local-business
TCB to procure 1.65 cr litres of edible oil from local suppliers again
Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved some 10 proposals including procurement of edible oil by the TCB, and fertliser by BADC and BCIC.
Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will again purchase a total of 1.65 crore (16.5 million) litres of edible oil from three local companies to run its open marketing sale (OMS) programme.
The state marketing agency TCB, a subordinate body of the Commerce Ministry, last week received a nod for procuring 2.25 crore (22.5 million) litres of soybean oil and 15,000 metric tons of lentils from local suppliers for the same purpose.
Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in its meeting on Wednesday approved three new separate proposals, placed by the Commerce Ministry on behalf of TCB in this regard.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting.
As per the decision of the CCGP meeting, the TCB will procure 55 lakh (5.5 million) litres of soybean oil from each of the three companies—Super Oil Refinery Ltd., City Edible Oil Ltd and Meghna Edible Oil Refinery of Dhaka. Each litre will cost Tk 185 and each of the companies will supply the edible oils through two-llitre bottles as per condition of the contract.
The entire consignment will cost Tk 305.25 crore as the TCB will pay Tk101.75 crore to each of the three companies.
The Cabinet body also approved three separate proposals to import a total of 90,000 metric tons of fertiliser from two countries in three lots under G2G deals.
Read: TCB to procure 2.25 litres of soybean oil, 15,000 mts of lentil for OMS
Of these, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) under the Ministry of Agriculture will import 30,000 MT of TSP fertiliser in a single lot from OCP, SA of Morocco while Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will 90,000 MT of urea fertiliser Muntajat of Qatar and Kafco of Bangladesh in three separate lots.
The 30,000 MT fertiliser from Morocco will cost Tk 221.53 crore while each metric ton will cost $687.25 against the previous rate of $ 914.50.
Under the BCIC proposals, the Muntajat will supply a lot of 30,000 MT of bagged prilled urea fertiliser at a cost of Tk 206.59 crore. Each MT of fertiliser will cost724.50 against the previous rate of $563.33.
The Mutajat will supply another lot of 30,000 MT bulk granuller urea at Tk 209.10 crore. Each metric ton will cost $733.33 MT against a previous rate $ 630.83.
The Committee also approved a proposal of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) to award contracts for printing, binding and supplying of 11.20 lakh textbooks for the students from class I to VII for the 2023 session-year at Tk 489.25 crore.
The contracts will be awarded to 83 companies in 182 lots, said Abdul Barik, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division while briefing reporters.
A proposal of the Public Works Department under the Housing and Public Works Ministry received a nod to award a Tk 41.86 crore contract to Mazid Sons Constructions Ltd for external electrification works of 2 buildings at Rooppur Green City Housing Complex.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in principle approved two separate proposals to award contracts through direct purchase method.
Of these, Bangladesh Army will execute dredging and river bank protection works at Majhirchar of Dohar area and elevation of ground level of army installations, wave protection and arrow defense works at Army Establishment in Mithamoin Upazila of Kishorganj District.
BGMEA, GarmentTechBD to collaborate in improving supply chain management skills
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Academy of Garments Technology Bangladesh (GarmentTechBD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in providing training to mid-level management in the RMG industry to improve their knowledge and skills in supply chain management and other self-improvement fields.
Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA, and Zhuang Lifeng, founding President of Overseas Chinese Association in Bangladesh (OCAIB) and Managing Director of Academy of Garments Technology Bangladesh inked the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations on Tuesday.
As per the understanding, BGMEA and GarmentTechBD will collaborate in conducting survey and study in garment factories to assess training needs and design training courses accordingly.
Read: Bangladesh to stay safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA
GarmentTechBD will provide training to mid-level management employees in supply chain management and other skills development.
SM Mannan (Kochi), Senior Vice President of BGMEA; Md. Faizur Rahman, Secretary General of BGMEA; Abdus Salam, Adviser; Md. Panna Rahman, Project Leader; Jahangir Alam Joy, Head of HR, Admin and Compliance; and Mohammad Hasan Imam, Senior General Manager of GarmentTechBD were also present at the MoU signing ceremony held at BGMEA Complex.
Banks reschedule loans worth nearly Tk 6000 crore, waive Tk 2800 crore in interest in first 6 months of 2022
Despite reduced instalment facilities in term loans, banks have rescheduled loans worth Tk5960 crore and waived interest amounting to Tk2816 crore of interest waived in 6 months (January-June), revealed latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB).
According to the BB data, state-owned banks rescheduled loans worth Tk 1,300 crore, while private banks Tk 4,150 crore. The remaining Tk 779 crore has been rescheduled by specialized banks.
The BB introduced a loan moratorium and reduced instalment facility during the Covid pandemic to avert huge defaults as the businesses were affected by the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read: Default bank loans surge to record Tk 1.25 lakh crore in Bangladesh: BB
Despite those moves, the accumulated default loans rose to Tk1.25 lakh crore till June this year. The banks had to reschedule around Tk5960 crore, posing a challenge to the sector.
Bankers said many small and big businesses have been affected due to the pandemic. Many have halted regular loan repayments, raising the issue of the pandemic. Some banks are not able to collect the loan repayments due to irregularities and corruption.
As a result, the default loan volume is increasing, and now stands at around 9 per cent of the country’s total disbursement of loans.
WE summit in October, Dhaka to encourage women entrepreneurs
‘Women and E-commerce’ Platform (WE) will organize a women entrepreneurs’ business summit at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in October.
The organizers said the summit will be held on October 14 and 15 as the largest conference in the country, where the WE entrepreneurs can discuss problems and potentials of e-commerce business.
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak will preside over the inaugural ceremony. On this day, 30 guests will participate in the discussion.
Read: Bangladesh received over $1 billion remittance in Sep 1-15
Apart from this, there will be workshops by local and foreign guest speakers on various topics including easy and uninterrupted Internet access for entrepreneurs, adapting themselves with the logistics ecosystem and financing for business expansion, Facebook marketing, and photography. Eight sessions will be conducted online on these issues.
On the second day, there is a 'fashion show' on various products and services made by the WE entrepreneurs. Again, these entrepreneurs will host the event with cultural performances.
In the closing session, the best 20 women entrepreneurs will be awarded with the Joyee (winner) award. Among them, 10 will be WE members and the remaining 10 will be from other sectors.
WE President and E-CAB Joint General Secretary Nasima Akhter Nisha, “We have been organizing various workshops and training to improve the skills of local women entrepreneurs for a long time. At the same time, we are working to establish links with entrepreneurs on various public and private platforms.”
ShareTrip scores World Travel Awards for fourth straight time
Online travel agency (OTA) ShareTrip was recently honoured with the "World Travel Awards" a fourth straight time.
ShareTrip won awards in different categories, including Bangladesh's Leading Online Travel Agency 2022 and Bangladesh's Leading Travel Agency 2022.
Established in 1993, the World Travel Awards (WTA) is also known as "the Oscars of the travel industry."
This award ceremony is held annually to recognise those who are working hard to provide excellent service in travel and tourism in different regions of the world.
This year, the organisation board received 2.3 million votes from across the globe.
Sadia Haque, co-founder, and chief executive officer of ShareTrip, said: "Winning the World Travel Awards for the fourth time is a remarkable achievement for us. It proves our consistent commitment to providing a seamless travel experience service and other travel-related services for travel lovers in Bangladesh."
ShareTrip started its journey three years ago as one of the earliest online travel agencies in Bangladesh.
It has been serving over half a million customers across the country bringing thousands of hoteliers and hundreds of airlines online and building the largest inventory of domestic hotels and resorts, according to a media statement.
National Life insurance premium can be paid through Nagad
Customers of mobile financial services provider Nagad can now pay the National Life Insurance Company's premium policy fee.
Nagad users can now pay monthly, quarterly, and yearly premium policy fees using their accounts.
Nagad customers can pay the fees for premium policies of National Life Insurance using the app or dialling the USSD (*167#) from their account.
Also, customers can use Nagad to pay the premiums for National Life Insurance Company's single insurance, Takaful insurance, Public insurance, and NPDI policies.
An agreement was recently inked between the two organisations in Dhaka.
Chief Business Officer Sheikh Aminur Rahman, Head of Payment Department Mohammad Mahbub Sobhan, and Deputy General Manager (FI and Insurance), Business Sales MD Bayezid of Nagad were present at the signing ceremony.
Chief Executive Officer and MD Kazim Uddin, Additional Managing Director Khasru Chowdhury, Chief Financial Officer Prabir Chandra Das of CA, Senior Executive Vice President (HRD and Sales Promotion) Md Enamul Haque, Senior Executive Vice-President (Finance and Accounts), Mohammad Nomanul Mehedi Khan, and SVP IT AMM Moeez Uddin of National Life Insurance also joined the event.
Islami Bank launches special campaign to popularise deposit schemes
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has launched a 15-day special campaign to make the bank's different deposit schemes more popular among customers and encourage them to save.
The Sanchoye Samriddhi Nirapad Agami was launched Monday in Dhaka. Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, was present at the event as the chief guest.
The campaign is also expected to play an effective role in improving the standard of living of the underprivileged people through financial inclusion, according to a media statement.
Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic shariah.
Established in 1983 as the first Islamic bank in southeast Asia, it is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.
Bangladesh received over $1 billion remittance in Sep 1-15
Bangladesh received inward remittances worth over USD $1008.67 million (1,000 million = 1 billion) in the first 15 days of September, amid the forex crisis in the country.
Bankers said remittance inflow shows an upward trend as the remitters are encouraged by the depreciation of taka and they get more than Tk 108 per dollar.
The remittance inflow is expected to cross $2 billion in September.
Read: Uniform rate: Tk 108/dollar max for remittance, Tk 99/dollar for export income from tomorrow
Bangladesh received remittances of $2.09 billion in July and $2.03 billion in August, which became a blessing amidst forex crisis.
Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank told UNB that the central bank has simplified various processes to attract more remittance through banking channels.
The government is also extending remittance incentives as well as providing policy support. Now the dollar rate is getting higher, he said.
Read: Hope amidst forex crisis: Bangladesh received $2.03bn remittance in Aug
The sector insiders said that Bangladesh’s inward remittance flow will grow more as manpower export hit a new high in the past fiscal on a post-pandemic rebound of the overseas job market.
The data of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) showed over 9.88 lakh workers had gone abroad in the fiscal year FY22 while this figure was 2.71 lakh in FY 21.
This happens to be the highest number of annual overseas jobs in the last seven years.
Read How to safely send remittance to Bangladesh?
It is also contributing to growing up the inward remittance flow in Bangladesh.
Tap teams up with Sonali Bank to launch inter-banking transaction services
Mobile financial services (MFS) provider Trust Axiata Pay (Tap) has launched inter-banking transaction services in collaboration with Sonali Bank.
From now on Tap users can avail of the services using Sonali Bank's add money option.
Read: Tap offers bonus data, cashback on Robi, Airtel internet packages
Customers can avail of the services for free by adding the Sonali Bank option to their apps.
To enjoy the service, add money or fund transfer option needs to be accessed.
"Tap customers can add money or transfer funds of maximum Tk50,000 and Tk3 lakh monthly," the MFS CEO Nazmul Hasan said in a media statement.
Small traders can open bank accounts without trade license: Bangladesh Bank
Bangladesh Bank has simplified the bank account opening process for small traders, dropping trade license requirements.
The name of the account will be 'Personal Retail Account' or 'Private Retail Account'. This account can be opened in banks, mobile financial services (MFS), e-wallet service providers, and payment service providers (PSP).
Individual small entrepreneurs can transact through such an account for commercial purposes, said Bangladesh Bank.
Also read: Tax return document not needed for loans up to Tk 20 lakh: NBR
The central bank revealed this information in a discussion with Asian Development Bank on Saturday.
A personal retail account can be opened only after submitting the documents required for e-KYC in bank account opening. There is no cost to open this account. Besides, loan will also be available on the basis of transaction. Even if the account is in MFS, the cash-out cost will be less.
Director of the Payment System Department of Bangladesh Bank, Masbaul Haque, told UNB that there is opportunity to open a ‘personal retail account’ without a trade license.
Also read: Takes 6-12 months to identify a share market manipulator in existing system: BSEC Chairman
The central bank has issued such a directive to encourage the growth of small business sector.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s circular, no trade license will be required to open an ‘individual retail account’.
E-KYC and necessary documents to open a bank account have to be submitted. It will be managed like a current account. This account can be used for commercial purposes, Bangladesh Bank sources said.
Read Export Development Fund loans can be repaid in instalments from now on
However, a maximum of Tk 10 lakh per month can be transacted through this account. The one-time status of this account will be maximum Tk 5 lakh.
Micro and small traders such as grocers, floating food vendors, bus-CNG-rickshaw drivers, street vendors, sellers of various products and services on Facebook, or service providers engaged in various marginal professions can open this account.
A copy of the national identity card and proof of profession are required to open the account. Trade license is not mandatory for professional credentials. A valid document issued by the local public representative or the relevant business association is required. All banks, MFS, and PSP service providers in the country will open this account free of cost, said the central bank.
Read How to Get a Trade License in Bangladesh?