Business
Huawei partners with Golden Harvest
Huawei Technologies and Golden Harvest will work together in Bangladesh to help every industry achieve higher business growth and significantly cut operation costs.
Abdul Huque, director of Golden Harvest, and Alex Li, director of Huawei Bangladesh, recently signed an agreement in Dhaka.
Under the deal, Golden Harvest Info Tech, a wing of Golden Harvest, will provide cloud solutions, software as a service (SaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to different verticals like other cloud partners of Huawei Bangladesh.
Also Read: Huawei: 'Fastest-growing' cloud provider in Asia-Pacific
Alex Li said: "In Asia-Pacific, Huawei has established partnerships with nearly 10,000 enterprises and cloud partners and plans to invest $100 million in the Spark startup ecosystem. Huawei wants to work intensively on digital power and cloud in Bangladesh. I believe this partnership will help the industries of Bangladesh to get a better cloud solution more conveniently."
Abdul Huque said: "With Huawei's leading cloud solution, we will be able to develop a comprehensive cloud ecosystem in Bangladesh."
In Bangladesh, the government, Robi, IFAD Autos, bdjobs.com, Rokomari.com, Daily Star, DBC News, Ekattor TV, Symphony Softech, New Zealand Dairy, Ajkerdeal.com, Perfee, deliveryTIGER, UNITEX, and Flora Telecom are using Huawei Cloud.
Read Seeds For The Future moves to 3rd round with 30 students
Also, Huawei provided cloud service for the launch of the virtual Amar Ekushey Boi Mela last February so that the visitors and interested people can access all information related to the fair through a website.
Amid volatile forex market, BB devalues currency by Tk1.60
In a bid to tame the restive foreign exchange market the Bangladesh Bank has depreciated the local currency by Tk1.60, the highest so far, to fix the exchange rate of US dollar at Tk91.50.
Monday’s devaluation of taka, for the ninth time this year, came as the central bank is grappling with the growing demand of the greenback compared to supply.
Md Sirajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of BB told UNB, "The rate at which Bangladesh Bank sells dollars to banks is considered as the interbank selling rate."
Also read: BB allows floating exchange rate of US dollar amid pressure
On Monday, the central bank sold per US dollar at Tk91.50. Last Thursday, the BB depreciated taka by Tk0.90 and fixed the exchange rate at Tk89.90.
At the beginning of January this year, the central bank increased the exchange rate of the dollar by Tk0.20 to Tk86.
On March 23, taka weakened by Tk0.20 and fixed exchange rate at Tk86.20. On April 27, it was devalued by another Tk0.25. Then the exchange rate of per dollar stood at Tk 86.45. On May 9, the exchange rate of taka was devalued by Tk0.25 to and fixed it to Tk 86.70.
Also read: BB to set uniform exchange rate to stabilize volatile dollar
Then on 16 May the value of taka was reduced by Tk0.80 and the exchange rate was fixed to Tk 87.50 against per US dollar. Then on May 23, taka depreciated by another Tk0.40 and the price was fixed at Tk87.90.
RFL brings new cooker hood
Rangpur Metal Industries, a concern of RFL, has brought a new cooker hood.
"The cooker hood has different features including automatic motion sensor, touch control switch, auto heat clean technology, tempered glass panel, and stainless steel filter," Rangpur Metal Industries Director Md Moniruzzaman, who unveiled the product at an event in the capital recently, said.
Read RFL brings app-controlled geysers
RFL now has eight different types of cooker hoods of different sizes.
The price ranges of cooker hoods are between Tk7,060 and Tk31,765.
Also read: Pran-RFL bags 5 national export trophies
Bangladesh to stay safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA
The country's apparel industry is committed to carrying forward the achievements that have earned the sector global accolades as a safe and sustainable industry, said the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
"While our achievements make us immensely proud, they also inspire us to dream bigger and strengthen our tenacity to continue pursuance of excellence to retain the fame of Bangladesh as a safe and sustainable apparel sourcing destination," BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said.
He made the remark while speaking at a discussion on the road to sustainability and a transparent supply chain organised by OAV – German Asia-Pacific Business Association, the German importers, and the Embassy of Bangladesh in Berlin, and hosted by Wünsche Group Friday.
Faruque said Bangladesh has the highest number of LEED Green factories in the world, with 161 green factories certified by the USGBC, of which 48 are platinum-rated and 99 are gold-rated, and these green factories are equipped with all the eco-friendly features and emit 40 percent less carbon than a conventional factory.
The BGMEA has joined the German Green Button initiative which identifies socially and ecologically sustainable textiles that are placed on the market by responsible companies.
"Our commitment is to take the readymade garments (RMG) industry to the next level of sustainability and continue the momentum,'' Faruque said.
"If we talk about the transparency in the supply chain of the industry, we have seen some significant transformation here. All factory inspection reports are now disclosed online which has set a unique example in the world on the issue of workplace safety."
Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ambassador of Bangladesh to Germany, Miran Ali, vice-president of BGMEA, Christian Moritz, managing director of Wunsche Gruppe, Almut Roessner, executive board member of OAV, Dr Michael Arretz, CEO of VFI, Christian Ewert, global director of TEDD – Trusted Experts on Due Diligence, and Md Saiful Islam, commercial counsellor of the Bangladesh Embassy in Berlin, also spoke.
BGMEA directors Barrister Vidiya Amrit Khan, Md Imranur Rahman, Neela Hosna Ara and Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Foreign Mission Cell Shams Mahmud were also present.
Also read: BGMEA hopes for continued support of German govt to RMG industry
Nagad holds 'Distributors Meet 2022'
Mobile financial services provider (MFS) Nagad recently organised "Distributors Meet 2022."
One hundred and sixty-four distributors, regional managers, and market directors of Nagad from across the country participated in the event at a Dhaka hotel.
Read Nagad holds a ‘Get-together’ with DMP's Detective Branch
At the day-long programme, distributors, regional managers, and market directors from various regions were recognised for their accomplishments based on goals or performances.
Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing director of Nagad, said: "Since its inception, Nagad has been the world's fastest-growing MFS, with over 6 crore valued customers and nearly Tk1,000 average daily transactions. This has only been made possible due to your collaboration and partnership."
Also read: Healthcare payments: Nagad offers discounts of up to Tk2,350
Fiscal policy support needed for economy to tackle inflation: CPD
The economy is under pressure due to challenges caused by global and domestic factors, that are apprehended to continue for some time in view of slower growth in the world economy.
This view was put forward in the Independent Review of Bangladesh’s Development (IRBD) conducted by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a private think tank, released in a media briefing in the capital on Sunday.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of CPD, briefed the reporters on the review report. Dr Mustafizur Rahman, distinguish fellow, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director, and Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow, among others, spoke on the review report.
CPD carries out an interim review of the national economy towards the end of every fiscal year. Accordingly, the third interim review of Bangladesh’s macroeconomic performance for FY22 has been undertaken.
Also read: CPD, ILO bring together stake holders to develop national industrial safety framework
The average cost of living on a “regular” diet for one household of 4 persons living in an apartment with one bedroom outside the city centre in Dhaka in May 2022 would be approximately BDT 42,548, the review said.
The review found that higher living costs in the capital are pushing up inflation.
The average cost of living on a “compromised” diet for one household of 4 persons living in an apartment with one bedroom outside the city centre in Dhaka in May 2022 would be approximately BDT 29,206. The difference goes to show the impact of food inflation in particular on ordinary families.
Apart from the high price of basic food items, the high prices of non-food items were putting a huge burden on households. Available data shows that maintaining even a modest standard of living was becoming prohibitively expensive for households in Dhaka.
In the absence of support from the government, out-of-pocket expenditure on health for a household of 4 persons was equivalent to Tk 2,625 per month in 2019, at purchasing power parity, said CPD.
It is apprehended that many households are at risk of falling below the poverty line due to out-of-pocket expenditure on health, CPD predicted.
“This is worrisome for the overall macroeconomic situation and it requires proactive measures by the policymakers both in the immediate and medium terms,” the CPD study recommended.
The quality, reliability and consistency of data of economic indicators will be the first step towards enacting proactive measures since the effectiveness of policy making depends on credible real time data.
Also read: High value public debt spent on nonproductive sector causes imbalance in economy: CPD
Policymakers will have to come out of growth obsession and focus on the quality of growth in terms of distribution of the benefits of growth more equally.
Since the poor and disadvantaged people are yet to overcome the impact of the pandemic and have been affected further due to high prices of essential commodities, the policy should protect the purchasing power of the poor and low-income groups, the study said.
CPD has been proposing various measures to ease the burden of rising prices and shrinking purchasing power of low- and fixed-income earning people including selectively reducing taxes at import and domestic stages and expanding social protection.
Besides, strategic sectors such as energy and agriculture will have to be supported through subsidies for economic growth and food security.
These measures should be combined with higher efforts for domestic resource mobilisation and reduced unnecessary and less important expenditures.
In the FY23 budget, fiscal measures pertaining to the external sector should focus on addressing the adverse impacts of imported inflation, CPD said.
Impact to intensify if Russia-Ukraine war continues for a longer period: ICCB
The International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC,B) has said Bangladesh is already feeling the heat of the Russia-Ukraine war in many ways and if the war continues for a longer period, the impact will intensify.
Three major economic challenges, all tied to one another, as observed by experts include a persistent higher rate of inflation, the upward trend of the foreign exchange rate, and a deepening liquidity crunch in the banking sector, it said.
The country is feeling the impact through reduction in exports and rise in import bills.
Being an oil-importing country, Bangladesh is already feeling the pressure through high import payments, the ICC,B report cautioned.
It endorsed the recent recommendation by the Finance Ministry to avoid hard loans and discourage the import of luxury goods.
Read: Edible oil prices likely to drop in Bangladesh in line with global market: Commerce Minister
"This may reduce pressure on our declining foreign exchange reserves," said the leading chamber body on Saturday also endorsing recent austerity and regulatory measures taken by the government and Bangladesh Bank aimed at curbing non-essential imports, suspending the implementation of projects with high import components.
ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman said they believe this will send a positive signal to the market and the economy as well as curbing inflation.
He was presenting ICCB executive board report at its 27th annual council held in the city on Saturday.
ICC,B also supports the demand of the businesses not to increase the power and gas rates, fuels prices as well reduce the corporate rate taxes during the upcoming budget as these will be helpful in containing the inflation, said its President.
The report mentioned that over the last two years, the pandemic has played a major role in shaping the global economy.
Many sectors have found themselves in difficulty and are still struggling and the countries dependent on those sectors are now quietly trying to get back up again.
Despite the strong economic recovery in 2021, the financial difficulties are not over and may still cause economic slowdown.
In addition, many countries are faced with an increasing debt burden, high inflation and burning issues at the moment, geopolitical tensions, which all play a major role.
The global economy is poised to be sent on yet another unpredictable course by Russia-Ukraine war, said the ICC,B.
This war is a major humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people and a severe economic shock of uncertain duration and magnitude, it said.
The magnitude of the economic impact of the war is highly uncertain, and will depend in part on the duration of the war and the policy responses, but it is clear that the war will result in a substantial near-term drag on global growth and significantly stronger inflationary pressures, the report added.
Read: Dealers, retailers betrayed me on edible oil price: Commerce Minister
The report observed that the "Russian invasion" of Ukraine poses the most severe risk to developing Asia’s economic outlook.
The war is already affecting economies in the region through sharp increases in prices for commodities such as oil and has heightened instability in global financial markets.
COVID-19 continues to impact many parts of developing Asia, with some economies experiencing new surges in cases.
Bangladesh’s journey of 50 years since its independence in 1971 has been tremendous and to many it is a ‘land of impossible attainment’.
The dominant narrative of Bangladesh has been of an economic miracle, said ICC,B.
The country's impressive scorecard is built on her success in terms of attaining a consistently high pace of economic growth and an impressive performance with regard to various development indicators, including those relating to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), ICCB President said.
The success in economic growth has led to Bangladesh’s dual graduation-graduation from a Low-Income Country (LIC) to a Lower Middle-Income Country (LMIC) in 2015, according to the World Bank criterion and eligibility for graduation from the group of Least Developed Country (LDC) to Developing Country (DC) status in 2018, according to United Nations criteria, the report added.
Mahbubur Rahman said according to the World Economic Forum, since its founding in 1971, Bangladesh has emerged from overwhelming poverty to be proclaimed by The World Bank in 2020 as 'a model for poverty reduction'.
It achieved the highest cumulative GDP growth globally from 2010 to 2020 and is now on course to become a developed country by 2041.
Bangladesh, like other countries, faces the daunting challenge of fully recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic which has constrained economic activities and reversed some of the gains achieved in the last decade, according to ICC,B.
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Unilever Bangladesh launches Sustainability Report 2021
Unilever Bangladesh has unveiled its Sustainability Report 2021, "Partnering Bangladesh."
The report, recently launched at an event in the capital, shows the company's work and impact on the health, environment and society.
In 2021, Unilever Bangladesh invested over Tk430 million covering 10 different SDG agendas. It collaborated with the largest municipal-backed plastic waste collection project in Bangladesh and supported communities fighting Covid-19.
Read: Confidence Infrastructure inaugurates geotextiles plant
Zaved Akhtar, CEO and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, said: "In Bangladesh, we have used our brands to improve the lives of people. We have many success stories like improving the oral hygiene of the children of the country and teaching over 10 million school children proper hand washing since the 1990s."
"We are now focusing on replicating these experiences for toilet hygiene, the habit of safe water consumption and mental wellbeing, as we identified these to be the areas where there are barriers or taboos."
"But it is clear we need to do much more – within our business, and by using our size, scale and partnerships in our value chain and beyond," Zaved said.
Read Unilever rebranding 'Fair and Lovely'
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said: "Unilever has not only been conducting business in Bangladesh for more than five decades but also working with its partners for the social and environmental progress of Bangladesh as an ethical and responsible organisation.
"The company is working with about 1 million entrepreneurs across the country. As a result, Unilever Bangladesh is making a huge contribution in creating employment."
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson said: "Despite the challenges and vulnerability of Bangladesh on climate, I feel the partnership between the government, Unilever, as a catalyst and a private sector donator of capability and purpose and finance, and the capability of the third sector, corporate civil society organisations to reach out into the society, is very strong."
Read Unilever hands over cheques for Tk 71.84 million to Labour Welfare Foundation
Confidence Infrastructure inaugurates geotextiles plant
Confidence Infrastructure, a sister concern of Confidence Group, has inaugurated a geotextiles plant in its factory in Narayanganj.
Geotextiles manufactured in this plant will be marketed as "GEOCIL."
The monthly production capacity of the newly established plant will be around 1,150,000 bags.
Read: BGMEA hopes for continued support of German govt to RMG industry
Geotextiles are polymer fabrics used for many civil engineering purposes, including the construction of roads, drains, harbour works, breakwaters, and land reclamation.
"To protect human lives, economic infrastructures, and maintain environmental stability, we are manufacturing geotextiles locally by setting up this plant with sophisticated technology," said Rezaul Karim, chairman of Confidence Group, at the inauguration ceremony Saturday.
Salman Karim, managing director of Confidence Infrastructure, said: "Our newly established plant will help the communities across the country by mitigating the risks of natural disasters. It will also contribute to national economic growth as we are looking forward to creating more employment opportunities, improving people's living standards, and exporting our products."
Read: Non-brand bakery products prices soar by 20 percent: BBBCMA
The plant has already started producing GEOCIL bags and Geo Mats.
GEOCIL is being produced in compliance with the specifications set by the Bangladesh Water Development Board, following all the national and international standards.
Banglalink to observe 'Ethics and Compliance Week 2022'
Telecom operator Banglalink will observe Ethics and Compliance Week 2022 starting Sunday to ensure a transparent atmosphere where everyone feels encouraged to grow while remaining ethical and compliant.
With the slogan "Ethics and Compliance Starts with Me," a series of educational and awareness-raising activities will be carried out for Banglalink employees, partners, and stakeholders as part of the five-day programme.
Also Read: James, Miles withdraw cases against Banglalink
During the week, Banglalink employees will attend workshops on ethics and compliance conducted by the organisation's senior leaders. There will be sessions to exchange views and renew commitments for ethical conduct.
Muniruzzaman Sheikh, chief ethics and compliance officer at Banglalink, said: "We have established our brand identity as a leading compliant and ethical organisation."
Read Banglalink's digital services marketplace AppLink launched
"We want to keep raising our standards, which is not possible without the active participation of our employees and stakeholders."