United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh will receive $200 million from the International Development Association, a concessionary lending window of the World Bank, to help create jobs in the country’s Covid-affected informal sector. The fund will come under an agreement Bangladesh signed with IDA here on Wednesday. Fatima Yasmin, secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance and Mercy Miyang Tembon, Country Director, World Bank, Dhaka Office signed the loan agreement on behalf of their respected side. The project titled Recovery and Advancement of Informal Sector Employment (RAISE) would be implemented by Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) under supervision of Financial Institutions Division of finance ministry and the Wage Earners' Welfare Board under the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment. The project aims at increasing the economic opportunities of the low-income youth community in urban areas and the migrant workers returning from abroad due to COVID-19 pandemic. Under the project low income urban youth and the youth micro entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic will be covered by the Economic Inclusion Program through training, information sharing and providing loan. The trainees will be provided support in gaining skill through on-the job training, and to get loans for business and entrepreneurship development. The social and economic integration of the returnee migrants will be achieved through creating micro entrepreneurs and creating linkages with different organizations and financial institutions to help them access and re-integrate in the local labour market, and to re-migrate them in the foreign labour market by achieving specific skill and expertise. PKSF will spend $150 million while the Wage Earners' Welfare Board spend $50 million to implement the project. The proposed loan is repayable in 30 years with a grace period of five years. 

Amazon on Wednesday opened its first general store outside the United States in a mall in Britain, selling the online retailer's most popular products including books, toys, games and consumer electronics. The U.S. company said the store, called "4-star" because it sells products rated 4 stars or above by customers, reflects what customers are regularly buying and enjoying. The retailer says it uses data from its online business to select which products are popular with local shoppers and that the instore display will change regularly. Amazon launched the general store model in 2018 in the U.S. where it already has several dozen outlets. The company said the launch at the Bluewater Shopping Center in Kent, southeast of London, had been planned for two years, prior to the pandemic. "The pandemic didn't really change our thinking. We've seen that the model has worked really well in malls in the U.S.," said Andy Jones, director of Amazon 4-star U.K. "There are the Amazon products (customers) will expect but also local products from small suppliers, because that is a huge part of the Amazon business," he added. He wouldn't comment on whether more 4-star stores are being planned for the U.K. The company opened its first grocery store, Amazon Fresh, in the U.K. last year in London. It said the model has been "well received" since opening and has grown the bricks and mortar grocery arm to six stores across London.

Avery Dennison has launched a manufacturing facility in Bangladesh in partnership with Youngone Corporation. The 2,052-sqm unit, located in the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) in Chattogram, will enable strong service quality and flexibility to local customers, the partners announced on Sunday.  Chairman and CEO of Youngone Corporation Kihak Sung said the investment in KEPZ will give a competitive edge to Avery Dennison in terms of speed and flexibility to serve its clients with reduced business cost and lead time. “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome Avery Dennison as one of the investors in Korean EPZ (KEPZ), the leading eco-friendly EPZ in this region. Avery Dennison and Youngone will partner on backward linkage industries for apparel and textile,” he said. In today’s fast-paced business world, a “do-it-alone” approach is not the best strategy for growth, Sung said.  READ: Set up spare parts, tools manufacturing units in EZs: Industries Minister Harnessing the strengths and abilities of others from different areas is one of the most strategic ways for businesses to promote innovation and solve complex challenges by merging talent, expertise and technology, he said.  “I’m confident that Avery Dennison, with its high-quality products and international prestige, will grow together with Youngone and other business partners. We’ll extend all possible support and cooperation to Avery Dennison to move forward in achieving its business goal.” Highlighting the potential benefits of this project, Vice President and General Manager, South Asia, Avery Dennison Kenny Liu said this manufacturing unit is a remarkable step forward as they expand their capabilities to serve the local market, as well as global customers.  “We thank Youngone for their support to set up this site within the KEPZ, which enables us to better serve Youngone and our Chattogram customers and support their need for speed in today's highly dynamic market,” Kenny Liu said. READ: Symphony opens handset manufacturing unit  The KEPZ, set up by Youngone in 1999 on the bank of Karnaphuli, hosts the largest (40Mw) rooftop solar project in Bangladesh, to power industrial activities with renewable energy, while over 2.5 million trees have been planted, covering about 400 species.

Ford and a partner company say they plan to build three major electric-vehicle battery factories and an auto assembly plant by 2025 — a dramatic investment in the future of EV technology that will create an estimated 10,800 jobs and shift the automaker’s future manufacturing footprint toward the South. The factories, to be built on sites in Kentucky and Tennessee, will make batteries for the next generation of Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles that will be produced in North America. Combined, they mark the single largest manufacturing investment the 118-year-old company has ever made and are among the largest factory outlays in the world. Notably, the new factories will provide a vast new supply of jobs that will likely pay solid wages. Most of the new jobs will be full time, with a relatively small percentage having temporary status to fill in for vacations and absent workers. Together with its battery partner, SK Innovation of South Korea, Ford says it will spend $5.6 billion in rural Stanton, Tennessee, where it will build a factory to produce electric F-Series pickups. A joint venture called BlueOvalSK will construct a battery factory on the same site near Memphis, plus twin battery plants in Glendale, Kentucky, near Louisville. Ford estimated the Kentucky investment at $5.8 billion and that the company’s share of the total would be $7 billion. Read:India will become hub for automobile manufacturing in next 5 yrs With the new spending, Ford is making a significant bet on a future that envisions most drivers eventually making the shift to battery power from internal combustion engines, which have powered vehicles in the United States for more than a century. Should that transition run into disruptions or delays, the gamble could hit the company’s bottom line. Ford predicts 40% to 50% of its U.S. sales will be electric by 2030. For now, only about 1% of vehicles on America’s roads are powered by electricity. In an interview Monday, CEO Jim Farley said it would be up to the workers at the new plants to decide whether to be represented by the United Auto Workers union. That question could set up an epic battle with union leaders, who want employees of the future to join the union and earn top UAW production wages of around $32 per hour. It represents a high-stakes test for the UAW, which will need jobs for thousands of members who will lose work in the transition away engines and transmissions for petroleum-powered vehicles. Ford’s move also could put the company at odds with President Joe Biden’s quest to create “good-paying union jobs” in a new, greener economy. Farley said it’s too early to talk about pay or unionization at the new factories. He stressed that Ford will maintain a geographic manufacturing balance when the company’s investments in Ohio and Michigan are included. Ford and General Motors have UAW-represented plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, states where it is common for political leaders to actively campaign against unionization. “We love our UAW partners,” Farley said. “They’ve been incredible on this journey of electrification so far. But it’s up to the employees to decide.” Just four months ago, Ford said it would build two new battery plants in North America. But Farley said demand for the electric Mustang Mach E SUV and over 150,000 orders for the F-150 electric pickup convinced the company to increase battery output. Farley said Ford intends to lead the world in electric vehicles, a title now held by upstart Tesla Inc., which is adding jobs at a third factory now under construction near Austin, Texas. Ford picked the Kentucky and Tennessee sites in part because of lower electricity costs, Farley said, as well being less exposed to flooding and hurricanes than other states. Battery factories use five times the electricity of a typical assembly plant to make cells and assemble them into packs, so energy costs were a big factor, Farley said. The company also needed huge tracts of land for the plants that weren’t available in other states, Farley said. Both Southern states also have skilled labor forces and are willing to train workers for the new jobs, he said. “These jobs are very different than the jobs we’ve had in the past,” Farley said. “We want to work with states who are really excited about doing that training and giving you access to that low energy cost.” Read:Motorola expects India business to grow at least in triple digits The Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves the Memphis-area site, sells industrial electricity at a price that’s lower than 93% of competitors nationwide, said CEO Jeff Lyash. Rates have stayed flat for the past decade and are planned to stay flat for the next 10 years, he said. Combined, the three new battery plants will be able to supply enough batteries to power 1 million vehicles per year, about 129 gigawatts of power, Ford Chief Operating Officer Lisa Drake said. Shares of Ford Motor Co., which is based in Dearborn, Michigan, rose more than 4% in extended trading after the new factories were announced late Monday. Reaction from the union was tempered Monday, with officials seemingly optimistic about organizing the factories. “We look forward to reaching out and helping develop this new workforce to build these world-class vehicles and battery components,” union President Ray Curry said in a statement. Kristin Dziczek, a senior vice president at the Center for Automotive Research who follows labor issues, said the union’s future depends largely on organizing the new plants. “It’s imperative that the UAW organize these if they’re going to have a stake in the electrification of this industry,” she said. Union representation of the plants could become a contentious issue in the next round of national contract talks with the union in two years. When General Motors first announced joint venture battery factories over the past few years, its executives said workers would decide on unionization. UAW officials howled in protest. In May, GM said it would support union organizing at the plants. The Kentucky site is only about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Louisville, where Ford has plants that make SUVs and trucks now powered by internal combustion engines. Ford wouldn’t comment on whether those plants eventually would make electric vehicles, but Dziczek said converting at least one would make sense. One plant makes the Ford Escape small SUV, in the most popular segment of the U.S market, she said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in an interview that Ford’s 5,000 jobs at the Glendale battery plants is the largest single employment announcement in state history. And he said it will also bring jobs with suppliers that make components for the plants. Earlier this month state legislators approved $410 million worth of economic development incentives. Read:Adidas to sell Reebok to ABG for $2.5 billion Beshear said Ford would get a loan of up to $250 million to draw on through construction. It’s forgivable if the company hits completion milestones. The package also includes the cost of the Glendale land, plus up to $36 million in training incentives, he said. Ford will formally announce the plants with ceremonies on Tuesday at both sites. In Glendale’s one-block downtown on Monday evening, there were no signs of pending dramatic changes in the economy from the new jobs. All was quiet in the town where the primary businesses are antique shops and corn and soybean fields that stretch in all directions. The Tennessee assembly plant is to be built on a site about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Memphis that’s almost six square miles (15.5 square kilometers). Combined, the assembly plant, to be run by Ford, and the battery factory, would employ about 5,800 workers. State officials have been trying to develop the site for years without success. Gov. Bill Lee said Tennessee offered Ford $500 million in incentives to win a contest with 15 other states. Lee said he is confident legislators will approve the spending.

Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday expressed hope that India will become a hub for automobile manufacturing in the next five years. "Almost all reputed automobile brands are present in India. As we are working on technologies involving ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied natural gas (LNG), electric and green hydrogen, I believe that India will become a hub for automobile manufacturing in next five years," said the minister. Read:India's digital economy to grow 10x to $800 bn by 2030 Earlier, on August 13, the prime minister, while addressing the Investor Summit in Gujarat via video conference, said that "Be it ethanol, hydrogen fuel or electric mobility, with these priorities of the government, active participation of the industry is very important." "In the midst of this change, it is equally important to protect our environment, our land, our resources and our raw material," he said.     

Motorola on Tuesday said its focus on bringing innovative smartphones at different price points has helped the company log "profitable, hyper growth", and it aims to grow "at least in triple digits" in the Indian market over the coming quarters. Speaking with PTI, Motorola Executive Director (Asia-Pacific) Prashanth Mani said the pandemic has had varying impact on different industries. "For the whole (smartphone) industry and specifically for Motorola and Lenovo, I think we have seen a lot of hyper growth to our business overall. "Last quarter, we finished at 64 per cent revenue growth in Motorola globally and this has not just happened in one region or two, we have seen very high double-digit or triple-digit growth in all the geos across Motorola," he said. Read: Indian economy, hit by COVID-19, shrinks by 7.3% in 2020-21 In Latin America, Motorola had about 21.2 per cent market share - its highest ever. Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific have registered five consecutive quarters of profitable growth. EMEA revenue grew 42 per cent year-on-year, while that from APAC was up 161 per cent y-o-y. "In India, we've had three consecutive quarters of more than 300 per cent y-o-y growth. Last quarter, we had a 349 per cent growth in revenue, profitable growth. "We've grown 235 per cent faster than the market, we call it premium to market that is a key metric for us," Mani said. In volumes terms, the company saw 351 per cent y-o-y growth in the June 2021 quarter. "We are seeing very strong performance across regions, across markets, specifically in India. "Our aim is to grow at least in triple digits, and obviously, I think we are saying that the market is not going to grow at triple digits. So, we will be gaining shares every month, every quarter," Mani said. He added that the company is focussed on growing much faster than the market and growing profitably. Asked about factors that have helped Motorola register such strong growth, Mani said the company is focussed on "bringing in innovations which are at different price points", which is the fundamental core belief of Motorola. Demand for smartphones and PCs have soared across the globe amid the pandemic as people embraced work and study from home. The April-June quarter saw the Indian smartphone market clocking 86 per cent year-on-yeargrowth to reach about 34 million units. Xiaomi led the market with a 29.2 per cent market share, followed by Samsung (16.3 per cent), Vivo (14.8 per cent), Realme (14.5 per cent) and Oppo (11.6 per cent) in the June 2021 quarter, as per data from research firm IDC. Motorola, on Tuesday, also launched two new devices -- to strengthen its position in the mid-premium segment. These Made-in-India additions to the 'edge' franchise feature sleek and premium designs, powerful processors, 108 MP cameras, 10-bit AMOLED displays, up-to 135G band support and innovation through the 'Ready for' software platform. The 'edge 20 fusion' is priced Rs 21,499 onwards, while 'edge20' will be available for Rs 29,999. Both smartphones will be available in India later this month.   This article was publishe in The Economic Times

German sporting-goods company Adidas Thursday announced that it had made a deal to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) for $2.5 billion, roughly 15 years after acquiring the US fitness brand. Back in February, the German company started the formal process of selling Reebok, which it acquired for roughly $3.8 billion to expand in the US. "Adidas announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for a total consideration of up to €2.1 billion, with the majority to be paid in cash at closing of the transaction and the remainder comprised of deferred and contingent consideration," the company said in a statement. Read: Toyota retains crown as world's best-selling automaker in Jan-June The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2022 with most of the proceeds to be shared with Adidas' shareholders. "Reebok has been a valued part of Adidas, and we are grateful for the contributions the brand and the team behind it has made to our company. With this change in ownership, we believe the Reebok brand will be well-positioned for long-term success," Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said.

Toyota Motor Corp. remained the world's best-selling automaker with a record 5.47 million vehicles sold in the first six months of 2021, outpacing German archrival Volkswagen AG, the Japanese company's data showed Thursday. It is the second year in a row that Toyota has been the world's top automaker in the first half, underscoring its sharp recovery from the initial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and relative resilience despite a global chip crunch. Toyota's previous record sales for the first half of a year was set in 2019 with about 5.31 million vehicles sold globally. Toyota has enjoyed robust sales in its key markets such as the United States and China. A Toyota official said the automaker has been able to "limit" the impact of the global semiconductor shortage. Read: Air bag woes force Honda, Toyota to recall 6M vehicles In the January-June period, Toyota sold 5,467,218 vehicles globally, up 31.3 percent from a year earlier. The figure includes those sold by its minivehicle-manufacturing subsidiary Daihatsu Motor Co. and truck maker Hino Motors Ltd. Volkswagen sold 4,978,200 vehicles in the same period, up 27.9 percent from a year earlier. In the six months through June, strong demand for new models in North America and China lifted Toyota's overseas sales to a record 4.3 million vehicles, a 36.5 percent year-on-year jump. In Japan, the manufacturer of the Harrier SUV and Yaris compact car reported a 15.0 percent increase in sales to 1.17 million vehicles, including minicars with engines of up to 660 cc, Toyota said. Read: Toyota to recall 1,380 defective cars in China In the whole of 2020, Toyota reclaimed its crown as the top-selling automaker from Volkswagen for the first time in five years. Among other Japanese automakers, Honda Motor Co. sold 2.37 million vehicles in the six-month period, up 25.8 percent from a year earlier, while Nissan Motor Co. reported its first year-on-year global sales growth in four years with 2.20 million vehicles, up 21.5 percent. The global shortage of chips has forced automakers including Toyota and Volkswagen to curb production, casting a shadow over the auto industry. The pandemic has been boosting demand for semiconductors, used in a variety of products from laptops and game consoles to cars.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to partner with Indian companies to locally manufacture satellite communications equipment, including antenna systems and user terminal devices, as it gears up to launch its high-speed Starlink satellite broadband services in the country next year. SpaceX is excited to find ways to work together with the Indian industry for manufacturing products for its Starlink devices,” Matt Botwin, director (market access with the Starlink program), said on Monday during SpaceX’s first official interaction with Department of Telecommunications (DoT) secretary Anshu Prakash, reports The Economic Times. The company always looks for opportunities to maximise the efficiency of its (global) supply chain, and “is now looking forward to working with its partners in India to recognise those opportunities”, Botwin said. This was also SpaceX’s first official comments on its India plans in the satellite communications space. The DoT had called a meeting with global satellite companies to discuss a holistic roadmap for locally manufacturing satellite communications gear and ways to create an enabling regulatory regime for global low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operators to establish in-country gateways in India. Also read: SpaceX to send Dogecoin-funded satellite to the Moon in 2022 Those present at the meeting included officials from OneWeb, Viasat, Hughes, Airtel NSE 0.08 %, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, Department of Space, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. India's satellite based communications space is heating up with the likes of SpaceX, Bharti Global-backed OneWeb and Jeff Bezos-led Amazon’s Project Kuiper looking to enter the country’s nascent satellite broadband space starting next year. During the meeting, Botwin, one of Musk’s key lieutenants, said, “SpaceX has been working with the Indian industrial sector for a long time, buying steel and steel-tubing for many of its rockets.” It is now committed to manufacturing hardware and satellite components and components of (satellite broadband) networks in India, he said. The company, known for its vertical integration, manufactures the gamut of rockets, antennae systems and user terminal devices. Also read: SpaceX capsule departs station with 4 astronauts, heads home SpaceX has been accepting pre-orders for beta version of its Starlink satellite internet service in India for a fully refundable deposit of $99 (above Rs 7,000). According to its website, the company’s satellite broadband services are being targeted in India in 2022, although availability, it says, is subject to regulatory approvals. During the meeting, satellite companies strongly discouraged the Indian government from auctioning mmWave satellite spectrum in the 28 GHz band for 5G mobile services, saying such a move would impact their data download speeds and geographical reach in India. “Unlike the mobile use case, by its very nature of usage, satellite spectrum is not dedicated to a single satellite operator, and the world over, it is not auctioned but assigned as per International Telecom Union (ITU) regulations,” said Anil Prakash, director general of Satcom Industry Association of India (SIA-India), who was present at the meeting with Prakash. The coveted 28 GHz spectrum – with a band range from 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz – is currently used exclusively by satellite players but it is considered a highly efficient band for 5G services. Also read: Biggest space station crowd in decade after SpaceX arrival Telcos, on their part, have repeatedly told DoT that unavailability of 28 GHz spectrum could jolt India’s 5G business case. Without these airwaves, 5G deployment costs would surge and make the ultra-fast wireless broadband service unaffordable in the country, they said.

Payoneer Inc. ("Payoneer"), the commerce technology company powering payments and growth for the new global economy, and FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FTOC) ("FTOC"), a special purpose acquisition company, announced on Friday that they have completed their business combination. The business combination was approved by FTOC's shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on June 23, 2021. As a result of the completion of this business combination, a new public entity under the name Payoneer Global Inc. ("the Company"), and its common stock and warrants, will begin trading today on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol "PAYO" and "PAYOW", respectively. Read Visa’s Fintech Initiative for Bangladesh: New Opportunities for Start-ups? Payoneer's global management team, led by Scott Galit, Chief Executive Officer, Michael Levine, Chief Financial Officer, and Keren Levy, Chief Operating Officer, will continue to lead the Company. The transaction includes a $300 million PIPE investment from investors including existing investor Wellington Management, as well as Dragoneer Investment Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Franklin Templeton, certain funds managed by Millennium Management, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., and Winslow Capital Management, LLC. "We are thrilled to be a public company and join forces with Betsy and the entire FTOC team," said Scott Galit, Chief Executive Officer of Payoneer. Read Renowned online payment gateways in Bangladesh for domestic, international transactions "Through our 15 years, we have built a global platform that is trusted by millions of customers worldwide, from aspiring entrepreneurs to the world's leading digital brands and are now the go-to partner for digital commerce, everywhere. We are just scratching the surface of the enormous opportunity ahead to help businesses grow and scale in the new global economy. This move into the public markets is an important step on our journey to provide any business, in any market, the technology, connections and confidence to realize their potential." Betsy Cohen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp., stated, "The Payoneer team has positioned the company incredibly well to capitalize on the expansion of global commerce, and we are proud to be their partner during this next phase of growth. Payoneer has a strong balance sheet with ample capital to expand its already broad suite of services, both organically, by deepening existing merchant relationships and continuing to build new ones, and through strategic acquisitions." Read Spending Money for Happiness: 10 Effective Ways Financial Technology Partners served as exclusive financial and capital markets advisor to Payoneer. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel to Payoneer and Paul Hastings served as regulatory counsel to Payoneer. PwC served as Payoneer's auditors. EY served as Payoneer's tax and public markets advisor. Citi and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial and capital markets advisors to FTOC. Cantor Fitzgerald also served as capital markets advisor to FTOC, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as legal counsel to FTOC. Read Fintech MFS: Best Mobile Financial Services in Bangladesh About Payoneer Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO) is the world's go-to partner for digital commerce, everywhere. From borderless payments to boundless growth, Payoneer promises any business, in any market, the technology, connections and confidence to participate and flourish in the new global economy. Since 2005, Payoneer has been imagining and engineering a truly global ecosystem so the entire world can realize its potential. Powering growth for customers ranging from aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets to the world's leading digital brands like Airbnb, Amazon, Google, Upwork, and Walmart, Payoneer offers a universe of opportunities, open to you. Read Shammi Quddus: A Talented Bangladeshi Woman in Google, Global Fintech Industry About FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. is a blank-check company led by Betsy Z. Cohen as Chairman of the Board and Ryan M. Gilbert as President and Chief Executive Officer formed for the purpose of acquiring or merging with one or more technology and financial services technology companies.