Dhaka, Mar 5 (UNB) - Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) and Padma Islami Life Insurance Ltd (PILIL) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on group life insurance coverage.

The agreement was signed at Islami Bank Tower in the city where Mahbub ul Alam, Managing Director & CEO of the bank was present as the chief guest and Mohammed Monirul Moula, Additional Managing Director as special guest.

Abu Reza Md Yeahia, Deputy Managing Director of the Bank and Dr. Chowdhury Mohammad Wasiuddin, FCA, FCMA, CEO of PILIL signed the agreement on behalf of respective organizations.

Taher Ahmed Chowdhury and Muhammad Qaisar Ali, Deputy Managing Directors, Md. Mostafizur Rahman Siddiquee, Senior Executive Vice President of the bank, Md. Morshed Alam Siddiqui, Senior Deputy Managing Director and Md. Abu Sayed Sarker, Company Secretary (Acting) of PILIL along with top executive and officials of both organizations were present on the occasion.

Dhaka, Mar 5 (UNB)— Bangladesh has recorded ‘miraculous’ growth in various sectors despite facing many challenges, a book says.

‘Economic and Social Development of Bangladesh Miracle and Challenges’ is the culmination of three-year research project ‘Empirical Studies on Risk and Poverty in Bangladesh’ conducted by JICA Research Institute.

Dr Yasuyuki Sawada, chief economist and director general of Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Dr Minhaj Mahmud, senior Research Fellow of BIDS, led the project.

Planning Minister Abdul Mannan launched the book on Tuesday at BIDS.
 
The book noted that Bangladesh managed to achieve remarkable progress battling unfavorable situations such as weak governance and political instabilities, inequality, risk entailed in rapid urbanisation, and exposure to severe disaster risks.  

Mechanisms of structural transformation, industrialisation success, infrastructure, microfinance and women empowerment have been pointed out as miracles.

Minister Mannan credited good leadership for the success. 

“We need researches, assistance and recommendations from experts to continue this development trend,” he said.  

Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, former advisor to caretaker government, said Bangladesh needs improve its health and education sectors.

World Bank’s lead economist Dr Zahid Hussain said the economic conditions of Vietnam and China were once like that of Bangladesh. 

“But they have come a long way,” he said, noting that Bangladesh should take lessons from Vietnam and China.

Mitoshi Hirata, chief representative of JICA in Bangladesh, and Manmohan Parkash, ADB’s Bangladesh country director, among others, were present at the seminar. 
 

Dhaka, Mar 5 (UNB) - President of the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) Mahbubur Rahman left here for Bangkok on Tuesday to attend the second regional workshop of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the pacific (UN-ESCAP).

The workshop titled ‘Innovative Climate Finance Mechanisms for Financial Institutions’ in the Asia Pacific Region will be held on March 6-7.

Mahbubur Rahman will address the inaugural session and discuss hosting of a region-wide high-level multi-stakeholder forum on financing for development in collaboration with ESCAP and Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) here in December.

The Bangladesh delegation members are Md Ashadul Islam, Secretary, Bank and Financial Institutions Division, Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh;  Sultana Afroz, Additional Secretary & Wing Chief (UN), Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh; Ataur Rahman, Secretary General, ICCB, Shah Md Ahsan Habib, Prof and Director (Training), Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM); Saleemul Huq, Director, International Centre for Climate Change & Development (ICCCAD), Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB); Khondkar Morshed Millat, General Manager, Sustainable Finance Department, Bangladesh Bank and Milia Sharmin, Deputy Secretary, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance, according to the ICCB.

Climate change may represent the single biggest obstacle to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it said on Tuesday.

The Paris Agreement, ratified in 2016, has provided an impetus for political commitment to the reforms needed to fight climate change. Achieving the primary goal of the Paris Agreement - to keep the average global temperature rise well below 2C degrees above pre-industrial levels will increase the ability of governments to achieve the SDGs in the context of the changing climate.

The latest report from UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that the planet could reach the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030 if it continues to increase at the current rate, triggering the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people – posing a threat to the achievement of the entire Agenda 2030.

Dhaka, Mar 4 (UNB) - Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Momen has met an influential congregation of top business, finance and investment leaders in Dubai and discussed investment issues in Bangladesh’s key areas.

Discussions were held for attracting more investment to skill development, human resource augmentation, power and energy sector capacity building and ICT sector development.

The Foreign Minister briefed the business leaders about the Vision 2021, Vision 2041 and the Delta Plan 2100 as envisaged by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

During his short visit there on Saturday, he recalled the close bonds of friendship and amity that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had shared with the visionary leader and founding father of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

The Foreign Minister briefed the industry leaders about the vision of ‘Sonar Bangla’ pursued by the Prime Minister to reach a higher middle-income country landmark by 2021, achieve the 17 SDGs by 2030 and emerge as a developed country by 2041.

He outlined his vision of the foreign policy of Bangladesh on the basis of ‘economic diplomacy’ – which envisages partnerships across business and administrative platforms for the development of the nation.

Highlighting that Bangladesh is no more an aid-seeking country and it envisages a future where the skillsets of its people would be entwined with the financial and technological prowess of the industry. 

The Foreign Minister emphasised the quick-learner’s trait of the Bangladesh people and sought the industry captains to utilise this inherent capability of people.

Agro-processing, fisheries and other sectors of the emerging vectors of the Blue Economy were also discussed.

Foreign Minister Dr Momen noted that Bangladesh wants to emerge as a hub for technological, trade, business and financial connectivity.

He mentioned that the physical connectivity initiative of the government is geared towards creating more fluidity in the business and investment sectors.

The Foreign Minister assured the business leaders that the Foreign Ministry will remain engaged and utilise portfolios to facilitate win-win proposals and help streamline bureaucratic hurdles.

The industry captains expressed their readiness to move into Bangladesh with investments and technology if the government could connect them with their hosts inside the country.

Some of the industry captains complained about the bureaucratic hurdles, including the presumably lengthy renewal processes and the unavailability of smoother international payment systems, particularly in foreign exchange transactions.

They also sought longer visa approvals for business and support for acquiring land areas for developing industrial facilities.

The business leaders also highlighted to the Foreign Minister the need for adopting better technology at comparatively lower cost profiles. 

Representatives from some of the most reputed educational institutions proposed for cooperation in the field of technical education -  particularly in the field of ICT, agro-processing and ocean-based (blue economy sector) research.

Dhaka, Mar 4 (UNB)- Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) has recently received the Gold Remittance Award for collecting highest remittance in the year 2018 conferred by the Centre for Non Resident Bangladeshi (NRB).

Planning Minister Muhammad Abdul Mannan, MP handed over the award to Hasne Alam, Deputy Managing Director of Islami Bank at a program organised by the Centre for NRB at Pan Pacific Sonargaon in the city.

MS Shekil Chowdhury, Chairperson of the Centre for NRB, Kazi M Aminul Islam, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and Md Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, President of FBCCI were present on the occasion.