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Remittance inflow rises ahead of Eid
Remittance inflow has increased ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr as Bangladesh received $ 1.82 billion remittance from April 01- 27.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) is expecting that the figure will exceed USD $ 2 billion as expatriates are sending additional money for their relatives ahead of Eid-ul Fitr.
Md. Serajul Islam, executive director and also spokesperson of BB told UNB on Saturday that a total of $ 1.82 billion remittance were received by different banks from April 01- 27.
He hoped that more than $30 billion remittance will be received in the remaining days of April.
Read: Customs houses to remain open during Eid holidays
Bangladesh received $1.87 billion in July, $1.81 billion in August, $1.72 billion in September, $1.64 billion in October and $1.55 billion in November, $1.63 billion in December, $1.70 billion in January, $1.14 billion in February of FY 22.
The expatriates sent $ 2.17 billion remittance in the month of May last year, ahead of Eid-ul Fitr.
In March 2022, the expatriates sent a $1.86 billion remittance. The inward remittance inflow of the last nine months of FY22 saw a decreasing trend compared to the corresponding months in the FY21.
In the same period of FY21, the remittance inflow was $2.59 billion in July, $ 1.96 billion in August, $ 2.15 billion in September, $ 2.10 billion in October, $2.07 billion in November, $2.05 billion in December, $ 1.96 billion in January, $1.78 billion in February and $1.91 billion in March.
Walton Digital Campaign Season 14: Two more customers get Tk20 lakh rewards
Two more customers have got Tk20 lakh rewards after buying Walton refrigerators under the company's ongoing Digital Campaign Season 14 campaign.
The customers are Md Parvez Reza Hossain from Gopalganj and Jewel Rana from Natore.
Earlier, two other customers Abul Hashim from Mymensingh and Md Abdur Razzak from Natore also got Tk10 lakh each while 10 more customers received Tk1 lakh each after purchasing Walton refrigerators.
Read Eid: Walton Digital Campaign Season 15 starts
On Wednesday, popular film actor and also Walton Senior Executive Director Amin Khan and Mayor of Gopalganj Municipality Kazi Liakat Ali officially handed over a cheque of Tk10 lakh to Parvez at a programme in Gopalganj.
On April 23, another cheque of Tk10 lakh was handed over to Jewel at a different programme in Bogura.
Read EPB assures Walton of support to boost electronics, electrical products exports
Bangladesh to retain fame as safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA
The country's readymade garment (RMG) industry is committed to sustaining its achievements in workplace safety and environmental sustainability that have earned the sector global accolades, said the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
A tangible transformation has taken place in Bangladesh's apparel industry following massive safety initiatives along with extensive training of workers jointly undertaken by the government, brands, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and development partners, BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said Thursday.
"And we are determined to retain the fame of Bangladesh as a safe and sustainable apparel sourcing destination in the world," he added.
Read OECD delegation calls on BGMEA president
Faruque made the observations while speaking at a programme organised by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, marking National Occupational Health and Safety Day 2022 in Dhaka.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi attended the programme as the chief guest while State Minister for Labor and Employment Begum Munnujan Sufian was present as a special guest.
The BGMEA president said while Bangladeshi garment factories have become safer, a concrete change has also taken place in the mindset of both workers and owners who now view workplace safety as an integral part of the industry.
Read BGMEA chief for working harder to safeguard progress, prospects
Safety initiatives along with training programmes supported by TC-ILO on worker-management relations, occupational safety and health, and labour laws for both factory management and workers have contributed to the change, he added.
The RMG Sustainability Council has been formed to sustain workplace safety in Bangladesh, Faruque said.
ILO Country Director Tuomo Poutiainen, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments Inspector General of Nasir Uddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Employers Federation President Ardashir Kabir, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Executive President Mohammad Hatem were also present at the programme.
Read Huawei Technologies willing to support RMG sector in renewable energy: BGMEA
Americans can benefit by investing in SEZs: Tipu Munshi
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the United States is a friend of Bangladesh and if Americans invest in Bangladesh's special economic zones, they will be benefited.
The Minister said this while exchanging views with Peter D Haas, US Ambassador to Bangladesh, at the Secretariat on Thursday.
The United States is a big market for garment exports for Bangladesh. For the sustainable development of the readymade garments sector, Bangladesh has upgraded its labor law to world standard, said the minister.
"Safe and friendly working environments have been created in the factories. Building and electricity safety has been ensured," he added.
There are 157 factories certified by Lead Green Garments Factory of the USA in Bangladesh. Of the top 10 green factories in the world, nine are in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is now the second-largest exporter of readymade garments in the world.
Although the production cost of readymade garments in Bangladesh has increased, the buyers have not increased the price in comparison. It is necessary to ensure fair price of readymade garments in Bangladesh, Munshi added.
Read: World Bank loan to bolster Bangladesh's economic growth
Ambassador Haas said the USA is a development partner of Bangladesh. The development of Bangladesh is now visible. Bangladesh has already graduated from LDC and become a developing country. In the future, US economic and trade relations with Bangladesh will be further enhanced, he hopes.
Commerce Minister said Bangladesh is making efforts to sign trade agreements with various countries like PTA or FTA to create trade facilities.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce (Exports) Md Hafizur Rahman, Additional Secretary (FTA) Nur Mohammad Mahbubul Haque, Additional Secretary (Export-2) Md Abdur Rahim Khan were present.
Tap, Dana sign deal to offer embedded financial services
Mobile financial service provider Trust Axiata Pay (Tap) and Dana Fintech, an embedded finance and credit scoring platform, have announced a partnership to offer loyalty programmes, buy now, pay later (BNPL) and digital lending to underserved consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The partnership is set to facilitate end-to-end embedded financial services for micro and small enterprises and underserved consumers through lending partners.
Both companies will also enable partner banks and MFIs to extend salary advances, SME digital lending, and BNPL facility to Tap users.
Read: NID fees can be paid through upay
Dewan Nazmul Hasan, acting chief executive officer of Tap, said this partnership will be "a breakthrough in improving the creditworthiness of individuals and SMEs since the combination of Dana's embedded scoring and lending platform and Tap's high-productivity MFS infrastructure will enable partner lenders to extend digital lending to Tap users and agents."
Gazi Yar Mohammed, co-founder and CEO of Dana, said, "By partnering with Tap, we are expanding our lending operating system to offer a seamless financial wellness platform to Tap users and API driven business acquisition and lending platform to our partner banks and MFIs."
NID fees can be paid through upay
Customers of mobile financial services provider (MFS) upay can now make payment of different service-related fees such as correction of national identity (NID) card and collection of duplicate NID.
The service will be available to customers through the upay app and USSD code "268."
Upay signed an agreement with the Election Commission (EC) Tuesday.
Read: US-Bangla Airlines offers chance to youths to become pilot
Rezaul Hossain, managing director and chief executive officer of upay, and Mohammad Azizul Islam, director of administration and finance at the NID wing under the EC Secretariat, signed the deal.
Upay, a subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, launched its operation in March 2021.
Since its launching, the company has acquired around 60 lakhs customers. It has more than one lakh agent points across the country, according to a media statement.
Read Healthcare payments: Nagad offers discounts of up to Tk2,350.
Development sector: 'Young job-seekers should learn soft, technical skills to thrive'
While there are many job opportunities for youth in the development sector, young job-seekers and fresh graduates often do not have the required technical or soft skills, said speakers at a roundtable organised by Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) Thursday.
Those interested in making a career in this sector should learn both soft and technical skills, they added.
Moderated by Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of BYLC, the virtual roundtable on emerging trends in development sector jobs included industry experts from the development sector who focused on how youth can prepare themselves for a career in development and meet the skills demand of a rapidly changing world.
Speakers discussed the changing trends in the development sector as Bangladesh is set to evolve into a middle-income nation in 2022.
They also mentioned the importance of skills such as agility, flexibility, multi-tasking, empathy, communication, and readiness to learn, be more employable and meet the demands of the industry.
Read: US-Bangla Airlines offers chance to youths to become pilot
"We want to use the insights gained from development experts to build our bootcamp curriculum. It is only when we know the demands and expectations of the industry will we be able to identify the skills gap and work to bridge that gap," said Ejaj.
Speakers at the roundtable included Farina Ahmed, director of new business development at Save the Children, Zahedul Amin, co-founder and director of strategy and consulting services at LightCastle Partners, Helal Hussain, head of portfolio at Swisscontact, Lamiya Jabbar, adviser at Danish Embassy.
Mahmuda Rahman Khan, senior programme development specialist (gender) at USAID, Ashapurna Das Purba, programme manager at private sector engagement and employment, skills development programme at Brac, and Mahjabeen Quader, senior policy advisor for economic affairs and CSR at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Bangladesh.
Zakat can be donated to Islamic organisations through Nagad
Shariah-based mobile financial service Nagad Islamic has introduced the option of paying zakat.
Customers can donate zakat to Islamic organisations using this "shariah-compliant" platform.
In addition to paying zakat to selected organisations, customers can make donations to different organisations throughout the year.
They can use the Nagad Islamic app to pay zakat and make donations to Islamic and zakat donation organisations.
Through Nagad Islamic, institutions receive zakat and distribute the funds equally to poor Muslim communities following Islamic guidelines.
Users will have the opportunity to donate to a variety of different charities throughout the year.
Nagad Islamic recently included the zakat calculation feature for the convenience of users.
Customers can conveniently calculate the accurate amount of zakat by using the zakat calculator option on the Nagad Islamic app or website, by entering information such as yearly income, investment, gold, debt, and assets for the whole year.
Once the precise amount of zakat is calculated, customers can access the donation option in the Nagad Islamic app and pay zakat to the merchant zakat organisation of their choice.
BB asks banks to ensure smooth online service during Eid vacation
Bangladesh Bank has asked banks to ensure uninterrupted online transaction across the country during the Eid vacation.
Md. Mesbahul Hoque, General Manager, Payment System Department (PSD) told UNB on Thursday that the central bank has instructed banks to ensure enough security for payment systems including ATM booths and internet payment gateways.
The central bank said that banks have to keep enough money along with an uninterrupted support team for Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Point of Sale (POS), internet banking, online e-payment gateway, and mobile financial service (MFS).
Also read: BB enhances working capital loans limit for export-import trading
For ATM, the BB instructed to have enough money along with tightened security, service instantly if problems arise any of ATB booths, and keeping equal quantity in On-Us and Off-Us transaction level.
In internet banking, the BB asked banks to ensure Two Facto Authentication (2FA) for account to account payment, online e-payment gateway and ‘card not present’ transaction system.
In MFS, the BB instructed MFS provider’s banks and their subsidiaries to keep enough money to their agent/ service points to meet uninterrupted transaction service for the customers in the Eid vacation period.
Also read: BB re-fixes MFS money transaction limit to ease payment during Eid
Besides, the BB asked banks to aware the customers regarding forged notes, higher protection measures to prevent financial scam or crime and strengthen cyber security in every sector as well as inform customers instantly of any kinds of inaction reports.
The banks are also instructed to keep an active helpline round the clock and to provide solutions of problems to the customers instantly.
Banks to remain open across country Saturday
Bangladesh Bank (BB) in a notification on Thursday said that all the scheduled banks will remain open on Saturday (from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm) to meet the growing demand for cash money ahead of Eid-ul Fitr.
Also read: Despite central bank's green light, banks shy to invest in capital market
Besides, the scheduled banks will remain open on Friday (from 9:30 am to 12.30pm) in industrial areas in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chattogram.
However, banks will remain open till 3:00 pm on Friday and till 2:30pm on Saturday respectively for completion of post transaction ancillary activities.
Also read: BB issues revised agent banking guidelines
The Department of Off-site Supervision of Bangladesh Bank on Thursday issued the notification and sent it to the top executives of the bank.