Following Beijing’s crackdown on the tech industry, Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma has been residing in Tokyo for almost six months, according to a Financial Times report published yesterday (November 29, 2022). The co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding has made frequent journeys to the United States and Israel in addition to visits to the countryside during his time in Japan, according to Financial Times. Ma is a close friend of Alibaba investor and billionaire Masayoshi Son, who founded the Tokyo-based SoftBank Group. Formerly the richest and most well-known tech figure in China, Ma withdrew from the public eye in recent years after getting into issue with Beijing over his criticism of government regulation, which halted the initial public offering (IPO) of fintech behemoth Ant Group. Read: Chinese e-tycoon Jack Ma ends silence with online video After that, China’s private sector came under intense scrutiny, with a focus on limiting the influence of internet companies. Since then, Jack Ma’s infrequent public appearances have drawn a lot of attention. According to the Financial Times, Ma has restricted himself to a small number of exclusive clubs in Tokyo’s downtown Ginza and Marunouchi neighbourhoods. The report also noted that he has enthusiastically taken up collecting modern art and brought along his personal chef and security team. In the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, Ma, who had previously been a well-known regular at business conventions, oversaw massive international donations of protective gear and other supplies that the world required. Read: FM thanks Jack Ma, invites him to visit Bangladesh A report in July said that Ma intended to cede control of Ant Group in order to placate Chinese regulators and resurrect the IPO of the digital payments division. For the first time ever, Alibaba reported flat sales growth in August as China struggled with a slowing economy and resurgent Covid-19 cases. The behemoth firm has been placed on a watchlist by US regulators, and if Jack ma's e-commerce venture Alibaba does not abide by disclosure orders, its shares would plummet and it might be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Read More: Alibaba appoints new CFO, reshuffles e-commerce businesses.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce (FBCCI), apex body of traders, has sought special loan moratorium facility till December this year. The FBCCI president Md. Jasim Uddin sought this benefit due to the global economic downfall for Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war. He told reporters after a special meeting with Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday (May 31). Jasim Uddin said, "We have requested the Governor of the Central Bank to set up a special fund for long term loans in the banks, which is very important for business.” Moreover, FBCCI sought more remittance incentives. A remittance fighter who sends remittances from outside the country is encouraged when he gets some opportunities, even though he is being offered benefits including CIP. READ: FBCCI chief condoles Muhith's demise After the meeting, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Sirajul Islam said, "We will consider the issues of FBCCI." However, no decision is going to be announced now. “The FBCCI has requested for an increase in remittance incentives, but Bangladesh Bank will not take any decision in this regard alone. This matter is related to the government,” he added.

Transparent automation, easy regulations, access to finance, inter-ministerial coordination, easy tax structure, cross border digital commerce trade facilitation are key to foster e-commerce in Bangladesh, stakeholders said at a discussion on Saturday.  The discussion titled “Building a Sustainable Ecosystem for E-commerce” was organized by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI). Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh joined the discussion as the chief guest.  DCCI President Rizwan Rahman said the e-commerce ecosystem saw a massive vibe in recent past.  Also read: Muted response to e-commerce SOP reflects recent troubles in the industry "Despite we have seen some challenges the sector is facing recently, but with the intervention of the government, regulators and stakeholders a sustainable development will come in the sector," he said.  According to an estimated data, in 2020 transaction in the e-commerce business was about USD2 billion, which may increase up to USD2.5 billion in the current year.  In 2020 transaction in only f-commerce sector was about 320 crore taka.  He also said that 15% VAT imposed on e-commerce sector may hamper the growth of small investors in this sector. Moreover if international market leaders like Amazon comes in our market, it may create opportunity for local CMSME traders and manufacturers, he said.        Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh said private sector is playing the dominant role in the economy.  Also read: Digital Commerce Policy, Lockdown, Eid: Perfect storm for e-commerce? In the e-commerce, reliability is the key issue to help this sector to grow, he said. "Government does not want to impose strong regulations upon the sector so that small entrepreneurs can come on board easily. Recently the Escrow system to see the compliance has been introduced but the number of transactions fell down." He suggested for a coordinated platform to overview the compliance and said that government is working hard to create a congenial regulatory atmosphere for e-commerce business.  Barrister K. M. Tanjib-ul-Alam, Head of the Chamber, Tanjib Alam and Associates also underscored importance of reliability for a sustainable market.  He urged for a proper policy and guidelines with a scope of reward and punishment.  "Government should come forward to safeguard the ecosystem, he added. Government should upgrade the national postal system so that ecommerce platform can utilize this trusted system," he said.  Fahim Ahmed, President, Pathao said policy and regulatory guidelines are needed for a sustainable ecosystem.  "Unsuccessful ecommerce platforms with a huge liability and discounting method cannot sustain in the market as it is not economically viable. Based on short term investment and huge discount-giving model may create a bad name to the industries. For creating infrastructure, technological assistance and to create confidence of consumers long term investment is needed," he said.    Khorshed Anwar, Deputy Managing Director, Eastern Bank Limited said small e-commerce, start-ups or f-commerce entrepreneurs are sometimes deprived of access to finance due to lack of documentation. We are working on the issue and do training programmes for the small start-ups.  Khondoker Tasfin Alam, Chief Operating Officer, Daraz Bangladesh said excessive discounting model is not sustainable.  Customer readiness as well as seller’s readiness is equally important. Sometimes wrong model can become famous for the time being but it is not sustainable but will hamper the ecosystem.  He also said that Daraz Bangladesh has already invested BDT 500 crore in last two years in logistic infrastructure. He lastly emphasized on improving products quality for sustainability. Ashish Chakraborty, Chief Information Officer, Nagad said Mobile Financial service plays a vital role in ecommerce.  Customers from rural area can get products from anywhere in the country using mobile wallet. Bangladesh Bank now allows small investors having NID to be on board which is a good move, he said. For the growth, he emphasized on full automation of this sector and this system will ensure service delivery information.    Muhammed Abdul Wahed Tomal, General Secretary, e-CAB said that the ecommerce sector in Bangladesh has got a tremendous growth right at this moment which was supposed to come in 2030.  "The growth momentum came at a faster rate due to Covid, he informed. E-commerce is an integrated sector where agencies like Bangladesh Bank, NBR, LGRD, Commerce Ministry, ICT Division all are involved. Regarding Escrow service he suggested to make it more automated and easy functioning." Khairul Majid Mahmud, Director, DCCI, Sameer Sattar, former Director, DCCI and Riyadh Hossain, former Vice President, DCCI also spoke on the occasion. DCCI Senior Vice President N.K.A. Mobin, FCS, FCA gave vote of thanks.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi on Thursday said tthe hat government has fixed a $48 billion export target for the current fiscal year 2020-2021.   Of this, $41 billion has been fixed for goods export sector and $7 billion for the services export sector, said the minister.   He came up with the information at a virtual press briefing on the occasion of the announcement of export targets for the fiscal year 2020-2021.