Business
Business Eswatini for signing MoU with FBCCI
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, who is on a two-day bilateral visit to Eswatini, the southern African country formerly known as Swaziland, had a meeting with Business Eswatini representatives in Mbabane Tuesday.
Business Eswatini is the federation of chambers of commerce and industry of Eswatini as well as the federation of the employers association of Eswatini – a bit like Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the Employers Federation rolled into one.
The apex chamber represents agriculture, textiles, mining, financial services and other business bodies.
The Bangladesh state minister urged Business Eswatini to develop relations with their Bangladeshi counterparts.
Citing Bangladesh as a very suitable destination for business and investment, Alam mentioned the growing purchasing power of Bangladeshi consumers as well as the rapidly growing middle class in the country.
He referred to the various industries like textiles, pharmaceuticals and other sectors where cooperation may be forged.
Both sides recognised the role of business women in the economic sectors and agreed to establish exchanges between women entrepreneurs.
The CEO of Business Eswatini, Nathi Dlamini, invited Bangladeshi businessmen to do business as well as to invest in Eswatini, saying the country is a stable one with a skilled labour force.
He also presented a draft MoU to the Bangladesh side for consideration of the FBCCI.
Also, the chamber suggested establishing joint ventures between Bangladesh and Eswatini entrepreneurs.
Read more: FBCCI to host Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 from March 11 to 13
Government determined to ensure safe working environment: Salman
The government is determined to prevent accidents and ensure a safe working environment in factories, industries and commercial establishments, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman said Wednesday.
"Seventeen institutions scored below 25 percent in the specified criteria; they will get three months to improve their overall situation," he said at the end of the second meeting of the national committee for preventing accidents and ensuring a safe working environment in commercial establishments.
"If there is no certain improvement within this time, these companies will be sealed off," he told the meeting held at the secretariat.
"Two hundred and six companies scoring 50 percent of the criteria will get six months to improve their overall situation," the adviser added. "Action will be taken against industrial establishments failing to improve their working environment within the specified time."
All inspected industrial establishments will be notified of their existing defects and instructed to correct them within a specified period.
Also, all concerned authorities, divisional commissioners/deputy commissioners/upazila nirbahi officers, local public representatives and concerned associations will be informed about the inspection reports and instructions.
Salman said 5,206 establishments of nearly half a million industrial establishments were visited under the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority's supervision and through the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.
"We plan to inspect another 10,000 factories," he added.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Md Atiqul Islam and State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Mannujan Sufian were present in the meeting which also discussed turning the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments into an authority by increasing its workforce and jurisdiction.
Read more: Occupational safety, health of all workers must be a national priority: ILO
Commerce Ministry to continue advocacy for simplification of registration process: Minister
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday said his ministry will continue its advocacy with other ministries to simplify the process of obtaining certificates and registration, including five-year trade licences to ensure ease of business.
He said this when Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) Chairperson Nihad Kabir paid a courtesy call on him at the Ministry of Commerce.
As part of it, the Ministry issued a notice in November 2022 to provide Import Registration Certificate (IRC) and Export Registration Certificate (ERC) for five years rather than one, he added.
Read more: Measures in place to ensure supply of essentials in Ramadan: Tipu Munshi
Referring to the BUILD request for complete automation of RJSC (Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms) services, he said, “We will go for full-scale automation, and we will be going through some internal proceedings while we aspire to be a paperless office in delivering faster business registration services online.”
BUILD Chair Nihad Kabir expressed concern over the high paid-up capital requirement for one-person companies (OPC). As a result of the enforcement of high paid-up capital, the nation has yet to see the predicted rise in OPC. The existing paid-up capital of Tk 2.5 million should follow the example of private limited companies.
She urged the commerce minister to consider eliminating the Tk 25 lakh minimum paid-up capital requirement for one-person companies while leaving the maximum limit open. She also advocated for eliminating the necessity for a commercial address when applying for a trade licence to facilitate company operations throughout the country.
“The government has extended the validity of all trade licences by five years to reduce the hardships faced during the annual renewal of these certifications, which involves considerable time and effort that, in turn, affects the ease of doing business, and we appreciate it,” said MCCI President Md Saiful Islam.
“Following the examples of IRC and ERD of five-year terms, other agencies can issue licences and relevant certificates,” he commented.
Read more: LCs under scanner to check money laundering: Tipu Munshi
Having stressed the need to simplify obtaining a trade licence, he advised that the government could digitalise the trade licence process collecting all relevant fees five years apart and transferring the revenue under the head to pertinent agencies that earn income for providing the licences.
BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara said that the notification for five years terms trade licence is a great move, but the notification was not meant for the municipalities and union parishad, which opens the concerns of the private sectors as they issue trade licences for thousands of small businesses regularly. The commerce minister endorsed it.
She further said that BUILD and the Ministry of Commerce prepared export roadmaps on plastic, leather and light engineering sectors targeting the export of USD 22 billion, USD 12.9 billion, and USD 12.56 billion by 2030, respectively.
Underscoring the need to implement the roadmap’s action plans, she said that the Ministry of Commerce could take the lead and contribute to the country’s export basket. During her presentation, she appraised some research and survey-related activities and assured more collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce while the country is transitioning to a developing country.
DCCI President Sameer Sattar also attended the meeting.
FBCCI to host Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 from March 11 to 13
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will host the Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 in March on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
The Summit, scheduled for March 11-13, will promote trade and investment promotion.
Read more: Regaining customer trust a must to boost insurance sector's growth: FBCCI
The summit, envisaged to become Bangladesh's flagship business event, seeks to highlight the country's economic and market strengths, and trade and investment opportunities here by convening national and global business leaders, investors, policymakers, practitioners, policy and market analysts, academia, and innovators.
The Bangladesh Business Summit will also host the best of Bangladesh Expo and FBCCI Business Awards 2023.
There will be three plenary sessions on strategic issues, 13 parallel technical sessions, B2B meets, networking sessions, an open house reception and guided tours for international delegates.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority are also working with the FBCCI for the summit.
Read more: FBCCI for building skilled workforce for achieving SDGs
Speaking as the chief guest at the briefing and networking luncheon event Thursday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said: "The Bangladesh Business Summit is a very timely initiative in the backdrop of the Covid-19 wave, Russia-Ukraine war and the desperately disrupted global economy and supply chain."
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said that the country is now moving forward with a new vision.
"A cost-effective, sustainable, intelligent, knowledge-based, innovative Smart Bangladesh will be built on the four main foundations – Smart Citizen, Smart Economy, Smart Government and Smart Society – by 2041," he added.
Bangladesh-Turkiye Business Forum launched to usher in new era of economic cooperation
With an aim to promote bilateral relations, the Bangladesh-Türkiye Business Forum (BTBF) was officially launched on Tuesday paving the way for a new era in trade and investment between the two countries.
“This is an important occasion for us because our countries are building another bridge through this business forum,” said outgoing Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan.
Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman spoke at the event as the chief guest which began with brief classical music at the Turkish Embassy in Dhaka.
An hour before the launching event at the Embassy, Ambassador Turan together with the BTBF leaders opened the office of BTBF at “Marina Mansion” at city’s Gulshan-2.
Read more: Robust leadership, political trust fortified Dhaka-Ankara economic, defence ties: Turan
Honorary Consul General of Türkiye in Chattogram and co-chairman of BTBF Salahuddin Kasem Khan, Managing Director of Mohammadi Group and BTBF chairperson Dr. Rubana Huq and CEO of United AYGAZ LPG Ltd and BTBF Secretary Ercument Polat spoke at the event.
BSEC forms Shariah Advisory Council for stock market
In a move towards developing Shariah-based capital market Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has formed a nine-member council to advise it on this subject.
The decision came recently at the market regulator’s 848th meeting, Rezaul Karim, executive director and spokesperson of BSEC, told UNB.
"Through the formation of Shariah Advisory Council, the opportunity to bring Islamic Shariah-based securities to the capital market of Bangladesh will be strengthened,” he said.
He said domestic and foreign investors interested in Shariah-based securities will be more interested in investing in the capital market.
Read more: BSEC working to enhance financial literacy for capital market investors: Prof Shibli
The advisory council has been set up under rules of 'Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Securities Market Shariah Advisory Council) Act-2022.
The council will advise the BSEC on the formation of Islamic Capital Market including different types of Islamic Shariah-based securities issues. For example, formulation of Shariah-related guidelines, formulation of standards for Islamic Shariah-compliant securities, whether any securities are Shariah-compliant or not, this council will give opinions according to the needs of the commission.
There will be 5 Shariah scholars and 4 experts as members of the Commission's Shariah Advisory Council.
In light of this principle, the BSEC decided to make Professor Dr. Mohammad Abdur Rashid the chairman of the council.
The selected 5 members of Sharia scholars are - Professor Dr. Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Mufti Shahid Rahmani, Mufti Yusuf Sultan, Mufti Dr. Waliur Rahman Khan (Representative of Islamic Foundation), and Maulana Shah Wali Ullah.
Read more: Under, over-invoicing to stop if commodity exchange is launched: BSEC Chairman
On the other hand, 4 expert members are - Finance and Banking Expert Prof. Abu Taleb, Legal Expert AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul, Accounting Expert Prof. Md. Nazim Uddin Bhuiyan, and Capital Market Expert Mejbah Uddin Ahmed.
As per the rules, the BSEC will nominate the members of the Council. And the chairman will be elected by the vote of the council's Shariah betta (Shariah knowledge experts).
The tenure of the members, including the chairman of the council will be 3 years. A member may be nominated for two consecutive terms. However, BSEC can re-nominate any person as a member of the Council after two terms with a gap of one term.
Business trusted most in a more polarized world, report says
People worldwide are more gloomy about their economic prospects than ever before and trust business far more than other institutions like governments, nonprofits and the media in an increasingly divided world, according to a survey from public relations firm Edelman.
Released late Sunday to coincide with the World Economic Forum’s gathering of business elites and government leaders this week in Davos, Switzerland, the online survey conducted in 28 countries shows that fewer people believe their family will be better off in five years.
Read more:US to max out on debt soon, setting up political fight
Those who believe they’ll be better off dropped to 40% from 50% last year and hit all-time lows in 24 nations. That is because 89% fear losing their job, 74% worry about inflation, 76% are concerned about climate change and 72% worry about nuclear war.
The Edelman Trust Barometer also says 62% of respondents see business as both competent and ethical, compared with 59% for nongovernmental agencies, 51% for governments and 50% for the media. That was attributed to how companies treated workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and return to offices as well as many businesses vowing to exit Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
People still said they distrusted CEOs as well as government leaders and journalists, while trusting their own corporate executives, co-workers and neighbors. Scientists were trusted the most — by 76% of respondents.
“The increased level of trust in business brings with it higher-than-ever expectations of CEOs to be a leading voice on societal issues,” said Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. “By a six-to-one margin, respondents want more societal involvement by business on issues such as climate change, economic inequality and workforce reskilling.”
But companies face stirring contention by jumping into those topics, with 52% saying businesses can’t avoid politicization when they tackle divisive social issues, he said.
Despite the uncertainty, people want companies to stand up for them: 63% say they buy or advocate for brands based on their beliefs and values.
Most respondents say business should do more, not less, to deal with climate change, economic inequality and other issues.
This comes as social divisions have become entrenched, creating a polarized world that has left people feeling like they can’t overcome their differences or even willing to help others who don’t share their beliefs, the survey says.
Less than one-third of respondents said they would help, live with or work with someone who strongly disagrees with their viewpoints. Six countries — Argentina, Colombia, the U.S., South Africa, Spain and Sweden — were listed as severely polarized, driven by distrust in government and a lack of shared identity.
If divisions are not addressed, people fear the result will be worsening prejudice and discrimination, slower economic development and violence in the streets, the report said.
More than 40% in the survey believe governments and companies must work together to solve social issues, with the onus on the most trusted institution — business — to bring people together.
Most respondents — 64% — said companies supporting politicians and media outlets that build consensus would help increase civility and strengthen society.
In its 23rd year, the Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed more than 32,000 people online in 28 countries from Argentina to Saudi Arabia to the U.S. from Nov. 1 to Nov. 28.
China's trade surplus swells to $877.6B as exports grow
China’s trade surplus swelled to a record $877.6 billion last year as exports rose despite weakening U.S. and European demand and anti-virus controls that temporarily shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers.
Exports increased 7% from a year earlier to $3.95 trillion, decelerating from 2021′s explosive 29.9% gain, customs data showed Friday. Imports edged up 1.1% to 2.7 trillion, cooling from the previous year’s 30.1% rise as economic growth slowed and consumer spending weakened.
Read more: Bangladesh reassures Chinese FM of one-China policy, seeks better trade relations
The country’s politically volatile global trade surplus expanded by 29.7% from 2021′s record, already the highest ever for any economy.
“China’s foreign trade and exports showed strong resilience in the face of many difficulties and challenges,” said a customs agency spokesperson, Lu Daliang, at a news conference.
Export growth slumped late in the year after the Federal Reserve and other central banks raised interest rates to cool record-setting inflation by slowing economic activity.
December exports fell for a third month, contracting by 10.1% from a year earlier to $306.1 billion. That was bigger than November’s 9% slide.
Last year's exports to the United States edged up 1% over 2021 to $581.8 billion despite tariff hikes by President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, that still are in place on many goods. Chinese imports of American goods declined 1% to $177.6 billion.
China’s annual trade surplus with the United States, one of the irritants that prompted Trump to hike tariffs, widened by 1.8% from 2021 to $404.1 billion.
Forecasters expect Chinese export growth to weaken further as the possibility of recession in Western economies increases. Some expect this year’s exports to shrink.
“China’s exports are likely to contract until the middle of the year,” Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a report this week.
Earlier in 2022, trade also was hampered by anti-virus controls that shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers in March for up to two months, disrupting manufacturing and global shipping.
In December, exports to the United States fell 19.5% from a year earlier to $301.1 billion. Imports of American goods shrank 7.3% to $228.1 billion. That produced a $78 billion surplus, down 17.5% from a year earlier.
Exports to the 27-nation European Union tumbled 39.5% to $43.6 billion. Imports of European goods fell 31.3% to $24 billion. China’s trade surplus with Europe fell 50% to $19.6 billion.
“Downward pressure on the world economy is increasing,” warned the customs agency’s Lu.
Also in December, Chinese imports from Russia, mostly oil and gas, rose 8.3% over a year earlier to $9 billion.
China, the biggest global energy consumer, has stepped up purchases from Russia to take advantage of price discounts after Washington, Europe and Japan cut imports to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for its attack on Ukraine.
China can buy Russian oil and gas without triggering Western sanctions, but Biden has warned Beijing against helping Moscow’s military. China bought about 20% of Russia’s crude exports in 2021 and increased that last year.
China’s December imports of oil, food, industrial components and consumer goods shrank 7.3% to $228.1 billion.
Business and consumer activity is starting to rebound following the ruling Communist Party’s surprise decision to lift anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home and blocked most travel into and out of China.
Activity has been temporarily dampened by a surge in COVID-19 infections that forced some factories, restaurants and other businesses to close due to lack of healthy workers. Wary consumers are returning only gradually to shopping malls and restaurants.
The economy also is under pressure from tighter controls on debt, which triggered a slump in the country’s vast real estate industry.
Manufacturing activity weakened in December and new export orders contracted for a fifth month, according to a survey by a leading business magazine, Caixin. Auto sales fell 6.7% from a year earlier. Housing sales and retail spending are down.
Authorities say the peak of the infection wave might have passed in Beijing and other major cities.
A revival in Chinese demand would be a boost to global suppliers at a time when U.S., Europe and Japanese sales are weakening. China is the biggest export customer for its Asian neighbors and a key consumer market.
Economists say the only comparison for China’s vast trade surplus as a percentage of its economy was Saudi Arabia and other oil exporters during their 1970s price boom, but their total revenues were smaller.
The swollen surplus has strained the ability of China’s central bank to manage the exchange rate of its yuan, which rose to multi-year highs against the U.S. dollar as money flowed into the country.
The People’s Bank of China responded by ordering banks to keep the exchange rate stable and trying to limit the ability of traders to speculate on the currency’s movement.
UAE names oil company chief to lead UN COP28 climate talks
The United Arab Emirates on Thursday named a veteran technocrat who both leads Abu Dhabi’s state-run oil company and oversees its renewable energy efforts to be the president of the upcoming United Nations climate negotiations in Dubai, highlighting the balancing act ahead for this crude-producing nation.
Authorities nominated Sultan al-Jaber, a trusted confidant of UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who serves as CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. That firm pumps some 4 million barrels of crude a day and hopes to expand to 5 million daily.
Those revenues fuel the ambitions of this federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula — as well as the production of more of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide that the U.N. negotiations hope to limit.
Read more: UAE keen to scale up engagements with Bangladesh
But al-Jaber also once led a once-ambitious project to have a $22 billion “carbon-neutral” city on Abu Dhabi’s outskirts — an effort later pared back after the global financial crisis that struck the Emirates hard beginning in 2008. Even today, he serves as the chairman of Masdar, a clean energy company that grew out of the project that now operates in more than 40 countries.
“Sultan al-Jaber has the credentials and background to lean into trends that are already on going,” said Ryan Bohl, an Austin, Texas-based Mideast analyst for a risk-intelligence firm called the RANE Network. “Him being an oilman, I don’t think that will be that big of a risk for him.”
The Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency made the announcement, noting al-Jaber’s years also serving as a climate envoy.
“This will be a critical year in a critical decade for climate action,” WAM quoted al-Jaber as saying. “The UAE is approaching COP28 with a strong sense of responsibility and the highest possible level of ambition.”
He added: “We will bring a pragmatic, realistic and solutions-oriented approach that delivers transformative progress for climate and for low-carbon economic growth.”
His nomination, however, drew immediate criticism. Harjeet Singh, who is the head of Global Political Strategy at Climate Action Network International, said al-Jaber holding the CEO title at the state oil company posed “an unprecedented and alarming conflict of interest.”
“There can be no place for polluters at a climate conference, least of all presiding over a COP,” Singh said.
Each year, the country hosting the U.N. negotiations known as the Conference of the Parties — where COP gets its name — nominates a person to chair the talks. Hosts typically pick a veteran diplomat as the talks can be incredibly difficult to steer between competing nations and their interests. The nominee’s position as “COP president” is confirmed by delegates at the start of the talks, usually without objections.
The caliber of COP presidents has varied over the years. Observers widely saw Britain’s Alok Sharma as energetic and committed to achieving an ambitious result. Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry faced criticism by some participants for the chaotic and at times non-transparent way he presided over last year’s meeting.
In its announcement about al-Jaber, WAM said the Emirates had invested “more than $50 billion in renewable energy projects across 70 countries, with plans to invest a minimum of $50 billion over the next decade.” It wasn’t immediately clear where those figures came from.
Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, has invested some $3.9 billion since 2018 in renewable energy, according to the New York-based research firm Global SWF. Masdar listed some $14.3 billion in investments in a 2020 briefing. Masdar did not respond to questions about its investments Thursday.
But at the same time, Mubadala has invested $9.8 billion over the same period in oil and gas projects, Global SWF said.
The UAE is home to a massive solar park in Dubai, as well as the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, which is the Arabian Peninsula’s only atomic energy source. But it also requires vast amounts of energy to run the desalination plants that brought green golf courses to its desert expanses, power the air conditioners cooling its cavernous malls in the heat of the summer and power heavy industries like aluminum smelters.
The UAE’s clean energy policies grew in the mid-2000s as Dubai’s real-estate boom saw it constructing the world’s tallest building and massive, palm-shaped archipelagos off its coast. The World Wildlife Fund at the time estimated the UAE had the world’s largest ecological footprint per capita — meaning that each of its residents used more resources on average than those living in any other nation. The UAE still ranks high on similar lists.
The Masdar City project grew out of that concern of being tarnished, before being pared back.
“By us actually doing it and investing money, we had access to lessons learned that no one had access to,” al-Jaber told The Associated Press in 2010. “We have to learn, adjust, adapt and move forward. We can’t be rigid.”
The UAE then pivoted Masdar City into a campus now hosting the U.N.’s International Renewable Energy Agency and the firm itself into investing into renewables at home and abroad. Joe Biden, just before leaving office as America’s vice president, even visited Masdar City in 2016.
Analysts believe the Emirates is trying to maximize its profits before the world increasingly turns to renewables. The Emirates itself has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 — a target that remains difficult to assess and one that authorities haven’t fully explained how they’ll reach.
The UAE “have made no bones about being a major oil and gas producer and presumably he is very well connected to rulers in the country,” said Alden Meyer, a longtime climate talk observer at the environmental think tank E3G. “I hope (al-Jaber) has good diplomatic and negotiation skills and the ability to build consensus and compromise.”
COP28 will be held at Dubai’s Expo City from Nov. 30 through Dec. 12.
Metro rail operates upon electrical & mechanical system installed by L&T
The commercial operation of newly opened metro rail continues on Uttara-Agargaon part of the Dhaka Metro Line-6 based on the latest electrical & mechanical (E&M) system commissioned successfully by the Railway Business, Transportation Infrastructure Business of L&T Construction.
In the metro domain, the Integrated E&M Systems works including Overall System Integration was successfully executed by Indian multinational conglomerate company, Larsen & Toubro that is widely known as L&T.
The commercial operation of the Phase-1 (11.4 km) of the Dhaka Metro Line 6 commenced upon achievement of this milestone. This stretch was flagged off by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 28.
Read more: Fallen sky lanterns of New Year celebration halt metro rail operation for 2 hrs