The newly signed China-U.S. phase-one trade deal will reduce the uncertainty that has impeded global economic growth, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Friday.

"It is a welcoming sign that we now have the phase-one deal, sign in terms of reducing some of the uncertainty," Georgieva said at an event hosted by Peterson Institute for International Economics, a thinktank based in Washington D.C.

The IMF chief said her organization is making some projections around the impact of more certainty, which will be shared on Monday as part of the World Economic Outlook to be released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The multilateral lender expects the trade deal to support the growth of China's gross domestic product (GDP), Georgieva said. "It brings China in the parameters around the 6-percent growth for 2020, rather than below," she said.

In October, Georgieva warned that trade tensions were "taking a toll" on global growth, at a time when the global economy was going through a "synchronized slowdown."

According to the IMF's earlier calculation, the cumulative effect of the U.S.-China trade conflict, provided no actions taken, could mean a loss of 0.8 percent of global GDP, or around 700 billion U.S. dollars by 2020.

"What we are seeing now is that we've some reduction of this uncertainty, but it's not eliminated," Georgieva said. "We would see shrinkage of this negative impact, but not the eradication of this impact."

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) confirmed Friday that it is in discussions with major electronics manufacturer Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd., regarding the potential creation of an equal joint venture.

The proposed joint venture is to develop and manufacture in China new generation electric vehicles and to engage in the IoV (Internet of Vehicles) business, FCA said in a statement.

"The proposed cooperation, initially focused on the Chinese market, would enable the parties to bring together the capabilities of two established global leaders across the spectrum of automobile design, engineering and manufacturing and mobile software technology to focus on the growing battery electric vehicle market," it added.

The parties are in the process of signing a preliminary agreement which will govern further discussions aimed at reaching final binding agreements in the next few months, FCA said.

The Italian-American carmaker said it closed 2019 with December sales in Europe up 13.8 percent year-over-year to more than 69,400 vehicles and a market share of 5.5 percent.

Founded in China's Taiwan Island in the 1970s, Foxconn has expertise in cloud computing, mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, artificial intelligence (AI), smart networks and robotics, according to its corporate website.

The US-Bangla Airlines on Friday added another 72-seater brand new ATR 72-600 model aircraft to its fleet.

With the latest addition, it has 12 planes in its fleet, the highest among Bangladeshi private airlines.
 
The aircraft came straight from the factory in France and landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 3:25pm on Friday, said a press release from US-Bangla Airlines.

Monirul Haque Joarder, director operations, US-Bangla Airlines, and Musa Mullah, director administration, along with others, received the new plane.

The airline is planning to add one more brand new ATR 72-600 aircraft to its fleet by this month. It also plans to add four more brand new ATR 72-600 aircraft to its fleet by June 2020.

The airlines has been operating 10 flights to Chattogram, six to Cox’s Bazar, five to Jashore, four to Saidpur, two to Sylhet and Rajshahi and one to Barishal from Dhaka daily.
 
It has also been operating flights to Kolkata, Chennai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Guangzhou, Muscat and Doha.
 
With the slogan of ‘Fly Fast-Fly Safe’, US-Bangla airlines started its journey and acquired recognition for timely flight operation, international standard cabin service, good quality catering service, comfortable seat and proper passengers’ service.
 

Dutch agriculture exports rose 4.6% in 2019 from the previous year to a new record of 94.5 billion euros ($105.2 billion), the country's statistics office and a research organization said Friday.

In this country famous for its colorful fields of tulips, horticultural products such as fresh flowers, bulbs and plants were the highest-value agricultural sector, amounting to 9.5 billion euros.

Rising prices accounted for about two thirds of the increase, with growth in sales volumes making up the other third, the Central Bureau for Statistics and Wageningen Economic Research said.

Meat exports were second, weighing in at 8.8 billion euros, helped by soaring prices of pork sold to China. The rise was fueled by outbreaks of African swine fever in parts of Asia. Pig meat sales to China rose from 117 million euros in 2018 to an estimated 377 million euros in 2019, according to the research.

The Netherlands' eastern neighbor Germany remained the top market for exports, accounting for 25% of all sales, followed by Belgium and the United Kingdom.

The 57th Meeting of Islamic Banks Consultative Forum (IBCF) was held on Wednesday (January 15, 2020) in the Board Room of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited at Islami Bank Tower.

Prof. Md. Nazmul Hassan, Ph. D Chairman, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. & IBCF presided over the meeting held at 4.00.P.M, said a press release.

The meeting decided to hold a national seminar on Islamic Banking and Finance in July 2020 and other relevant issues on Islamic Banking Industry.  

The meeting was attended among others by  M. Azizul Huq, Chairman, Pubali Bank Ltd., A K M Nurul Fazal Bulbul, Vice Chairman, IBCF, Sayedur Rahman, Vice Chairman, Social Islami Bank Ltd, Rumee A. Hossain, Chairman, Executive Committee, Bank Asia Ltd. Md. Mahbub -Ul-Alam, Managing Director, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, Farman R. Chowdhury,  Managing Director, Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd, Quazi Osman Ali, Managing Director, Social Islami Bank Ltd. M A Halim Chowdhury, Managing Director, Pubali Bank Ltd. Md. Habibur Rahman, Additional Managing Director, Southeast Bank Ltd., Md.Shahjahan Shiraj, Deputy Managing Director, Shahajalal  Islami Bank Ltd., A K M Shahnawaj, Deputy Managing Director, Dhaka Bank Ltd. and other senior executives.