Duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to US market discussed

US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty yesterday lauded the able and prudent leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the recently concluded 64th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

The appreciation came when the US Ambassador called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter’s office.

Moriarty said that the Bangladeshi premier’s participation at the UNGA and her speech on various crucial issues like climate change, food security, world economic recession and terrorism were highly acclaimed by the world leaders.

“Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the USA to attend the recently concluded UNGA session was fruitful as she had very successful interactions with world leaders, including President Barack Obama on various crucial issues which the present world is confronting with,” said James Moriarty.

After the meeting, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed newsmen.

During the meeting, they discussed various issues including duty and quota free access to Bangladeshi products to US market, US investment to Bangladesh, food security, anti-terrorism activities and reopening of Dhaka-New York Biman flight.

In reply, the prime minister told the US envoy that she had fruitful talks with US President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the sidelines of the UNGA session.

During the talks, she said that she had invited the US president and his wife to visit Bangladesh and they gladly accepted the invitation.

She said during the meeting with President Obama and leaders of UN Peace Keeping Contributing Countries in New York, matters of Bangladesh’s representation in UN peace keeping building and policy making levels as well as appointment of Bangladeshi officials at senior posts of the mission were discussed.

Besides, the Prime Minister sought US cooperation in fulfilling needs and problems of expatriate Bangladeshis in the USA.

Referring to Bangladesh’s existing political situation, the prime minister said the opposition should join the parliament session to speak for the people to fulfill their needs and problems.

“The opposition should join the current session of the Jatiya Sangsad to strengthen the parliamentary democratic system in Bangladesh and speak for their own people,” she added.

During the meeting, the prime minister expressed her satisfaction over the joining of Patrick Kennedy, son of former senator Edward Kennedy, in the Congressional Bangladesh Caucus in the US House of Representative saying that her family had relations with Kennedy’s family.

About bilateral relations, they said that excellent bilateral relations is existing between Bangladesh and the USA and expressed the hope that the relations would be further expedited in the days to come.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister MA Karim and Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad were present on the occasion.

S: http://www.thedailystar.net

Bangladesh Local Made mobile phone sets to hit market in January

Telephone Shilpo Sangstha and Cable Shilpo Sangstha have taken up three mega projects to produce digital telephone sets, cellphones, fibre-optic cables, solar panels and laptops in the country.

Of the five products, the digital telephone sets costing as low as Tk 500 will hit the market next month while cellphones priced between Tk 1,500 and 10,000 will be sold from January next year. Fibre optic cables will arrive in December next year.

Bangladesh-made laptops and solar panels will also hit the market soon. Estimated prices of laptops, solar panels and fibre-optic cables are yet to be fixed.

Hasanul Haq Inu, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunications ministry, told this to reporters after a meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

“Telephone Shilpo Sangstha and Cable Shilpo Sangstha, two organisations under Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, have taken up three mega projects to produce mobile phones, digital telephone sets, laptops, fibre-optic cables and solar panels which will help build a digital Bangladesh,” Inu, also president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, said.

Inu also said TSS and CSS will become profitable ventures once they implement these mega projects.

TSS, situated at Gazipur, Dhaka, is currently incurring loss while CSS in Khulna is making a marginal profit.

“CSS in its new plant will manufacture fibre-optic cables instead of copper cables, ” Inu said, adding that the CSS will be able to meet the country’s 75 percent fibre-optic cable demand.

The fibre optic cable manufacturing project is worth Tk 10 crore and evaluation of a tender in this regard is now going on, he added.

Inu said fibre-optic cables have been installed in an unplanned way across the country and the parliamentary watchdog asked authorities concerned to take appropriate measures so that the cables are installed in a planned manner from now on.

Inu also said CSS will go for manufacturing household electrical accessories and telephone accessories, which would save foreign exchange. TSS in Gazipur will manufacture the digital telephone sets, said the committee chief.

Even poor people will be able to afford these telephone sets as their prices would be between Tk 500 and Tk 600, Inu said.

TSS will also manufacture the cellphones in cooperation with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

“People will also be able to purchase these cellphones as prices will be between Tk 1,500 and Tk 10,000,” Inu added.

Replying a question, the committee chief said network expansion of Teletalk will start very soon. “Teletalk will become the number one mobile operator in the country,” he said.

S: The Daily Star

T-shirts drive exports to Germany

Bangladesh’s share in the German apparels market is widening rapidly due to high demand for local T-shirts, industry leaders say.

In 2008, Bangladesh ranked third in the export of T-shirts to Germany, following the intra-EU 27 nations and Turkey, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and research carried out by the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).

Bangladesh’s position in the export of T-shirts to Germany may remain the same in fiscal 2009-10. In fiscal 2008-09, Bangladesh exported knitwear worth $1.34 billion and woven garments worth $802 million to the European country.

Local exporters are expected to see brighter days ahead as Germany has escaped the clutches of its worst recession in over 60 years. Latest official data showed that consumption helped Europe’s biggest economy grow by 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

The positive growth figures are the latest in a series of economic data that suggests Germany might bounce back relatively quickly from a deep and painful recession.

A Matin Chowdhury, managing director of Malek Spinning Mills Ltd, said one of his companies, Knit Asia, exported knitwear products worth $40 million to the EU, mainly Germany, last year.

“Germany is the single largest export destination for Bangladeshi apparels items after the US,” Chowdhury said. “However, all potential to grow exports would remain unutilised if the supply of gas cannot be ensured.”

Dragon Group Managing Director Mostafa Q Sobhan said he exported sweaters worth $15 million to Germany last year. “The German economy is growing at a good rate and so our potential to shine in that country is also bright.”

In fiscal 2008, the value of total imports of T-shirts to Germany was 1.69 billion euros, 2.29 billion euros for sweaters with a 22.54 percent market share, 1.3 billion euros for denim with an 11.76 percent share, while trousers have a 17.26 percent market share.

Bangladesh’s share of global T-shirt exports to Germany was 18.47 percent in 2008, up from 15.33 percent in 2007. China’s share was 10.55 percent in 2008 and 8.66 percent in 2007

India had a 7.33 percent share in 2008, down from 7.85 percent in 2007, and Turkey’s share was 24.06 percent in 2008 and 26.36 percent in 2007.

The other major knitwear export items from Bangladesh are socks, tights and pantyhose, cotton garments for babies, blouses, stockings and cotton trousers and sweaters.

In 2008, Germany imported knitwear items worth $14.31 billion and woven garments worth $16.91 billion, while total imports were worth $1.53 trillion and exports were $1.2 trillion.

The top-10 knitwear import items in Germany constitute 60.89 percent of market share. Among the products, cotton T-shirts take the lead, while demand for items made out of manmade fiber is gradually falling.

In the export of woven garments to Germany in 2008, intra-EU nations lost 9 percent, China gained 16 percent, Turkey lost 3 percent, Bangladesh gained 1 percent and India gained 1 percent.

Job-based training mulled for youths

The government is to introduce several new training courses for youths to turn them into skilled workers for job markets both home and abroad.

These new proposed training include courses on AutoCad, dairy product processing and marketing, meat processing and slaughter house management, salesmanship, housekeeping, plumbing, rod binding and tiles fixing.

The Department of Youth Development (DYD) under the Ministry of Youth and Sports is to organise these training courses for youths between the ages of 18 and 35. Around 1,200 youths are expected to benefit from the diploma courses of three months to one-year duration.

The allocation of revenue budget is Tk 28.94 crore and development budget Tk 24.88 crore for the department in the fiscal year 2008-2009, a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, the government is to discontinue its six-month long steno-typing courses as typing posts have been cut down in both public and private sectors.

Golam Mahbub, Assistant Director of Dhaka district office of DYD, told The Daily Star “We plan to provide training on modern office management and computer applications instead.”

The DYD also holds vocational and skill development training courses for the 4.50 crore youths of the country. The courses are designed to equip young people with skills to work efficiently both at home and abroad.

Courses include training on livestock, poultry, fishery and agriculture, aquaculture (fresh and coastal water), basic computer skills, graphics and video editing, electronics, electrical wiring, refrigeration and air-conditioning, secretarial science, block, batik and screen printing and dress-making.

The department at present is also providing new courses for potential migrant workers. These include housekeeping and laundry operations, food and beverage service, pattern making, modern office management and computer application, poultry rearing, bird-flu control, bio-diversity management, mushroom production, hair dressing, sweater knitting, linking and sewing machine operating, English, Korean and Arabic languages etc.

The DYD has one national youth centre, 70 technical training centres, 55 livestock, poultry and pisciculture training centres, 68 dress-making centres, nine block and batik training centres, five centres for secretarial science, 32 centres for steno-typing, one human resource development centre and four zonal human resource development centres across the country.

The government since 2005 is running three five-year projects for youth development. These include training programes on electrical wiring in 41 districts and electronics, air-conditioning and refrigeration work in 55 districts.

Only 7,619 persons have received training under these schemes till June 2008 though the target was to train 24,160 youths by June 2009, sources said.

The government also runs a project titled “Innovative management of resources for poverty alleviation through comprehensive technology (IMPACT) Project” which trains people to establish bio-gas plants through utilisation of solid waste and animal waste.

Meanwhile, the government also runs a project “Youth Empowerment through Life skills Education and Livelihood Opportunities” to create awareness regarding reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS and gender among adolescent girls and boys.

This project which began in January 2006 targets training to 16,122 people by December 2010. However, till June 2008 only 9,917 youths were trained.

http://www.thedailystar.net/

24MW rental power plant comes on stream

A 24-megawatt (MW) rental power plant in Barabkunda in Sitakunda upazila, the first private power generation initiative in Chittagong, started operations yesterday.

A team comprising Bangladesh Power Development Board officials visited the plant on Thursday and cleared the way for sending power to the national grid by giving a ‘no objection certificate’.

Regent Power Ltd, a unit of Habib Group, set up the plant at a cost of Tk 130 crore over 2.5 acres of land. Plant construction began in May 2008 alongside the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) substation in Barabkunda area.

Group Managing Director Yasin Ali said the plant will sell all generated power to the PDB and the power will directly go to the national grid through the Barabkunda substation in line with an agreement with the government.

“The capacity of the plant can be increased several times and if the government approves, we would be able to generate more power within the shortest possible time,” Ali said.

Regent Power Ltd is one of the nine private firms, which received permission from the government in November 2007 to generate power.

Besides, construction of two other power plants, rental and state-run, is going into operation by next month (June) and April next year respectively.

Of them, the private-firm Energies Power Corporation Ltd is setting up a 73.8 MW capacity furnace oil-fired plant at Shikalbaha on the bank of the river Karnaphuli under Patiya upazila.

According to an agreement with the government, PDB will get 55 MW power from the plant, while the remaining will be rented to private firms.

On the other hand, the government is setting up a 150MW Peaking Power Plant in the same area with a cost of Tk 534 crore.

Indian elections and the Bangladesh perspective

For Bangladesh, the results of recent indian parliamentary election have opened opportunities on a number of fronts. It will allow our government to interact with a stable government in New Delhi led by a resurgent Congress with which the Awami League has traditional and historical affinity. As a Prime Minister Dr. Manmohon Singh is wise and positive and we can expect that in his second term he will focus more on improvement of relations with neighbours including Bangladesh. The elections will bring into Indian politics a new generation of leaders led by Rahul Gandhi who can be expected to look forward to for a better South Asia than has hitherto been the case. We were disappointed at the way relations have been handled since the AL came to office in January, particularly surprised that the Indian Foreign Minister visited Dhaka and had failed to meet the leader of the opposition while meeting the Army Chief. We hope the new government will be more sensitive towards Bangladesh.

The Indian elections have many lessons for us if we are willing to take. The grace with which LK Advani accepted defeat is a lesson that, if taken by our leading politicians, could really open a world of opportunity for us. His offer to resign to take responsibility for his front and party’s defeat is a democratic tradition that we could emulate in Bangladesh. On his part, Manmohon Singh sought Advani’s support and constructive criticism to run the new government, saying: “we must open a new chapter in the working relations between the government and the principal opposition.” Sonia Gandhi’s leadership style where she has put the nation before self is one our political leaders could follow.

The new governments in India and Bangladesh are expected to run parallel over the next five years. These are momentous times when opportunities are knocking at our doors. In Bangladesh, there has been a perceptible change in mindset for better relations with India based on mutuality. A strong government under Manmohon Singh can ensure a similar change in the Indian mindset. The two Prime Ministers must meet without losing time to cash upon the wind of change in our respective countries. They should send the message to the respective administrations that they have the political will for the change in the mindset that has kept Bangladesh-India relations from achieving their potentials. We should also make diplomatic efforts to reach Sonia Gandhi for her support in building Bangladesh-India relations and not get bogged down at the level of the Indian External Affairs Ministry where we seem to be stuck at the moment. The new Indian Government will take office after the parliament meets on June 2nd.

TheDailyStar

Shipbuilders may change Bangladesh economy

Industries Minister Dilip Barua said yesterday shipbuilding, which is a very labour-intensive industry, has the potential for generating a huge foreign currency and developing extraordinary skills in the field of engineering.

“The country has skilled and semi-skilled professionals as well as necessary ingredients to be a shipbuilding nation. So the industry holds the potential for transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country in near future,” Barua said.

He was speaking as chief guest at a function organised by Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, one of the leading local shipbuilders, as it formally handed over its eighth ship, Stella Moon, at $7.5 million to a Danish buyer, Stella Shipping P/S.

The function took place at the company’s office at Meghnaghat in Sonargaon under Narayanganj district.

“The company has so far secured export orders for 34 ships at $373.50 million. It has received export proceeds and advance payments of $48.54 million. Denmark, Germany, Norway and Mozambique have placed the orders,” said Ananda Group Chairman Dr Abdullahel Bari at the ceremony.

Earlier Ananda exported its first ship Stella Maris to another Danish company at $6 million on May 5 last year and six others to the Mozambique government at $6.2 million on November 13, said the company officials.

The officials also said they are now building 10 ships of which six have been ordered by Komorowski and four others by Wessell, two German companies.

“We hope to deliver the ships within the next three years as the construction works are going on in full swing,” said a company official.

Stella Moon has 64 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) container carrying capacity with 2,950 deadweight tonnages.

Deadweight tonnage, also known as deadweight (DWT), is a measure of how much mass or weight of cargo or burden a ship can carry safely.

DailyStar

Dhaka Decided to connect with Asian Highway Network

The government has decided to connect Bangladesh with the proposed Asian Highway Network (AHN), Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said today.

After a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network, Abul Hossain told reporters at his office that the decision would benefit the country.

“We will present the summary in the next cabinet meeting for the government’s approval. We would inform the government’s decision to the UN-ESCAP after approval,” the minister said.

“The agreement would be signed as per the routes proposed by the UN-ESCAP.

“If we can be connected with the Asian Highway Network, our communications and trade with Asian countries would be boosted. It would flourish our tourism industry,” Abul Hossain added.

The communications minister ruled out the possibility of having safety of Bangladesh endangered by the highway.

The proposed three routes are Benapole-Jessore-Kanchpur-Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil, Banglabandha-Hatikamrul-Dhaka-Kanchpur-Sylhet-Tamabil and Dhaka-Kanchpur-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf-Myanmar border.

Bangladesh to introduce daylight saving time likely from June 16

Bangladesh government has decided to switch daylight saving time from June 16 till September 30 in a bid to ensure maximum use of daylight to cope with crippling power crisis. Under the daylight saving time, clocks will be turned ahead by an hour, state minister for power Shamsul Haq Tuku told reporters on Tuesday after An interministerial meeting provisionally had decided to introduce the daylight saving system for an ‘extra hour’ of daylight. The switch will remain in effect from June 16 to Sept 30 but if implemented the next year, it will come in force from April 1, he said adding more meetings will further discuss the issue before a final decision is made in this regard. Electricity supplies to homes, businesses and factories across Bangladesh have been cut for several hours a day over the past few months as the country grapples with a power deficit as much as 7000 MW, by some estimates. Earlier, on April 5 the state minister said the government wanted to introduce daylight saving because it was much easier to conserve 1MW power this way than it was to produce an extra 1MW. The matter was discussed with all official stakeholders and their opinion was solicited. An official of the Power Division, who attended the meeting, said they sought opinions from 18-19 ministries and divisions including labor, planning, industry, foreign affairs, telecoms, information, shipping, law, civil aviation, tourism and education. Most of the ministries responded positively. Representatives of establishment, health, local government, and primary and public education ministries approved of the decision at the meeting, meeting sources said. Besides, the Meteorological Department in its opinion said that the 9am-5pm office hours can be adjusted to 8am-4pm from April 1 to September 30.

S: Asian Tribune

Soft drinks sales boom as summer heats up

Summertime brightens the outlook for beverage business.

Add to the list of positive factors the resumption of political activities and market expansion in suburbs and rural areas. Sales are rising with processors expecting the market to grow between 15 percent and 20 percent this year, if the economy does not suffer a big blow from the global recession in the second half of 2009.

“People drink more to have a respite from the heat wave. Our supplies were much ahead of the March target. The April scenario was the same,” said Mohammad Ilias who delivers Pepsi products on behalf of his employer Sunflower Distribution.

Besides Pepsi products, including clear drink 7up, beverages such as Coca Cola, RC and Mojo mark rises in demand as the heat wave sweeps the country.

Early last week, temperature in Dhaka hit a 14-year high, while other parts of the country also passed through the blistering heat prompting people to drink in quest of a respite.

“We are struggling to cope with the rising demand every day. Whatever we make goes directly to truck from production. There is no scope for storage,” said an official of Abdul Monem Ltd (AML), Coca Cola’s bottler and franchisee in Bangladesh.

He said sales of Coca Cola products in AML’s territory, excluding Dhaka and Rajshahi, increased more than 60 percent in April. For March, sales growth was more than 50 percent, the official added.

“It’s a good year for the Coca Cola and beverage market as well. The industry should grow at least 20 percent this year amid no rain and high temperature,” he said.

Soft drinks marketers this time hope for a boost in sales after a recovery from losses.

Data on the actual market size of the industry varies. But the majority of operators figured it between Tk 800 crore and Tk 900 crore in 2008.

“Last year was good compared with other industrial sectors. Signs are still good and the industry is growing about 15 percent this year,” said Khurshid Irfan Chowdhury, general manager of Transcom Beverages, the franchisee of PepsiCo in Bangladesh.

But he feared: “If the domestic economy suffers from a recession fallout, soft drinks may witness a consumption-drop, so are other industrial sectors.”

“It’s a luxury product, not a necessity.”

Irfan attributed the growth to market expansion in semi-urban and rural areas.

Processors’ entry in making 250ml packs with relatively low prices also may also enable the market to grow, he added.

“Above all, the sweltering heat has led to higher sales,” said the Transcom Beverages official.

Md Aktaruzzaman, marketing manager of Partex Beverage, bottler of RC brand products, is upbeat on the 2009 sales.

Apart from pointing to high temperature and market expansion, he also observed that resumption of political activities in post-polls time would help boost sales.

“The more political gatherings, events and festivals, the more sales,” he said.

“I expect the market to grow by 20 percent to touch around Tk 1000 crore this year.”

S: the daily star.