local-business
Samsung Bangladesh brings new B Series TVs
Samsung Bangladesh has brought its new B Series TVs for different segments and with different sizes.
The company's 2022 models come with cutting-edge technology, smart features, and innovative designs, including Neo QLED and QLED TV models.
Read Walton expands TV business in Georgia
The new series comprises different models under different segments, namely – Neo QLED 8K models QN900B (85-inch) and QN800B (75-inch); QLED 4K TV models Q70B (75-inch, 65-inch and 55-inch) and Q60B (75-inch, 65-inch and 55-inch); Lifestyle TV models Frame (55-inch) and Serif (50-inch), Dynamic Crystal UHD 4K model BU8000 (85-inch, 75-inch, 65-inch, 55-inch, 50-inch and 43-inch).
Core features of the televisions include Motion Xcelerator, dynamic crystal colour, built-in IoT Hub and multiple voice assistant, Quantum Matrix Technology Pro (Quantum Mini LED), shape adaptive light control, Neural Quantum Processor 8K with real depth enhancer, eye comfort mode, Quantum HDR 64x, Dolby Atmos, OTS Pro with 3 Layer, Q symphony, SpaceFit sound, Smart Hub, Bixby Voice Assistant, Infinity Screen and Solarcell Remote.
Read: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 Review: Multitasking King for Utilitarian Users
Robi signs tower-sharing deal with Teletalk, Summit
Robi Axiata, Teletlak Bangladesh and Summit Towers have entered into an agreement for sharing existing network infrastructure.
Robi and Teletalk will be able to share their infrastructure in collaboration with Summit Tower as per infrastructure or tower sharing guidelines under the agreement.
A deal was signed among the companies recently in Dhaka.
Read: Robi launches sales academy
The partnership will help the operators with the quick rollout and serve their customers better. It will also help them optimise assets.
Teletalk Managing Director (MD) AKM Habibur Rahman, Summit Tower MD and CEO Md Arif Al Islam and Robi ACEO and CFO M Riyaaz Rasheed signed the agreement, said a media statement.
Genex Infosys inks deal with City Bank
Genex Infosys has signed an agreement with City Bank to provide the commercial bank with managed contact centre services under an outsourced model.
Under this agreement, part of the City Bank's customer service operation will be outsourced from Genex, a publicly listed business process management and IT services company.
The agreement signing ceremony was held in Dhaka Tuesday.
Read: Standard Chartered teams up with Genex to reach more clients
Prince Mojumder, CEO of Genex Infosys, said: "We're happy that City Bank has put its trust in us following the global trend of outsourcing non-core services. We strongly believe that we can add significant value to it and take the partnership to new heights with our diversified expertise in customer experience management and revenue generation."
Kazi Azizur Rahman, DMD and chief information officer of City Bank, said: "With Genex onboard, we will continue to deliver our customers with stellar experience and diverse service offerings in years to come."
Standard Chartered teams up with Genex to reach more clients
Standard Chartered Bangladesh has partnered with Genex Infosys to engage with more clients.
An agreement was recently signed in Dhaka.
Genex – a publicly listed business process management and IT services company – will help Standard Chartered Bangladesh scale up its distribution network, reach new client segments more efficiently, and deliver banking products and services to a broader customer group.
Sabbir Ahmed, head of consumer, private and business banking at Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said: "As we build a more collaborative ecosystem and foster more strategic partnerships, we aim to continue to deliver our world-class suite of banking solutions at an unprecedented scale in the coming years."
Read: COVID-19 pandemic: Standard Chartered Bangladesh contributes USD 1.6 million
Prince Mojumder, chief executive officer of Genex, said: "We are excited to partner up with a reputed brand as Standard Chartered. We believe we can share our expertise in achieving the goal of our partner, and at the same time strengthen our foothold in the BFSI Sector."
FBCCI wants testing lab at ports for ease of doing business
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has called for setting up testing labs at the ports to ensure the faster delivery of imported goods and products and uninterrupted production.
Products imported through Chattagram port are sent to the capital for testing, which takes weeks or months – delaying the delivery, increasing the cost of business, and disrupting production, FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said Wednesday at a meeting in Dhaka.
Earlier, the members of the FBCCI Standing Committee on Port and Shipping said customs officials are "enthusiastic" to penalise importers for unintentional HS Code mistakes as they receive 15 percent incentives on the fines imposed.
They called for the withdrawal of the incentives and suggested bringing the entire system online to make HS code entry of products easy and accurate.
Also read: Economic zones can turn Bangladesh into global investment destination: FBCCI
Strengthening business interactions to benefit both Bangladesh, India: BGMEA
– Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on Wednesday said Bangladesh is seeking to harness the potential of man-made fibre (MMF) apparel export as the demand for clothing made of synthetic materials is rising globally.
In alignment with the global trend and demand, the RMG industry of Bangladesh is strongly focusing on diversifying RMG product basket, especially to non-cotton and high-value items, it said.
On the other hand, India has a big textile sector having a considerable capacity of supplying man-made fibre and blended textile products while the country is also a promising destination for Bangladeshi RMG exports.
The business situation has created opportunities for Bangladesh and India to drive development in the RMG and textile industry in both countries.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan came up with the observations while speaking at a meeting with Dhiraj Raichand Shah, Chairman of The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC).
BGMEA Vice President Shahidullah Azim, Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Trade Fair Kamal Uddin, Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Cash Incentive Humayun Kabir Salim and Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Schedule Bank Md. Israfil Atique were also present at the meeting held at BGMEA Complex in Dhaka.
Read: BGMEA seeks uninterrupted energy supply by special arrangements
Faruque Hassan laid emphasis on increasing more direct business interactions between Bangladeshi RMG exporters and Indian textile products suppliers to strengthen the reciprocal relationship that would be useful for both sides.
SRTEPC Chairman Dhiraj Raichand Shah invited BGMEA to participate in the Source India Mumbai exhibition which will be held in Mumbai from 28th November to 30th November, 2022.
Different categories of the latest range of Indian textile products including Fibre, Yarn, Fabrics for Men’s and Women’s Wear, Home Textiles, Made-ups, Technical textiles, etc. will be displayed in the exhibition.
The BGMEA President invited the SRTEPC Chairman to the “Made in Bangladesh Week” which will be organized by BGMEA to showcase prospects and strengths of the RMG industry.
Like Singapore, Bangladeshi traders can now buy goods and export directly to third countries
Bangladesh Bank has announced a ‘Merchandise Trade’ policy to diversify exports.
From now on, like Hong Kong and Singapore, traders can buy goods or services from another country and export them to third countries.
Foreign Exchange Policy Department of Bangladesh Bank issued a circular in this regard and sent it to the authorized dealers for immediate execution on Wednesday.
Read MCCI-PRI for raising EDF to $10 billion to achieve $80 billion export target
The central bank circular stated, “In accordance with export policy in force, a trade for which goods or services procured from a country, are shipped or delivered directly to a third country is defined as ‘merchandising trade’. To facilitate transactional services by ADs to their ‘merchandising, trade’ customers, it has been decided to formulate a set of operational guidelines.”
This type of business is gaining popularity worldwide. Specific policies in this regard were necessary for Bangladesh. Due to the new policy, export trade will expand. Now traders from countries like Hong Kong, and Singapore can do business. It will earn a lot of foreign currency.
According to the policy, ‘merchandising, trade’ is defined as ‘procurement of goods and services, from another country and shipment of goods and services from that country directly to buyers in a third country’.
Read Bangladesh’s apparel export to cross $100 bn by 2030: experts
According to the circular, the EXP form will not be required for export activities under merchandising trade. Similarly, the IMP form applicable to imports will not be required in the case of procurement of goods from different countries.
Import expenses can be met with income from foreign sources. At the same time, the possibility of meeting import expenses under buyers' credit received from abroad has been kept in the circular. However, in this case, the bank cannot guarantee payment.
The circular directed that there should be a sufficient margin for local expenditure and profit after meeting liabilities from export earnings.
Read All export-oriented industries should get equal facilities: Salman F Rahman
300,000 VAT collecting machines to be installed in Dhaka, Ctg by pvt firm
A private firm, Genex Infosys Limited, will provide and install 300,000 VAT collecting machines in Dhaka city, adjoining areas and Chattogram city in the next three years.
Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) at a meeting on Wednesday approved a proposal of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to select Genex Infosys as a vendor to collect value added tax (VAT) on behalf of the government.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting while members of the committee attended it.
Read Black money whitening got little response in FY 22: NBR data
Genex Infosys was selected through an open tender, said additional secretary of the Cabinet Division Abdul Barik while briefing on the decisions of the committee.
He said the Genex as a lowest bidder won the contract in three lots to supply and install Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) and Sales Data Controller (SDC) or VAT collecting machines at different types of retail shops.
Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its nod in-principle to this decision of NBR on August 31.
Read NBR supports Made in Bangladesh brand: Chairman
Barik said the vendor will supply and install the machines at its own cost and in return it will get 0.52-0.538 percent of the collected money as service charge while depositing it to the government.
It will also carry out the operation and maintenance work as well, he added.
According to NBR officials, it’s not possible for the government to operate so many machines across the country, that’s why service outsourcing is being done.
Read NBR dreams to cross revenue Tk3.0 lakh crore in FY 22
However, installation of EFD machines started two years ago but there is not much speed in its operation.
Market-based foreign exchange rate may be introduced soon: Finance Minister
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the government is considering introducing market-based foreign currency exchange rates.
“We’re contemplating going for market-based foreign exchange rates. Today or tomorrow, we’ll have to go for market-based trading of foreign currency,” he told reporters while briefing on the outcomes of two consecutive meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Wednesday.
Read: No IMF proposal received to raise power, petroleum prices: Finance Minister
The finance minister’s remarks came against the backdrop of the recent instability in the foreign currency market where the US dollar’s exchange rate recently went up to Tk 119 from Tk 85.
Bangladesh Bank recently fixed exchange rate at Tk 95 while in private banks dollar was being traded at TK 108.
Responding to a question on re-fixing the bank lending rates, he dismissed the possibility of any upward or downward change in lending rates against the existing rates of 6-9 percent interest on deposits and bank loans.
Read: Nothing wrong in economy as Bangladesh seeks IMF loan: Finance Minister
“The current interest rates between 6-9 percent are working well,” he said.
He said many countries pursue the path of increasing interest rates to contain inflation.
“But it is very tough in countries like Bangladesh to contain inflation by increasing or decreasing interest rate,” he said, adding, the central bank here does the job in two ways – by taking fiscal measures and monitoring the market.
About foreign exchange reserve, he said the foreign currency reserve is in good state.
Read Chinese ambassador meets Bangladesh finance minister
“Our remittance is increasing while export is rising and import is decreasing”, he said, claiming that there is no crisis in the foreign currency market. The foreign exchange reserve will again go up to $48 billion soon.
Responding to another question on import of Russian fuel in roubles, the finance minister said work is in progress in this regard.
“But in such a case, Bangladesh will have to do it through currency swap. Russia has to accept our currency first,” he said.
Read No IMF proposal received to raise power, petroleum prices: Finance Minister
BB web portal shows US dollar exchange rate Tk106, though BB rate Tk96
Bangladesh Bank (BB) suddenly changed the US dollar rate at the interbank exchange rate on Tuesday.
The central bank says that the selling price of the dollar in interbank transactions on Tuesday was Tk106.15. And in the interbank transaction, the purchase price of the dollar is Tk101.67.
But it is not the central bank rate, it is the dollar trading rate between the banks themselves. The price at which banks trade dollars is called the interbank rate.
Read: Uniform rate: Tk 108/dollar max for remittance, Tk 99/dollar for export income from tomorrow
Recently, the price at which the central bank used to buy and sell dollars was referred to as the interbank rate. The BB has been publishing that price on the website.
But today (Tuesday) the central bank suddenly changed the price. Last Sunday, the selling price of the dollar was shown at Tk95 on the website. Yesterday (Monday), the price of the dollar was increased by Tk1 to Tk 96.
Today (Tuesday) the selling price of the dollar is shown on BB’s website as more than Tk106. And the purchase price is showing around Tk102.
However, even today, the BB has sold $4.5 crore from forex reserves at the rate of Tk96.
Read: Illegal dollar trade: BB summons account details of 28 exchanges
The central bank officials say that the price at which banks will buy and sell dollars will be the interbank rate. That will be published on the website. But the central bank will not sell at this rate.
The BB Executive Director and Spokesperson Md Sirajul Islam told UNB, "The price of the dollar was increased to Tk 96 yesterday. Even today the central bank sold dollars at this price.”
He is not aware why the price of dollars is being shown so high on the website.