Business
Onion import through Dinajpur’s Hili port falls after India imposes 40pc export duty
The import of spice item onion from Indian to Bangladesh through Hili Land Port in Dinajpur fell drastically as the neighbouring country imposed a 40 percent duty on onion export with effect from Sunday (August 21, 2023).
No trucks carrying onion entered Bangladesh territory through the land port till 2:30 pm on Monday due to the execution of the duty. Later 17 trucks loaded with onions entered the port after the importers paid the duty.
The price of onion is soaring with the passage of time in local markets and one kg of onion is being sold for Tk 54 to 56 at the local storages (Hili).
Local importers said the onion price increased by Tk 8 to 10 per kg on Saturday following the decision to impose the duty from the Indian side.
Shahidul Islam, an importer of Hili Land Port, said an extra amount of Tk 10 will have to be counted to import per kg onion now and it will stand at Tk 50 to 56 against each kg which will ultimately impact on local markets.
Read: India imposes 40% duty on onion exports effective today
“Today we allowed a few Indian trucks-loaded with onions to enter Bangladesh as Letter of Credit (LC) was opened for those earlier,” he said, adding that otherwise the imported onions stranded on the India side would get rotten once not brought by paying the export duty.
Harununr Rashid, president of Hili Land Port Import-Export Group, said, “India always breaches the trade rules with us. They take decisions suddenly on all issues; we want India to withdraw the duty to keep onion exports normal.”
Read: Onion prices soar in Khulna market after India slaps duty on export
FBCCI and IOFS working together to expand Halal market opportunities
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), a concern of the OIC, have set their will on expanding business in the global ‘Halal’ market together.
Both the FBCCI and IOFS have outlined their plans to enhance Halal product availability and market penetration in a discussion meeting held at the FBCCI Icon in Dhaka on Monday.
FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam said that the halal market is growing in both Muslim and Non-Muslim nations.
He said a significant share of the halal industry came from The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member nations, which was worth USD $3.7 trillion in 2020.
Read: FBCCI and ICC discuss strengthening trade ties
In the fiscal year 2022-2023, $843.03 million worth of halal products were exported from Bangladesh, with 70 percent of those exports going to Muslim nations, he said.
FBCCI President said, “To provide local manufacturers and commercial companies with Halal certificates and emblems, the government formed a Department of Halal Certification (DHC) under the Islamic Foundation in 2007. But Halal certification in Bangladesh still faces significant obstacles.”
“Bangladesh must make effective efforts to establish a notable presence in the domestic and global halal markets. We need to find ways to work together and coordinate with the different OIC bodies to make it easier to certify things as halal,” he added.
Mahbubul Alam said, although Bangladesh has a large and well-built agricultural sector, inadequate supply chain infrastructure often results in significant post-harvest losses, reducing the overall productivity and profitability of the sector.
He urges cooperation and investment from OIC member countries to improve the existing agriculture infrastructure and cold chain in Bangladesh.
Read: FBCCI election: 15 new directors from Combined, 8 from Oikya panels elected
Speaking in the meeting Director General of IOFS Professor Yerlan Baidaulet praised Bangladesh for the revolutionary improvement in agro production.
He said, “We are very proud to have such a member country like Bangladesh. We would like to have strong support and partnership with the private sector in the field of agriculture and food processing.”
There is huge potential in the Halal market globally and it’s growing tremendously. But this market is dominated by Non-Muslim Countries. It is the big time to grab the halal market, he said.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the International Islamic Food Processing Association (IFPA) and FBCCI. FBCCI President Mahbubul Alam and Director General of IOFS Prof Yealan Baidaulet signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization.
Under the agreement FBCCI will get membership services from IFPA which include access to IFPA Publications; Invitations to various IFPA events; Establishing B2B agri-food cooperation among the private sector of the OIC countries.
Read more: FBCCI to vote to elect new directors on Monday
Universal Pension Scheme- a timely move to inclusive economic change: DCCI President
Barrister Md. Sameer Sattar, President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) on Sunday in a statement said Universal Pension Scheme (UPS) is a timely move for inclusive and sustainable social safety net for the greater socio-economic development.
He said, “This move will create a new era in the economic history of Bangladesh. UPS offers four types of people-friendly packages including ‘Pragati’, ‘Surokkha’, ‘Samata’ and ‘Prabashi’ targeting different communities, especially private sector employees, NRBs, informal sector, and low-income groups of individuals.”
Read: EgyptAir Cargo service to play vital role in connecting global market: State Minister
This scheme can also bring in an almost large number of people the society under its net. The option of a 50 percent contribution by the government to the insolvent depositors under the “Samata” scheme is also a remarkable move, he said.
Many developed and developing economies like the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Australia, India, Canada, Iceland, and Switzerland have meanwhile successfully implemented this sort of scheme to safeguard the welfare of their mass people, the DCCI president said.
Read: ABF, Primark CEOs meet BGMEA President
“Replication of operational and safety learning from these countries may help the new scheme to perform as the game-changer of our much-needed economic transformation,” he added.
Bangladesh Bank gets huge response for Digital Bank, 52 applications in hand: Spokesperson
A total of 52 domestic and foreign institutions have submitted applications to get licenses to open digital banks, a spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank said on Sunday.
Among the applicants are state-owned and private commercial banks, mobile financial services (MFS), ridesharing and food delivery companies, and domestic and multinational companies. Some of the institutions have applied individually and some jointly to get the license, said Mazbaul Haque, the executive director of the central bank and its spokesman.
Read: EgyptAir Cargo service to play vital role in connecting global market: State Minister
“These applications will be scrutinized. The Central Bank Board will issue LOI (Letter of Intent) for the license to those who have applied and are eligible as per the policy,” Haque said.
'Digital Bank' will be completely technology dependent without having physical branches, sub-branches, and ATM booths. There will be no physical transaction. Bank services will be provided to customers using mobile and digital devices as per policy, he said.
Meanwhile, the BB opened a web portal for the application of Digital Bank, and all processes of this bank would be made through digital method instead of submitting paper documents in the traditional method, the central bank sources said.
Read: Universal Pension Scheme- a timely move to inclusive economic change: DCCI President
That means all the necessary documents must be submitted digitally. The application fee will be Tk 5 lakh, which is non-refundable.
An initial capital of Tk 125 crore will be required for the license of banks, and at least Tk 50 lakh will be required to become a director. Those interested in starting this new bank should apply through the new web portal.
Earlier on June 14, the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Bank approved the launch of 'Digital Bank'.
Read: Pathao hopeful its proposed digital bank can offer one-stop banking solution for digital natives
On June 15 it issued a policy in this regard. In continuation of this, the Central Bank launched a web portal on June 21 to submit online applications.
EgyptAir Cargo service to play vital role in connecting global market: State Minister
State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md. Mahbub Ali has said that launching cargo service by EgyptAir will play a vital role in connecting Bangladesh with the global market to export its goods to new destinations.
"This is a significant milestone for both of our countries, and it will lead to more considerable trade and economic cooperation between us,”he told the launching ceremony of EgyptAir's cargo service from Dhaka.
The EgyptAir GSA Cargo organised the function at InterContinental Hotel in the city on Saturday to commemorate its formal launching of the Cargo service from Dhaka on Sunday.
With Farhad Hossain, Managing Director of EgyptAir GSA Cargo, in the chair, the function was also addressed by Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Md. Mokammel Hossain, Captain Gasser Hossain, Chairman, Egypt Air Cargo, Ahmed Kelani, Head of Finance, Egypt Air, Cargo and Hesham El Syed, VP, Egypt Air Cargo.
Read: After passenger flight, EgyptAir now set to launch cargo services from Dhaka
The State Minister said the Egypt Air Cargo service will be a valuable asset to the Bangladesh market, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact that it will have on our trade relations.
He said Bangladesh is a rapidly growing economy with a young and dynamic population. It has a strong manufacturing sector and a growing export market, he said.
Mahbub Ali said the integrating Egypt Air Cargo into regular flights in Bangladesh is a win-win for both countries.
Beside economic cooperation, he said, it will also create new jobs and opportunities for our people.
Read: Walton receives Tk 250cr orders from 'ATS Expo'
After a huge response from passengers in the last three months to its Dhaka-Cairo-Dhaka direct flight operation, EgyptAir launched its cargo service between the two destinations.
The officials of Egypt's national flag carrier formally announced the launching of its cargo business from Dhaka.
EgyptAir's first passenger flight started operation from Dhaka on May 14 with passengers filling all 309 seats.
Farhad Hossain said that from the first day passenger flight operations started in Bangladesh the EgyptAir has been receiving a good response from passengers. “It has encouraged us to take up the move for providing cargo services.”
Read: US-Bangla announces holiday packages for the Maldives
He said Egypt will maintain a high standard of its Cargo service to attract the customers of the growing market like Bangladesh which has been witnessing a tremendous growth in its export sector.
India imposes 40% duty on onion exports effective today
The Revenue Department of the Indian Finance Ministry has imposed a 40 percent duty on onion exports to Bangladesh effective today (August 20, 2023), causing a hike in the price of the item mainly used as spice in local markets.
An Indian gazette notification signed by Amreeta Titus, deputy secretary of the Revenue Department under the Finance Ministry, said the duty will remain effective till December 31 this year. India imposed the duty for the first time.
Importers of Hili Land Port said earlier they paid no tax for importing onions from India. Due to the 40 percent duty, an extra Tk 10 per kg will have to be counted.
Read: Indian onions start reaching Satkhira, leading to prices easing down
On the other hand, each kg of onion is being sold at Tk 50 since this morning. Per kg of onion was being sold at Tk 39-47 just a day back.
They said Sunday is a weekly holiday in India and import of onion won’t be possible until the newly imposed duty is not paid, urging the Bangladesh government to look for alternative markets to import the item from.
Read: Indian onions start arriving through land ports as import resumes
Indian exporters said onion prices are soaring in the country and the government has imposed the duty to discourage exports.
They suspected that the prices may be hiked next month as substantial amounts of onions rotted due to excessive heat.
Read more: Govt to allow onion import from Monday: Agriculture Ministry
ABF, Primark CEOs meet BGMEA President
A delegation of Associated British Foods (ABF) led by its Chief Executive George Weston met with BGMEA President Faruque Hassan to discuss potential collaboration in achieving shared goals around sustainability and opportunities for expanding business base in Bangladesh.
The delegation also included Paul Lister, CFO of ABF; Paul Marchant, CEO of Primark and Matt Rhodes, Manager of Primark.
BGMEA Vice President Miran Ali, Directors Faisal Samad, Navidul Huq, Barrister Vidiya Amrit Khan, Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Press, Publication and Publicity Shovon Islam and Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Trade Fair Mohammad Kamal Uddin were present at the meeting held at BGMEA Complex in Uttara, Dhaka recently.
They discussed issues of mutual interests including collaboration in strengthening partnership with the Bangladeshi suppliers to produce more innovative and value-added products and improve their environmental performance, BGMEA said in a media release on Saturday.
During the meeting, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan provided an overview of the readymade garment industry of Bangladesh, especially with focus on its current standing in the global market, vision, strides in workplace safety, environmental sustainability, and circular fashion.
Read: RMG exports: Bangladesh earned $3.95 billion in July, says BGMEA
He also spotlighted the Sustainability Strategic Vision 2030 of Bangladesh’s RMG industry, explaining how it looks into all ESG issues pertinent to the sector and is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He apprised the delegation of the initiatives to strengthen human rights and environmental due diligence in the RMG sector of Bangladesh.
The presentation made by the BGMEA President showed the current situation of Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the UK market and potential of enhancing the market share.
He also briefed the ABF delegation about the key priorities of the industry including innovation, technology upgradation, product diversification, skill development, and circularity in a bid to address key challenges of the industry and become more competitive in the global market.
Read: Bangladesh RMG sector committed to sustaining safety accomplishments: BGMEA President
Extending thanks to ABF and Primark for choosing Bangladesh as one of the largest sourcing market, Faruque Hassan urged them to increase buying garments, especially high-value items and manmade fibre-based apparels from the country.
Chief Executive of ABF George Weston praised the developments of Bangladesh’s RMG industry in the areas of workplace safety, and environmental sustainability. He also lauded BGMEA for its initiatives and efforts for the development of the garment industry. He expressed willingness of Primark to give more focus on Bangladesh as their sourcing market.
Both sides showed interest in deepening their collaboration in relevant issues including sustainability and manufacturing competitiveness alongside workers’ wellbeing and education.
Read more: Bangladesh's RMG export to USA grows 6.31% in FY 2023-24
After passenger flight, EgyptAir now set to launch cargo services from Dhaka
After a huge response from passengers in the last three months to its Dhaka-Cairo-Dhaka direct flight operation, EgyptAir is now set to launch its cargo service between the two destinations.
According to aviation industry sources, Egypt's national flag carrier will start its cargo business from Dhaka soon.
To commemorate the official launching of the new business; the EgyptAir is going to make an official announcement in this regard.
Earlier EgyptAir’s first passenger flight started operation Dhaka on May 14 this with passengers filling all 309 seats.
Read: EgyptAir's maiden Dhaka-Cairo flight leaves without a spare seat
Farhad Hossain, executive director and chief operating officer (COO) of Egypt Air Bangladesh office, had informed that its inaugural flight, brand-new Boeing 787-9 aircraft having 309-seat with 30 business class left the capital city Dhaka for Egyptian capital Cairo.
“From that day, we have been receiving a good response from our distinguished passengers. That has encouraged us to take up the move for providing cargo services”, he told UNB.
He said this was the first flight of the regular non-stop Dhaka-Cairo-Dhaka flight operations of the state-owned airline of Egypt.
Read: BFCC to supply food to EgyptAir preferring Bangladeshi taste
Farhad Hossain said as per the plan of EgyptAir, the airline is now operating two weekly flights between Dhaka and Cairo.
The airline operates flights to and from Dhaka twice weekly on Sunday and Wednesday with brand-new Boeing 787-9 aircraft, he added.
Tourism industry insiders said that the launching of bilateral air connectivity between Egypt and Bangladesh has opened an immense opportunity in the tourism sector for both the brotherly nations.
Read more: EgyptAir moves to align with BSP before launching Dhaka-Cairo flights from May 14
Pathao hopeful its proposed digital bank can offer one-stop banking solution for digital natives
Pathao, Bangladesh’s largest digital services company, is awaiting a central bank licence to set up a digital bank.
The proposed Pathao Digital Bank is a natural progression of the company’s mission to enhance the lives of its 10 million young consumers and 500,000 drivers, delivery agents, and SME entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, according to a press release from the digital services company.
Pathao feels the needs of this segment remain unaddressed by the local financial sector. They qualify for and need access to credit and yet face an unreasonably high barrier, because traditional banks and financial institutions lack the distribution, data and technological capabilities to assess the creditworthiness of these consumers and technology-enabled asset-light small businesses.
With its rich customer data, advanced analytics and engineering capabilities, Pathao believes it is uniquely positioned to solve the financial access problem of this segment – a sample of which was presented with Pathao Pay Later, Bangladesh’s “first and largest” Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution.
Body of Pathao driver recovered from Tongi’s Turag river
Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Pathao Pay Later offers flexible spending limits and a frictionless user experience to over 100,000 of Pathao’s most loyal and active customers. The product has seen remarkably low delinquencies since its launch on November 16, 2021.
Further, in April 2023, Pathao was awarded a payment service provider (PSP) licence to launch a digital payment wallet; Pathao Pay is already in closed beta testing and will be rolled out commercially in the coming months.
A digital banking licence would provide the regulatory framework for Pathao to unleash its cutting-edge technology to truly enable consumers and small businesses to transact how they want, access funds when they need, and manage funds how they should.
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“Pathao is far more than a brand, or a suite of products – it is a lifestyle. Just as it has radically transformed urban transportation and the gig economy in Bangladesh, Pathao Digital Bank will reshape banking in Bangladesh. With this, we believe we can catalyse an important growth stage of the Bangladesh economy,” said Fahim Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Pathao.
Founded in 2015, Pathao is a market leader in ride-sharing, food delivery and e-commerce logistics, serving more than 10 million consumers, daily earners and small businesses. All three verticals are profitable. With $50 million in capital raised, Pathao is one of the most highly funded start-ups in Bangladesh. The company was recently awarded the Employment Catalyst Award by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for outstanding contribution to job creation, particularly in the youth segment.
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Investments in poor small-scale farmers generate significant benefits for climate and environment, says new IFAD-GEF report
Joint investments in small-scale farming in developing countries not only increase vulnerable rural people’s capacity to cope with the ever-increasing climatic and economic shocks, but significantly benefit the environment and climate by helping to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, recovering degraded land and curbing biodiversity loss, according a new joint report launched today by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
“IFAD's partnership with GEF benefits 78 million people across 100 countries, improving their livelihoods and delivering resilience-building solutions across food systems, climate and nature,” said Jyotsna Puri, Associate Vice-President of the Strategy and Knowledge Department at IFAD.
“Together our organisations assemble finance to have a catalytic impact on rural communities across the globe and facilitate a multiplier effect on the systems and institutions they are critical to,” added the Associate Vice-President of IFAD, the only UN specialized agency and international financial institution that focuses exclusively on reducing poverty and improving food security in rural areas in developing countries.
Read: IFAD president Alvaro Lario lauds Bangladesh's remarkable achievements in food production
The partnership with GEF enables IFAD to boost its work to support sustainable land and water management, climate-smart agriculture, agroecology, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and resilience building, says the new IFAD-GEF Advantage III Report.
For instance, one project aimed at developing family farming, co-funded by IFAD and GEF, restored 30,000 hectares of degraded land in Niger. In doing so, this programme prevented the emission of 5.25 million tonnes of CO2, while recovering nearly 190,000 hectares through ‘Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration’ practices, which foster regrowth of trees to increase woody vegetation.
Read: IFAD president visits India to advocate for small-scale farmers, rural communities at G20 meeting
IFAD-GEF collaboration has also helped unlock innovation at country level, highlights the report. In Cambodia, ‘testing grants’ de-risked the adoption process of Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) by supporting the proofing and validation by small-scale farmers and small and medium enterprises. These grants were followed by other ‘roll-out grants’ through a co-financing approach with companies to establish local supply chains, training and after-sales services. As a result, nearly 18,000 small-scale farmers have adopted different RET, such as solar dryers for food processing, portable solar water pumps to irrigate crops, biochar briquettes to heat newly hatched chicks, solar poultry incubators to heat eggs, and solar hydroponics to grow vegetables with less water.
IFAD's ability to bundle different sources of development finance unlocks new possibilities to address pressing global challenges such as transforming the way we produce, transport, store and consume food.
Read: IFAD, Bangladesh end loan negotiation for Tk 7,214cr project to transform agriculture
Together with its sister agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IFAD co-leads the new Food Systems Integrated Program of the GEF, whereby an estimated US$230 million – to be complemented by additional co-financing – will be directed through grants to support countries working to transform their agrifood systems to be more sustainable and to deliver global environmental benefits.
The currently active portfolio of IFAD-GEF operations represents a total investment of nearly US$200 million in 35 global projects on agriculture and rural development across all world regions.
Recent project approvals in 2022 and 2023 alone represent more than US$64 million in GEF grants, with significant co-financing of over US$347million. Moreover, 13 projects in 18 countries and totalling almost US$ 100 million are at the design stage in the IFAD-GEF pipeline and a ‘soft pipeline’ of projects being scoped out comes to almost another US$100 million.