local-business
Walton CEO asks co-workers to save electricity
Walton Hi-Tech Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Golam Murshed has asked his co-workers to save electricity and prevent any waste of it.
The Walton CEO came up with the instructions following different decisions made by the government to cut electricity consumption amid the current global crisis.
The government has taken different steps, including area-based load shedding, and suspension of production in diesel-run power plants. It has also urged everyone to save electricity.
In line with the steps, Walton's CEO gave instructions and took necessary steps to save electricity at all of its offices, sales outlets and service centres, and production plants at its headquarters.
Also read: Walton CEO visits Italy to see ACC's progress on plant dismantling
BGMEA, Eswatini for investment in apparel, textile joint ventures
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have agreed to look into the possibility of investing in joint ventures in the apparel and textiles industries.
Manqoba Khumalo, minister of commerce, industry and trade, paid a courtesy call on BGMEA President Faruque in Dhaka Wednesday.
Read: BGMEA, Amfori to work together promote Bangladesh as safe, sustainable sourcing destination
Cebile Amanda Mhlabatsi, undersecretary, and Mluleki Sakhile Dlamini, director of MSME at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, and Khanyisile Dlamini, senior executive manager at Eswatini Investment Promotion Authority, accompanied the minister during the visit.
Both sides discussed issues of mutual interest for Bangladesh and Eswatini, particularly trade and investment.
BGMEA vice-presidents Miran Ali, Rakibul Alam Chowdhury; Director Asif Ashraf and Chair of BGMEA Standing Committee on Foreign Mission Cell Shams Mahmud were also present at the meeting.
Read BGMEA, Kuhu to take Bangladeshi culture, heritage to global arena with garments
BGMEA, Amfori to work together promote Bangladesh as safe, sustainable sourcing destination
Brussels-based Amfori – which represents over 2,400 retailers, importers, brands and associations from more than 40 countries – and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have discussed working together to promote Bangladesh as a safe and sustainable apparel sourcing destination.
Saiful Millat, network representative of Amfori, met with BGMEA President Faruque Hassan in Dhaka Wednesday.
Read: BGMEA seeks support of IMF to realize strategic vision of RMG industry
They discussed how BGMEA and Amfori can team up to support the apparel industry of Bangladesh in its efforts to pursue the vision of sustainable growth in the coming years.
Also, Saiful Millat said Amfori President Linda Kromjong would attend the "Made in Bangladesh Week" scheduled to be held on 12-18 November 2022 as she was invited by the BGMEA earlier.
IBBL board of directors' meeting held
A meeting of the board of directors of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) was held Wednesday online.
The meeting approved the unaudited financial statements of the bank's second quarter. It also discussed the recent business performance of the bank and took some policy-related decisions.
Professor Md Nazmul Hassan, chairman of the bank, presided over the meeting.
Areef Suleman, foreign director and representative of the Islamic Development Bank, IBBL vice-chairmen Yousif Abdullah Al-Rajhi and Md Shahabuddin attended the meeting.
Read: IBBL holds executive development program
Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and CEO of the IBBL, and JQM Habibullah, deputy managing director and company secretary of the bank, also joined it.
The IBBL is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic Shariah. It is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.
Infinix introduces 180W thunder charge technology
Smartphone brand Infinix has unveiled 180W thunder charge technology.
The latest technology will make its debut on selected flagship phones, the company said in a statement.
With this new technology, users will be able to enjoy a faster, and more advanced smart device charging experience, where a 4500mAh battery can achieve 50 per cent starting from a 1 per cent charge in just 4 minutes.
Read: Infinix brings Note 12
“Following last year's Infinix 160W fast-charging concept phone release, Infinix 180W thunder charge is another industry breakthrough that delivers ultra-fast charging technology to the public. Infinix aims to keep improving daily efficiency through iteration and innovation of fast charging technology so that users around the world can be the first to experience efficient and convenient digital life,” said Manfred Hong, Senior Product Director of Infinix.
Infinix cooperated with the world's leading battery manufacturers to develop a new 8C battery cell, which is the maximum charging rate rechargeable lithium
Keeping safety as a key priority, 180W thunder charge has 111 software and hardware security protection mechanisms to protect smartphones, chargers, and charging cables. The security protection is triggered during abnormal scenarios – such as high temperature, increased voltage, electromagnetic interference, and more – to ensure the safety of the smartphone’s system.
Read Vivo redefines smartphone charging capabilities through Fast Charge Technology
Furthermore, the 180W thunder charge has 20 temperature sensors, which are distributed in USB inputs, charging chips, on the battery, and other locations inside the device.
Infinix’s 180W thunder charge technology is one of the most advanced solutions yet from the Chinese smartphone brand, representing a step forward in technological breakthroughs for smartphones in the mid-range price category.
According to the statement, Infinix 180W thunder charge technology comes with two separate charging modes, Furious Mode and Standard Mode. The furious mode can be activated at the click of a button giving users 180W super-fast charging.
Read realme to launch world's fastest charging technology in MWC
Nagad sets up solar billboards to cut electricity consumption
Mobile financial services (MFS) provider Nagad is turning to solar energy to ease the strain on the nation's electric grid.
The MFS has committed to using solar energy as much as possible in all areas of its daily operations, including advertisements, according to a media statement.
Nagad recently converted its billboards installed for promoting campaigns into solar-powered billboards. In line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, this drive is anticipated to encourage the usage of renewable energy.
Read: MFS sector led financial transactions during Covid-19 pandemic: Nagad MD
The MFS will gradually transform all its billboards into solar-powered ones.
Sheikh Aminur Rahman, Chief Marketing Officer of Nagad, said, "We installed solar-powered billboards which will be operated using only natural energy. Gradually a significant number of Nagad's operations will be powered by pollution-free, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly solar energy."
Mustafa Kamal dismisses reports about Bangladesh request for IMF loan
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has dismissed a media report that Bangladesh is seeking a loan of $4.5 billion in aid for economic recovery.
“Neither we placed any proposal to IMF for loan, nor IMF made any offer to us,” he told reporters while briefing on the outcomes of the two consecutive meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) virtually held on Wednesday.
He made remarks while a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been visiting the country and holding meetings with Bangladesh Bank officials.
“Actually, a consultative committee of the IMF is now visiting the country which has no issue to discuss any loans proposal”, he added, saying, “We don’t need any loan from the IMF right at this moment. We made no request for any funding, not any proposal came from IMF”.
Read: Default loans cross over 126 crore: Finance Minister
He, however, said if any loan is taken from the IMF, Bangladesh will never accept any condition that will go against the interest of the country.
Responding to a question, Kamal said he has no idea about any such list of the countries, prepared by the IMF where Bangladesh was shown as economically vulnerable.
“Bangladesh never failed to service its foreign debts, including that of IMF. No multilateral lending agency ever had to write off Bangladesh's debts”, he said.
he said.
He also dismissed the media report that IMF has a different calculation about Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves. Bangladesh calculates its foreign exchange reserves at at $42 billion while IMF sees it much lower.
“We have been calculating our foreign exchange reserves like other countries do ”, he said.
The finance minister also disagreed with rate of inflation at 7.5 per cent, released by the Bangladesh Bureaue of Statistics (BBS).
“I don’t admit such figure. Inflation is never calculated on weekly or daily basis... no country calculates in such a way”, he said.
BB announces refinance scheme of Tk 25000 crore to boost small buisnesses
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has announced a refinancing scheme of Tk 25000 crore for cottage, micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.
Under this scheme, banks and financial institutions can disburse loans through their own branches, sub-branches, agent banking, and mobile financial services (MFS).
A BB circular in this regard was issued on Tuesday and sent to the top executives of banks and financial institutions.
Read: BB increases interest rate on borrowing from EDF
The circular stated that if it is possible to create opportunities to get money on easy terms for the entrepreneurs engaged in cottage, micro, small and medium industries or CMSME sector, it will accelerate the economic growth.
The title of the scheme is 'Refinance Scheme against Term Loan in CMSME Sector' will be supported by funds from own sources of the central bank.
The funds will be increased if necessary. Initially, the duration of the refinancing scheme will be three years.
Read FY23: Bangladesh Bank raises agro credit target to Tk30,911 crore
BB increases interest rate on borrowing from EDF
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has raised the interest rate on borrowing from the Export Development Fund (EDF).
The central bank on Wednesday fixed 1.0 per cent per annum to 1.5 per cent for Authorized Dealers (ADs) while the ADs will charge 3.0 per cent per annum on their USD loan disbursement to manufacturer-exporters.
The Foreign Exchange Policy Department of BB on Wednesday issued the circular and all authorized dealers in foreign exchange for immediate effect of the notification.
The size of EDF was increased to $ 7 billion from $ 6 billion to meet the growing demand among exporters in the immediate past fiscal year.
In June 2021, the EDF went up to $ 6 billion from $ 5.5 billion, while the fund rose to $ 5.5 billion from $ 5 billion in March of the year. It increased to $ 5 billion from $ 3.5 billion in April 2020.
Read: BB lets dealers to open foreign currency deposit accounts
The growing demand and low-interest rate of lending from the EDF prompted the central bank to increase the size of the fund.
Earlier on April 7, 2020, BB lowered the interest rate to 2 per cent on its EDF for the first time following a downturn in the country’s economic activities created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before that, the interest charge was a six-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 1.50 per cent.
Bangladesh established EDF in 1989, intended to facilitate financing in foreign currency for input procurements by manufacturer-exporters.
Huawei Technologies intends to support RMG industry in renewable energy
A delegation of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Ltd met with BGMEA President Faruque Hassan at the latter’s office in Dhaka on Monday.
The Huawei delegation included Pan Junfeng (Peter), Chief Executive Officer; Li Zongsheng (Jason), Board Member; Liang Weixing, Managing Director for Digital Power Business Group; and Rumman Iqbal Rony, Account Manager, Bangladesh Digital Power Business and Md Nur Alam, Account Manager, Bangladesh Digital Power Business.
BGMEA Vice President (Finance) Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Vice President Md. Nasir Uddin and Vice President of BKMEA Fazlee Shamim Ehsan were also present at the meeting.
Read Huawei introduces versatile cloud solutions for telecom carriers
They had discussions on possible collaboration between Huawei Technologies and BGMEA to increase renewable energy usage in the RMG industry of Bangladesh, particularly by using solar panels in the garment factories.
The delegation gave an overview of their proposed OPEX and CAPEX model of implementing solar PV in the RMG industry especially for SMEs.
BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said the apparel industry of Bangladesh places utmost importance to sustainable growth and has continued its efforts to minimize the environmental cost of production and decoupling resource consumption.
Read: Huawei Bangladesh to recruit 60 fresh graduates
As a result, Bangladesh’s RMG industry has secured the leading position with the highest number of green garment factories in the world, he added.
He called on Huawei Technologies to bring innovative and cost-effective solar panels to garment factories at affordable prices.