training for probationary officers
Islami Bank Training and Research Academy (IBTRA) organized Foundation Training Course for probationary officers on Sunday.
Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank addressed the program as chief guest.
Md Nazrul Islam, Principal of IBTRA, Presided over the program. KM Munirul Alam Al-Mamoon, Senior Executive Vice President, Abdul Hamid Miah, Senior Vice President, Mohammad Rezaul Karim, Vice President, and Md Sanaullah, first assistant Vice President addressed the program.
Around 40 officers of the bank attended this 15-day training course, a press release said.
Market-based interest rate, unified exchange rate from July: Bangladesh Bank
Bangladesh Bank will be returning to market-based interest rate from July with the announcement of the next half-yearly monetary policy statement, which will cover the first six months of the 2023-24 fiscal.
The central bank will also set a unified foreign exchange rate for all sectors, as per the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Also Read: Despite many challenges, Bangladesh remains one of the fastest growing economies in Asia-Pacific: Visiting IMF team
Md Mezbaul Haque, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, said this today (Sunday) in a press briefing.
The IMF team ended their visit Sunday, having arrived in Dhaka on April 25, to discuss the progress of implementation of the joint action plan for the $4.7 billion IMF loan for Bangladesh.
After the discussion with the IMF delegation, Haque briefed reporters regarding the discussions on Sunday.
Also Read: Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate will overtake China’s in current fiscal year, IMF predicts
Meanwhile the IMF team has expressed satisfaction regarding the progress of reforms in different sectors, the spokesperson said.
Explaining the introduction of a unified exchange rate, he said that a single foreign exchange rate does not mean that the buying and selling rate of the dollar will be the same.
Now there are several exchange rates, but if the difference between them is within 2 percent, the exchange rate can be said to have a single exchange rate.
Also Read: IMF satisfied with progress of BBS’ GDP and inflation data updated under new method
Apart from this, calculation of forex reserves according to the IMF's Balance of Payments and Investment Position Manual (BPM-6) will also be announced in the next monetary policy, Mezbaul said.
The next IMF delegation will visit Bangladesh in October. Some of the reform measures to be carried out under the terms of the loan to Bangladesh are expected to be achieved by September.
The IMF has already disbursed the first instalment of the sanctioned loan. Mezbaul said that the recently concluded visit of the IMF team has nothing to do with receiving the second instalment of the loan.
BFCC to supply food to EgyptAir preferring Bangladeshi taste
Biman Flight Catering Centre (BFCC) will supply foods to EgyptAir.
“We have already had an understanding with BFCC that it will supply necessary foods to the Egyptian national flag carrier”, said Farhad Hossain, executive director and chief operating officer (COO) of Egypt Air Bangladesh office.
BFCC is an internationally recognised airlines catering unit of Biman. It was designed by ACCA, Australia and implemented by Scandinavian Air Services (SAS). The BFCC can supply 10,000 meals per day. During Hajj, it produces about 13,000 meals per day.
Earlier, the EgyptAir, state-owned airline of Egypt, announced to begin its regular non-stop Dhaka-Cairo-Dhaka flight operations from May 14, 2023.
As per the plan, the airline will initially operate two weekly flights between Dhaka and Cairo.
About the preference of the BFCC as the food supplier to the airlines District manager of Egypt Air Mostafa Magdy Hussain Elkady said that the BFCC was chosen to give priority to the taste of Bangladeshi passengers.
“The food from BFCC will be afresh as it will be supplied just before the flight’s take-off. Secondly, the BFCC has been maintaining international standard in flight catering service with good reputation”, he added.
Tourism industry insiders said that the launching of bilateral air connectivity between Egypt and Bangladesh will open an immense opportunity in the tourism sector for both the brotherly nations.
It will help the tourists who would come to explore the multifaceted Egyptian tourism, they said.
They also believe that the direct flights between Dhaka and Cairo will offer a great opportunity for different stakeholders intending to visit Egypt, Europe, and North America via Cairo, and would reflect exchanging businesses, cargoes, and also facilitate Bangladeshi students studying in Egyptian universities.
Farhad Hossain said that commencing of the flights on this route would boost tourism, trade, and business between the two countries.
The airline will operate flights to and from Dhaka twice weekly on Sunday and Wednesday with brand-new Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
Meanwhile, he informed that currently the ticket selling system is being conducted in a semi-digital system and travel agents are maintaining direct contact with EgyptAir’s Dhaka office in Safura Tower at 20, Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani.
He said the EgyptAir is arranging different tour packages for passengers who want to visit historic places in the ancient Arab country.
EgyptAir's Bangladesh chief also noted that the airline will operate flights to and from Dhaka twice weekly on Sunday and Wednesday with brand-new Boeing 787-9 aircraft having 309-seat with 30 business class.
“Most of the tickets of the inaugural and next few flights have already been sold out”, he said adding that the airlines is receiving very good response from the passengers.
Now, Egypt Air will become the sole operator of nonstop flights between Egypt and Bangladesh in the aviation history of Bangladesh, he added.
EgyptAir hopes the nonstop service will further boost leisure travel between the two countries and connect traffic through Cairo to the airline's onward destinations, such as the USA, Canada, Middle East, and Africa.
END/SH/JA
Grameenphone reports revenues of Tk 37.3 bn for Q1 of 2023
Grameenphone reported total revenues of Tk 37.3 billion for first three months of 2023, registering a growth of 2.8% from the same period last year.
In the first three months, the company acquired 1 million new subscribers, reaching 80.1 million total subscribers at the end of the first quarter. 54.3% of Grameenphone’s total subscribers are using internet services declining by 0.2% from last quarter, said a press release.
“Stepping into 2023, we leave a milestone year behind with Grameenphone celebrating its 25th year of service to its customers and empowering societies in Bangladesh January 2, 2023 and after six months, the regulatory ban on sim sales was removed after regulator’s repeatedly evaluation of GP’s network strength and satisfaction. With the resumption of SIM sales our subscriber base has returned to growth, crossing the 80 million milestone.” said Yasir Azman, CEO of Grameenphone.
“Our focus on continuous network investment has resulted in significant progress through spectrum site rollout. We have doubled fiber connectivity and rolled out over 20,000 total sites. This lays the foundation for a future-ready data network that provides seamless connectivity across Bangladesh, delivering a superior network experience for our customers and building the number one network in the country,” he said.
“We have undertaken significant efforts to revamp our product portfolio, streamlining it to make it simpler and more effective for our customers. However, this was necessary to ensure our offerings are focused and effective, meeting our customers' evolving needs. Our ongoing modernization and transformation journey is starting to show results, benefiting us in building a future-fit company with the right mix of competency, capabilities, tools and partnerships, and will continue to serve as an enabler for our future growth.” he added.
“Grameenphone continued to deliver solid financial performance in Q1’23, with eight consecutive quarters of growth in topline & EBITDA amidst increasing challenges from inflation, hike in energy prices & diminishing foreign exchange reserve. Total revenue grew by 2.8% amounting to BDT 37.3 Bn for the quarter driven by 2.7% growth in daily subscription & traffic revenue. YoY data revenue grew by 14.2% driven by higher usage which was the key factor driving the growth in subscription and traffic revenue.” said Jens Becker, Grameenphone CFO.
Military delegation visits Walton Headquarters
A military delegation led by Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Kamrul Islam visited Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC.’s Headquarters at Chandra in Gazipur on Wednesday.
The delegation also included Bangladesh Civil Service, National Defense College staff and course members as well as foreign military staff from Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Malaysia, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Jordan, Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Sudan.
SM Shamsul Alam, vice-chairman of Hi-Tech Industries PLC, welcomed the delgation at its headquarters and later thanked them for visiting it, according to a Walton media release.
The delegation watched Walton’s corporate video documentary and visited the product display center with the display of refrigerator, television, air conditioner, molds, compressor, elevator and laptop-computer.
Following the visit, Kamrul Islam said, ‘‘if we don’t visit Walton today we would not know that such a state-of-the-art hi-tech factory has been set up in Bangladesh. In the manufacturing area, international standard refrigerators, AC, TV, compressor, washing machine and other electronics, electrical, home and household appliances are manufactured here.”
He said the Walton is also manufacturing most of the essential parts of their finished products. It created a huge employment and by producing import substitute products foreign currencies can be saved.
Along with meeting the local demand, they are also exporting products, he said, adding that the organisation has been playing an important role in the country’s economic development.
The military officer said that that, “Walton Headquarter is a green factory which is different from other factories. Visiting it we including the foreign course members have gathered huge knowledge and experience. Really we are overwhelmed and very proud of Bangladesh and Walton.”
Major General Syed Tareq Hussain, Walton Hi-Tech Industries Adviser Major General (Retd.) Ibne Fazal Shayekhuzzaman, Walton Digi-Tech Industries Limited’s Additional Managing Director Md. Liakat Ali, Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC.’s Senior Executive Directors Colonel (Retd.) SM Shahadat Alam, SM Zahid Hasan, Yousuf Ali and Easir Al-Imran, Executive Director Mohashin Ali Molla and Walton International Business’ In-charge Abdur Rouf, among others, were present.
Inflation decreased slightly to 9.24 percent in April: BBS
The inflation decreased slightly by 0.9 percent to 9.24 percent in April compared with March data.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) revealed the data on Wednesday.
According to the BBS report, the inflation in the country increased in February after five consecutive months of decline. The inflation rose to 8.78 percent in February and again to 9.33 percent in March. In April, the general inflation rate decreased slightly to 9.24 percent.
The BBS said in its statistics that food inflation has decreased due to reduced prices of fish, meat, vegetables, spices, and tobacco products.
Besides, the prices of furniture, household goods, medical care, transportation, and educational materials remain unchanged. Inflation in the non-food sector was 9.72 percent in April, compared to 9.72 percent in the previous month (March).
But this time, the inflation rate has increased in cities compared with villages The rural general inflation rate was 8.92 percent in April, while the urban inflation rate was 9.68 percent during the same period.
On the one hand, inflation has decreased slightly, as the wage rates have increased slightly. The wage index was 7.23 percent in April. In March it was 7.18 percent.
BBS claims that consumers get relief in April due to a slight increase in the wage index and a decrease in inflation.
Grameenphone approves 220% cash dividend at its 26th AGM
The 26th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Grameenphone which was held virtually, concluded today.
During the AGM, Grameenphone Board approved a final dividend in cash at the rate of 95% of the paid-up capital, or Tk 9.5 per share of Tk 10 each. With this cash dividend pay-out, the total cash dividend stands at 220% of the paid-up capital, including the previous 125% interim cash dividend pay-out, amounting to 98.72% of Profit after tax for the year 2022, according to a press release.
Grameenphone chair Jorgen C Arentz Rostrup; CEO Yasir Azman attended the AGM, among others, while Company Secretary S M Imdadul Haque conducted it.
“2022 was a milestone year for Grameenphone, as we marked 25 years of providing mobile connectivity for millions of people and businesses across Bangladesh," said Rostrup.
"Despite adverse regulatory and macroeconomic challenges, the Board of Directors is pleased to report that the Company delivered on top-line growth, enabled by network investments, strength in market execution, and greater efficiency from digital transformation and modernisation efforts across the organization,” he said.
“In 2022, as always, our customers continued to be our biggest priority, and we strived to serve their growing needs and deliver better experiences with modernizing efforts and continuous investment. We acquired the maximum allowable 60 MHz spectrum in the auction for the 2600 MHz band and also focused on expanding the network. Despite various challenges, we successfully maintained our network strength and drove constant innovation- introducing e-SIM for the first time in Bangladesh while also further developing our customized product portfolio,” said Yasir.
“Overall, in 2022, we delivered strong financial results and have taken some definitive steps to improve customer experience. We remain committed to creating value in the lives of our customers, stakeholders, and shareholders and hold our place as the preferred digital connectivity partner in Bangladesh,” he added.
Air Astra offers 10% discount on tickets purchased using Nagad
Private airliner Air Astra is offering a 10% discount on base fares for tickets on payment using Nagad, a mobile finance service of the Bangladesh Postal Department.An agreement was recently signed made between Nagad and Air Astra in this regard at the former’s head office in the capital’s Banani area, said a press release today.Maruful Islam Jhalak, executive director of Nagad, and Mohammad Mozammel Haque Bhuiya, head of Sales and Marketing of Air Astra, signed the agreement on behalf of their organisation.Mohammad Mahbub Sobhan, head of Business Sales, Nagad and AFM Rubayat-Ul-Jannat, assistant general manager (Brand Marketing), Air Astra, were present at the time, among others.The offer is valid till July 5 of this year. There will be some changes in the terms and conditions of this offer during the time of Eid-ul-Adha, said the release.“We are taking up different initiatives to ease people’s lives. The 10 percent discount on airfares will bring some comfort to travel lovers," said Maruful Islam Jhalak, executive Director of Nagad. Nagad’s mega campaign is also going on for customers across the country on payments of goods and services purchased from 6,000 outlets of more than 300 brands, added the release.