Bangladesh News Bangladesh Economy & Development Thread

[Isa Khan]

Asian Motorbikes Ltd, the distributor of Japanese Kawasaki motorcycles in Bangladesh, has been allowed to locally manufacture motorcycles with up to 500 cubic centimetre (cc).

The industries ministry approved the second such nod for big bike manufacturing plants in the country, to Asian Motorbikes on Sunday.

Earlier, the government approved Ifad Motors to manufacture Royal Enfield bikes in October last year.

The move comes amid growing market demand for stronger motorcycles and an increasing interest of two-wheeler investors. The government is also amending its import policy order, which currently bars any import of motorcycles having over 165 cc engine, and their parts or raw materials.

According to the draft of the upcoming order, raw material and parts to locally manufacture up to 500 cc motorcycles can be imported into the country. However, completely built bikes over 165 cc engines cannot be imported.

Motorcycle manufacturers welcomed the much-delayed government moves to come out of the bizarre restriction on motorcycle engine capacity, which is only seen in Sri Lanka other than Bangladesh.

But, confusion remains regarding local road permits for 500 cc bikes and which is yet to be reformed.

Biplob Kumar Roy, chief executive officer of TVS Auto Bangladesh, the second-highest seller of two-wheelers in the country among the Indian makes, told The Business Standard, "The answer of the question regarding local market sales should be clear before we invest in manufacturing facilities for higher cc bikes."

Safat Ishtiaq, head of operations of Asian Motorbikes, on the other hand, thinks that if the import policy order sticks to its draft, local market sales would be possible there as soon as the approved companies can launch locally manufactured higher cc bikes.

"Having a great degree of assurance from the government regarding local road permits we decided to pursue the plans for investment in the factory and technical collaboration with our principal Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan," he said.

"We are waiting for the draft import policy order to be finalised and published, before entering the collaboration agreement," he said.

He believes the import policy order is the key that has been dictating the relevant state authorities' stance regarding motorcycle capacity, registration, and road permits.

When the import policy order increased the motorcycle cubic capacity limit to 165 from 155 four-five years back, nothing else was needed for the BRTA to register the bikes.

However, industry executives said, investments in manufacturing bikes with higher cubic capacity solely for export is not feasible in Bangladesh as the manufacturing ecosystem is still far from being competitive, in comparison with the regional two-wheeler export giants including India, Thailand and Indonesia.

Bangladeshi factories can achieve competitiveness only after they thrive in the local market, they said.

Safat Ishtiaq said Asian Motorbikes has secured a 10-acre industrial plot at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram.

The company aims to go into production by mid-2023.

Meanwhile, Ifad Motors also is building its Royal Enfield manufacturing plant in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar with a target to begin production by next year.

Suzuki, Runner and a few other brands are also in the cue to come up with their higher cc motorcycles in Bangladesh.

Asian Motorbikes allowed to manufacture 500cc Kawasaki motorcycles

The move comes amid growing market demand for stronger motorcycles and an increasing interest of two-wheeler investors

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The government on Tuesday signed an agreement with South Korea for constructing a bridge over the Payra River on Kachua-Betagi-Patuakhali-Lohaliya-Kalaiya road, a much-awaited project demanded by locals.

On behalf of their respective sides, Korean Sum Hoyan Corporation and Mir Akhter Joint Venture of Bangladesh signed the agreement at Setu Bhaban in Dhaka.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader was also present at the deal signing ceremony.

Speaking as the chief guest, Quader said the Payra Bridge is set to be constructed at a cost of Tk1,042 crore and it is expected to be completed by 2025.

He said Shirshendu Biswas, a fourth grader of Patuakhali, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requesting her to construct a bridge over the Payra River.

In response to the letter, the premier directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to this end, the minister said.

Quader mentioned that the response of the Bangabandhu's daughter to the letter has proved that Sheikh Hasina is the symbol of Bangalees' confidence and it will remain as an instance in the history of Bangladesh.

Korean firm to construct bridge over Payra River

Construction of the 1,042-crore bridge is expected to be completed by 2025

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Bangladesh Railways will purchase 200 units of broad gauge (BG) passenger carriages to replace old carriages which have lost their economic life.

The new carriages would be helpful to meet the growing demand to operate new trains after the inception of the Padma Bridge and the Jamuna Rail Bridge.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved a project in this regard on Tuesday with an estimated cost of Tk1,704.34 crore. The European Investment Bank (EIB) would provide Tk1,331.20 crore loan support to implement the project, said Planning Minister MA Mannan at a press briefing following the meeting.

The Ecnec meeting was held at the NEC auditorium at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting joining virtually from her official Ganobhaban residence.

The planning minister said the Ecnec approved a total of 12 projects with an estimated cost of Tk15,744 crore. Among the projects, 11 are fresh ones and another one is the first revision of an ongoing project. Tk1,1675 crore will be funded from the government exchequer and Tk4,068 crore will be collected from foreign sources.

MA Mannan said 200 new carriages are being procured for the development of passenger services of the broad gauge and dual gauge sections of the Rajshahi, Khulna and Rangpur divisions of the railways. The project deadline has been fixed till June 2025.

The objectives of the project are to provide modern, safe and comfortable services to the passengers as well as to operate trains on new routes, replace old passenger carriages and increase the revenue of Bangladesh Railways to meet the increasing passenger demand.

According to the project proposal, the railway currently has 467 broad gauge carriages but the economic life of 276 has come to an end. With the opening of Padma Bridge and Jamuna Rail Bridge, additional trains will be operated in the western and eastern parts of the railway. Apart from that, rail communication with neighboring countries will also increase. Moreover, additional carriages will be required when broad gauge trains are introduced in the whole country as per the master plan of Bangladesh Railway.

The railways will need 400 broad gauge carriages in the next two to four years. To meet the urgent need in the initial stage, 200 carriages are being procured. More carriages would be procured in the future if necessary, the planning minister added.

The Ecnec meeting also approved a Tk2,555.25 crore project to enhance the capacity of the urban local government bodies in their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as to strengthen their preparedness in facing such a situation in the future.

The planning minister said the Local Government Division will implement the "Local Government Covid-19 Response and Recovery (LGCRR)" project to improve the services of 10 city corporations and 329 pourasabhas. The project would provide cash assistance to these local government bodies to meet the financial crises created by the pandemic.

Out of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk11.25 crore while the rest Tk2,544 crore will come from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.

The aim of the project is to strengthen urban local government institutions for responding to the Covid pandemic and improve preparedness to future shocks benefitting about 40 million urban residents.

It will create 1.5 million days of temporary work as well as employment for 10,000 women under the public work scheme. The project will also help the local government institutions to improve preparedness for climate impacts, disasters and future disease outbreaks.

The other projects approved in the meeting are supplying water through harvesting of rainwater in coastal districts with Tk961.76 crore; establishment of air force training institute at Zohurul Haque Base in Chattogram, 1st revised with an additional cost of Tk140.42 crore; a project for improvement of governance and management research and training facilities with Tk228.08 crore; upgrading three regional highways and three district highways under Naogaon Road Department with Tk1182.49 crore; establishment of external telecommunication network for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with Tk378.84 crore; and establishment of seed multiplication farm at the southeastern region of Bangladesh with Tk438.93 crore.

The other approved projects are an expansion of irrigation area and irrigation capacity through expansion of underground irrigation channels and introduction of drip irrigation system on a test basis with Tk329.01 crore; improvement of universal social infrastructures-2 (GSIDP-2) with Tk1082 crore; construction of important bridges on rural roads, 2nd phase, with Tk4,050 crore and important upazila and union road widening and strengthening in Barishal Division with Tk2,693.43 crore.

Railway to purchase 200 BG carriages

Ecnec approves 12 projects with an estimated cost of Tk15,744cr

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The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved 12 development projects involving Tk15,745 crore including five for improving the rural infrastructures in the country.

The approval came from the Ecnec meeting with Ecnec chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who joined it virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban, in chair.

Other ministers and officials concerned were connected with the virtual meeting from the Conference Room of the Planning Commission in the city.

"Today the meeting approved 12 projects with an overall estimated cost of Tk15,744.56 crore," said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Of the total cost, Tk11,674.83 crore will be drawn from the government's fund, while Tk4,068 crore from external sources as foreign loan and Tk1.20 crore from the own fund of the organisations concerned, he said.

The five projects placed by the Local Government Division will cost Tk11,342 crore.

The five projects are Construction of Important Bridges On Rural Roads (Phase-II) with estimated cost of Tk4,050 crore, Widening and Strengthening Upazila and Union-Level Important Roads in Barishal Division with Tk2,693.435 crore, Local Government Covid-19 Response and Recovery (LGCRR) involving Tk2555.25 crore, Water Supply through Rainwater Harvesting in Coastal Districts with Tk961.755 crore and Universal Social Infrastructure Development-2 with Tk1,082 crore.

5 projects for developing rural infrastructures get Ecnec nod

Total 12 projects involving Tk 15,745 crore approved

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[Isa Khan]

In pre-independence Bangladesh, businesses and Bangalis appeared to be synonymous with small retailers and some traders of agro commodities.

The making of a local brand was a distant dream then, but things have taken a different turn now with the rise of great entrepreneurs in independent Bangladesh that gradually gave rise to a thriving private sector to dominate the economy.

And they played a part in positioning hundreds of local brands in the consumers' minds with many ascending to the top of the lists.

Half of top 50 brands local

Kantar Worldpanel, a world leading market insight firm, found in 2018 that half of the top 50 brands in Bangladesh were local ones reflecting the strong emergence of the local soft assets in the economy.

In modern Bangladesh, consumers take pride in dozens of local brands that either overtook the foreign competitors or gave them a run for money.

Local players are also dominating the market of pharmaceuticals, food, salt, cement and steel.

Bangladeshi brands, closing the gaps over time, supplement Bangladesh's story of an economic rise with the fastest growing GDP alongside its enviable progress in social indicators, internationally being referred to as a role model of development, said Policy Research Institute Research Director Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, also the chairman of think-tank Research and Policy Integration for Development (Rapid).

He thinks Bangladesh's rapid economic transformation has greatly been facilitated by the emergence of a dynamic private sector.

"A relatively well-developed private sector made Bangladesh quite distinct from other LDCs and many low and lower-middle-income countries," he noted.

Bangladesh's sizable manufacturing-GDP ratio (about 20%) - which is twice the average of the LDC group and is even higher than that of India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka - enabled brands to flourish here, he said.

Independence: Creation of the base

In the Pakistan era, few rare Bangali-owned private industries, such as Mala Saree by Dhaka's Anwar Group, set the example that Bangalis too could thrive in big businesses.

Post-independence Bangladesh was solely focusing on fulfilling the basic needs, mainly food while the state took over all the industries left behind by West Pakistanis.

The handful of local entrepreneurs, having prior experiences in businesses, kept moving ahead with their business efforts, while full-scale privatisation was yet to come.

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs began with taking care of the existing brands such as Nabisco biscuits and Tibet ball soap.

The big change they brought was through creating their own brands.

Over the course of time, they broke the monopoly of foreign brands and Bangladeshi brands are now dominating the market in a large number of fields, while in some sectors, foreign players found it profitable to exit the competitive market.

Contending, then overtaking

With ample human resource, Bangladesh was more focused on exports to global brands, mainly in apparel, leather products and some other categories.

The focus was gradually shifted to the local market to cash in on the fast-growing consumer class and their rising purchasing power.

The legendary rise of the local pharmaceuticals industry began with import substitution motto in the 1980s, with Square, then a Pabna-based small drug-maker, setting up a factory near Dhaka.

Beximco, belonging to the first batch of entrepreneurs in independent Bangladesh, entered into its pharmaceutical venture and won it all through dedication and excellence.

US pharma giant Pfizer left the market selling their business to locals before the new millennium and it turned into today's Renata. The vaccine king GlaxoSmithKline shut their pharmaceuticals plant in Chattogram in 2018 amid the emergence of world class cost-effective local competitors, such as Incepta in vaccines and dozens of other drugs.

Now, beginning from over-the-counter drugs to anticancer ones, Bangladeshi generic brands are everywhere.

Multinational Bata was the synonym of shoes to Bangladeshi consumers for decades and it had no competitor brand to contend with here.

Local venture Apex Footwear that began as a contract manufacturer of Japanese and Italian brands in 1990 kept thriving in exports and in the early 2010s, it eyed the local market seriously.

Apex did not take even a decade to overtake the century-old global brand Bata in the Bangladesh market.

Another century-old foreign brand Singer has lost its refrigerator and television empire to the local brand Walton over the last decade.

According to a 2021 research report by UCB Asset Management, Walton now holds 72% of the refrigerator market, while Singer caters to only 12% of the market while Jamuna, Minister and many other local brands also have eaten into Singer's market.

Singer was a top player in the television market too, and Walton is now widely ahead of all with a 27% market share, while Singer is in the number two position with an 11% market share.

Local brands are yet to overtake foreign brands in air conditioners, washing machines and diversified kitchen appliances categories but with their increasing market shares they might not take many years to replicate the refrigerator and television success as local players. Walton is now investing heavily in research and development and marketing with its eyes on a global market.

Bangladeshi kitchen appliances brand Miyako with 21% market share is only behind Samsung.

Walton began as a low-cost market contender in the late 2000s. Its Chief of Business Operation Sohel Rana believes on top of the supportive government policies, manufacturing and marketing products in line with the need and ability of local consumers helped the company grow big and now chase its global dreams.

Indian Hero and Chinese Phoenix were the bicycles Bangladeshis had been riding for decades but now world-class Bangladeshi exporters, such as Meghna and RFL's Duranta, are grabbing a big chunk of the local bicycle market and set to overtake foreign brands.

Olympic began as a local confectionery brand in the 1990s, while the market was fairly divided among a bunch of local brands and imported foreign ones.

It has now emerged as the market leader by a large margin.

Bangkok-based frozen ready meal giant CP entered Bangladesh in the late 1990s and expanded its retail outlets across the market in the 2010s. But the strong local contender Kazi Farms Kitchen has apparently overtaken its market in recent years.

In their busy lives, Bangladeshi consumers made Radhuni and Pran their top brand choices for ready spice mixes.

Local brands ACI Salt and ACI Aerosol are the market leaders by far here.

In tea, local brand Ispahani is the top brand leaving foreign ones, such as Lipton and Tetley, behind in competition.

Where foreign brands still dominate

According to a BBC Report citing Kantar Worldpanel market intelligence in 2018, top nine brands in the Bangladesh market were multinational ones, Tibet ball soap occupying the tenth spot and leading all the Bangladeshi brands in terms of brand strength and value.

Understandably, Unilever's Sunsilk shampoo, Lux soaps and Rin detergent are the strongest three brands.

Local "Halal soap" Aromatic's sudden spark and demise, local mass market soaps Meril and Keya or premium soap Sandalina are not ignored at all by a large group of Bangladeshi consumers.

In tobacco, paints, hair care markets, foreign players, including British American Tobacco, Berger, and Marico are still leading the pack but local aspirants did not leave them unchallenged.

Foreign hygiene product brands - Dettol and Savlon - have long been ruling the market but local brands, such as Square's Sepnil, are chasing them.

FBCCI Vice-President MA Razzak Khan said the post-independent business environment and facilitation helped local brands grow and the Made-in-Bangladesh nowadays is fuelling the trend.

Bangladeshi corporates now have the needed financing capacity and value proposition to offer and very importantly the brains to let a brand compete and ascend to the top.

He believes a large number of local brands will come up stronger at home and abroad in the coming years.

In many industries, including the apparel sector, the market is still not much concerned about brands, but the situation is changing rapidly and local players, such as Aarong, Yellow and Sara are investing for their fair share amid the absence of formal retail outlets of global lifestyle brands.

That might make Bangladesh's market a new battleground for retail brands someday.

How local brands replaced foreign ones in 50 years

In modern Bangladesh, consumers take pride in dozens of local brands that either overtook the foreign competitors or gave them a run for money

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Hong Kong-based company Campvalley Chittagong Limited is going to set up a camping equipment and garments manufacturing industry in the Bepza Economic Zone with an investment of $54 million.

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) and Campvalley Chittagong Limited signed an agreement to this end at the Bepza Complex in the capital on Thursday, reads a press statement.

The foreign-owned company will produce annually 21.4 million pieces of tents, bags, backpacks, camping chairs, furniture, luggage, sleeping bags, knit and woven garments, gazebo, umbrella, mattress and furniture frames.

A total of 9380 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities in the factory, it added.

Currently, there are two other tent manufacturing companies in Chattogram and Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone under the same owner.

Ali Reza Mazid, member (investment promotion) of Bepza and Hong Woo Lee, chairman of Campvalley Chittagong signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Bepza Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman were present during the signing ceremony.

Among others from Bepza, Executive Directors Md Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Nazma Binte Alamgir, Md Tanvir Hossain and Md Khorshid Alam were also present on the occasion.

Previously, Bepza signed lease agreements with five other companies to set up factories in the Bepza Economic Zone. The companies will invest $60 million, where 23,582 Bangladeshi Nationals will get employment opportunities.

Campvalley Chittagong to invest $54m in Bepza Economic Zone

Hong Kong-based company Campvalley Chittagong Limited is going to set up a camping equipment and garments manufacturing industry in the Bepza Economic Zone with an investment of $54 million. Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) and Campvalley Chittagong Limited signed an...

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[Isa Khan]

There was a very popular TV commercial, about one-and-a-half decades ago, where one stockbroker was making a lowball offer to a sea-returned fisherman, who was already informed about the market price through his mobile phone. The fisherman replied: "Days are not the same. It's already changed a lot!"

That was not only a commercial for a specific mobile carrier, rather it portrayed how the overall mobile telecommunication industry has evolved Bangladesh's overall socioeconomic activity and revamped it. And nowadays it's very tough to find a segment or service where there is no influence of mobile carriers' networks.

From education to entertainment, transacting money to earning foreign remittance, paying bills to distributing relief -- it's all about the help of mobile links. Starting a quarter of a century ago with voice calls and text messages, mobile telephone service is now offering enabled digital inclusion, which became the lifeline during the Covid-19 pandemic and also helped to spin the country's overall economic wheel faster.

Terming this development a paradigm shift, Mehboob Chowdhury, the first director of sales and marketing at Grameenphone, said mobile operators had to face different challenges in the last two-and-half decades, however, the carriers jointly contributed beyond early day assumptions.

"Mobile carriers could have contributed even more if the regulatory regime was favourable over the years," said Chowdhury, former president of the Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB).

Chowdhury, who also played a role for the industry as a top brass of Banglalink and later become the long serving chief executive officer of Citycell, said, they first experienced GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) -- a packet-oriented mobile data standard on 2G cellular communication network -- for internet in 2001 and thought mobile technology would change the economical dynamics.

"Achievement was much bigger than the supposition. We should cheer for the silver jubilee of the country's GSM (Global System for Mobile) telecom service."

The mobile telecom industry has already passed three decades, counting Citycell as one of the first carrier in this region awarded a licence in 1989, but in real words when top three carriers -- Grameenphone, Robi (then AKTel) and Banglalink (Sheba) -- entered into the service scene in 1997, true entrances happened. All these three were awarded licences on November 11, 1996 but Grameenphone was the first mover.

On March 26, 1997, Grameenphone started its commercial operation and moved into its silver jubilee having 8.35 crore active users as of 2021, which means they have activated about 10,000 connections a day on average, while the industry as whole activated about 20,000 connections per day.

During its voyage, Grameenphone not only secured top position in Bangladesh, it also became one of the most successful mobile telephone ventures of Telenor, a leading global telecom business group. The remaining two carriers also launched their services in the latter part of that year, jointly pushing forward the country to scale up its moderate growth. So Robi and Banglalink are also going to complete their successful first 25 years in the second part of this year.

According to a recent report of the GSMA, a global association of cellular carriers boasting more than 750 mobile operators, unique mobile users of the country is just about 90 million (9 crore) and internet penetration is about 25%. Meaning, mobile connectivity is yet to reach 50% and internet acerbity is far behind expectations, so the growth prospect is still higher in Bangladesh, reads the report titled "Achieving mobile-enabled digital inclusion in Bangladesh" published in March 2021.

However, despite the backlog the AMTOB has calculated that in 2020 the overall contribution to the gross domestic production (GDP) though mobile carriers was about 7%, more than three times higher compared to 2010.

Recently, the AMTOB shared this data with the National Board of Revenue saying that in 2020 all the mobile carriers jointly contributed Tk16,523 crore and cumulative contribution up to that year was more than TK 150,000 crore.

Mobile carriers have so far invested Tk140,000 crore till 2020 and generated about 8.5 lakh employment.

AMTOB members raised their voice about the tax issues and said that heavy tax barriers are the main bottleneck of the industry's growth.

Abu Saeed Khan, a senior policy fellow at LIRNEasia, said, "The mobile phone has evolved from personal novelty to a societal growth engine. But continuous enactment of anti-investment and anti-consumer regulations since 2007 has now degraded the mobile services to its worst state. Because Bangladesh is the only country in the world that forbids the mobile industry to deploy transmission infrastructure. Yet the authorities set service standards and foolishly aspire to launch advanced services like 5G."

Mobile becomes the backbone

In the last few years, the mobile network has become the main backbone of communication in the country. Though there are fibre-based broadband services, mobile networks reached the remotest part of the country. And all the communication, including business communications and transactions, shifted to the mobile network. Based on the mobile carriers, the mobile financial service (MSF) also grew fast in the country and currently more than 11 crore users are using such services.

Currently, 13 MFS providers are in the operation, having 56% of their accounts opened in rural areas-- an evidence of how the service has expanded financial inclusion among the people who were unbanked.

All kinds of digital service also shifted to this network which is helping reshape the country's economy and service sector.

The 'G' series

Though the country entered cellular service by 1992 (licence awarded 1989), the coverage was very limited and was available only in the two large cities. The lone operator then was providing cellular service using the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology. But the vibrancy came only when three others entered into the market in 1997 with GSM technology which was much more flexible for users and operators.

Currently, more than 98% of the population are covered with the fastest 4G mobile network. However, only 40% of the population is using 4G, while it is more than 53% in India and 44% in Pakistan, according to the GSMA intelligence and PTA report.

In 2012, the country entered the 3G era through the state-owned Teletalk and later on private operators launched the 3G mobile data service in 2013. In 2018, the country welcomed 4G service and that was the ultimate boom period for digital services in the country. It is seen that 4G accelerated the digital transformation of the country.

Though data service flourished in Bangladesh, Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer at Robi, said, "Still Bangladesh is a voice-dominated market and that's why we can't harvest the potential growth both for the digitisation and country's overall socioeconomic growth. The 4G usage gap in Bangladesh is one of the highest in South Asia due to the lack of affordable 4G devices."

According to Alam, though there are 14 mobile handset assemblers in the country now, but 4G handset prices didn't come down to the level which would attract the most users.

And now the carriers are going to sit in a spectrum auction for 5G set on March 31. In every spectrum auction, the government is taking a huge amount of money and that has become a hindrance to carriers in offering affordable and quality service to its users.

Grameenphone ahead of others

Not only in connection numbers, Grameenphone is also leading from the front in terms of business also. The market leader secured Tk3,413 crore net profit last year which was almost one-fourth of their total revenue.

And in the last four years, their net profit rose to Tk14,096 crore just after launching 4G service in the country.

It was Grameenphone's target to reach one lakh customers by 2000, but they reached it within a few months.

"We had beat all our time assumptions against teaching the milestones -- even the first lakh, first million, first crore."

Mehboob Chowdhury said, "Grameenphone had invested a lot to expand its network which other carriers didn't match at that time and that's why they became the superior carrier."

Not only expanding the network, Grameenphone also invested heavily on digital services and other innovations, much more than its competitors and thus harvested the results from it.

Their Village Phone Programme was one of the massive introductions of empowering women using the communication tools, launched in the early days of its inception, which also helped them to cement their position in Bangladesh.

During his visit to Dhaka on 14 March, Jorgen C Arentz Rostrup, chairman of the GP board and the head of Telenor Asia (the parent company of GP), told the media that the mobile phone operator would be the first in investing in network when it comes to better customer services.

The telecom regulator is going to hold the next spectrum auction on 31 March for 5G and other technologies.

Rostrup said though 5G is still nascent in Asia, Telenor and Grameenphone are ready for it. Terming Grameenphone one of the most important companies in the Telenor portfolio, he said, "So, when we are celebrating 25 years here, it's really with pride and happiness."

Mobile, the game changer for Bangladesh

From education to entertainment, transacting money to earning foreign remittance, paying bills to distributing relief -- it's all about the help of mobile links.

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Eleven years back an entrepreneur was wearing out his soles day after day in the corridors of the Bangladesh Bank to make policymakers understand a novel concept of mobile financial service (MFS) and make them formulate a guideline to set up such a company.

The central bank was finally convinced and the new concept took its shape as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank Limited.

Today, that entrepreneur Kamal Quadir is leading the largest MFS provider bKash Limited which alone holds 50% share of registered MFS accounts in Bangladesh.

The total registered accounts crossed 11 crore at the end of December last year of which most are unbanked people. The number of MFS accounts is not far behind the number of bank accounts of 12.35 crore.


When low income people like rickshaw-pullers and garment workers in the city could not think of stepping into a bank to send their earnings to their families in the village, it was bKash that brought the unique solution for them to send money home through a mobile wallet.

This is how a simple mobile phone brought them under financial services and helped them move to financial inclusion.

The first entrepreneur had to struggle to explain the innovative concept of mobile-based financial transaction to central bankers. The system has proved its miracle. Now Bangladesh Bank itself wants to open a new window for MFS business to fulfill its financial inclusion agenda.

With this aim, the central bank recently amended Bangladesh Mobile Financial Services (MFS) Regulations, 2018, allowing financial institutions and government entities to enter into this platform.

The central bank introduced its first MFS guideline in 2011 when MFS was only bank-led, but now other entities can get the license as many foreign investors are interested to invest in this platform.

Abul Bashar, executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, has recently acknowledged that MFS has made huge contributions in reducing the gender gap in financial services.

The Bangladesh Bank opened a new window of opportunity by amending MFS regulations to improve financial inclusion, he added.

The total registered MFS accounts stood at 11.14 crore at the end of December last year of which 45% are female accounts.

Of the total number of MFS accounts, rural areas accounted for 56% and the rest were in urban areas, according to central bank data.

Average monthly transaction through MFS stood at Tk 71,173 crore in December last year.

The robust growth in MFS has encouraged foreign investment in the platform.

Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank is going to enter Bangladesh by acquiring a 20% stake of bKash.

The existing other foreign investors in bKash are Money in Motion LLC, the International Finance Corporation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and AliPay Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited.

More companies are in the queue to join the MFS platform.

Dutch-Bangla Bank for the first time introduced an MFS service named Rocket as a small wing of the bank. bKash is the first company that started its journey in 2011 by setting up a separate company.

Currently, 13 MFS providers are in operation and the government also entered the MFS business by setting up Nagad.

Nagad, owned by the Bangladesh Post Office, started operation in 2019 and became the second largest MFS company in two years of its inception by grabbing 30% share of the MFS industry.

This company also got foreign investment in its bond subscription.

Sharing the experience of establishing an MFS company, Kamal Quadir in an interview with The Business Standard in 2020 said that the rising use of mobile phones gave him the idea that this electronic device can be used in financial transactions. The idea also was aligned with the thoughts of the Bangladesh Bank and the government around 2009 about a cost-efficient digital payment system to improve financial inclusion.

The mobile-based service proved cost effective for banks, too. When a person goes to a bank and makes a transaction, it costs the bank Tk 128. Common people like a rickshaw-puller at best transact Tk1,000 to Tk1,500 at a time and if the bank charges him Tk128 it makes no business case. And that is why the poor people are left outside the financial system.

"No matter how serious the bank or the government is about financial inclusion, it would not be achieved through this model (transaction through banks)," said Kamal. "So I thought of a system that would protect the client's interest by remaining fully regulated by the central bank and at the same time, reduce the cost of transaction."

With the idea of using mobile phones in financial transactions, he met with Brac's founder Sir Fazle Hasan Abed during the preparatory work.

"I chose Brac for multiple reasons, one is that it has a presence across the country. We need credibility which Brac has already gained. Moreover, Fazle Hasan Abed bhai had the vision to create a viable business to serve the poor. This alignment with common philosophy and objective gave me a sense of possibility to make the idea successful," said Kamal.

Kamal travelled across Africa multiple times to learn the experience of MFS in Kenya.

He used his learning from Kenya's success of MFS in Bangladesh to widen financial inclusion through using mobile wallets.

How the mobile phone and bKash revolutionised financial transaction

Currently, 13 MFS providers are in operation and the government also entered the MFS business by setting up Nagad

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[Isa Khan]

Sonar Manufacturing Limited, a sister concern of Bitopi Group, is going to establish a readymade garment industry in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) with an investment of $9.58 million.

This fully Bangladeshi owned company will produce 2.93 million pieces of woven and knit (jacket, bottom) garments per annum.

Some 1,551 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunity in this factory, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) said in a statement today.

Ali Reza Mazid, member for investment promotion of Bepza, and Mishal Ali, managing director of Sonar Manufacturing Ltd, signed an agreement in this regard at Bepza Complex in Dhaka today.

Three companies of Bitopi Group are operating their business in the export processing zones.

World's top ranked eco-friendly LEED Platinum certified factory Remi Holdings Ltd started its business at Adamjee EPZ in 2016.

The other two companies of this group—Baridhi Garments Ltd in Cumilla EPZ and Croydon-Kowloon Designs Ltd in Dhaka EPZ—are operating their business.

Among others, Bepza's Executive Director for Administration Md Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Director for Public Relations Nazma Binte Alamgir and Executive Director for Enterprise Services Md Khorshid Alam were also present.

Bitopi Group to invest $9.58 million for RMG plant at Dhaka EPZ

Sonar Manufacturing Limited, a sister concern of Bitopi Group, is going to establish a readymade garment industry in Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) with an investment of $9.58 million.

www.thedailystar.net

Oryx Bio-Tech Limited was struggling for quite some time to find a suitable plot near Dhaka for building a large manufacturing plant -- the first-ever plasma fractionation plant in Bangladesh.

It will produce human plasma-based pharmaceutical products to be used in the treatment of complicated fatal diseases like cancer and hepatitis.

However, it was not easy for Oryx to find the plot as it requires quite a large space with uninterrupted electricity, water, gas, and other supplies, as it is a highly sophisticated and research-intensive industry.

Then they came to know about Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City (BHTC), a 355-acre industrial park, in Gazipur's Kaliakair upazila, which offers a developed and ready space with all the necessary amenities for tech-based industries.

"We were amazed to find BHTC, which is so close to Dhaka and offers prime plots connected with all the necessary infrastructure, uninterrupted supply system, and excellent communication networks," said Dewan Shahryar, adviser to the managing director of Oryx-Bio-Tech Ltd.

"The ICT division was also very cordial and helpful. As a result, we could complete all the initial tasks such as land allotment, power supply, and various other complicated works at great speed despite the pandemic," he said.

Thanks to the BHTC authorities' cooperation, in two years' time human plasma-based lifesaving pharmaceutical products, such as albumin, immunoglobulin, will be produced in Bangladesh, which are currently produced only in developed countries like the USA, Japan, Italy, France and the UK and in a few developing nations.

In the next three years, Oryx Bio-tech will invest $300 million in BHTC and has proposed to employ 2,000 workers in the plant.

Oryx Bio-Tech Ltd is just one of the 70 tech companies that have invested millions of US dollars in BHTC to produce world-class tech-based products in Bangladesh.

So far, 44 companies have been allotted plots in the park and many of them have started to construct their factory buildings.

According to the BHTC authorities, all the companies, who have been allotted plots, will start their production in full scale by 2025 if everything goes at the current pace.

The authorities have constructed an eight-storey service building, where two companies have been allotted more than 20,000 square feet of office space.

Five more companies have obtained office spaces in the newly-constructed administrative building.

The entire hi-tech city is divided into four blocks. The 65-acre block-1 will have residential facilities, a hotel, and administrative buildings. There will be training centres, a convention hall, mosques, shopping centre and other residential facilities in block-2.

Block-3 (40 acres), block-4 (36 acres) ,5 (29 acres), and block-6 (97 acres) will be entirely industrial areas, and a special zone comprising 97.33 acres of land has been developed for establishing research and development facilities.

The government has been constructing all types of associated infrastructures with its own funds in the park. All the necessary roads, electricity and gas lines, 48 core fibre optic cable network, lighting, power station, sewerage line bridges, and culverts have already been set up.

The mosque, shopping centre, several other buildings and a picturesque artificial lake are currently under construction.

Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, managing director of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA), asserted, "Within the next two years, the hi-tech city will be completed and by 2025, all the companies will start their operation.

"At that time, the hi-tech city will employ around 50,000 skilled workers and we shall be able to attract billions of dollars' worth of investments from home and abroad."

The BHTPA has already taken several pragmatic steps to make investments easy and hassle-free for attracting investors.

Potential investors can quickly apply for land, and acquire different types of licences and certificates with the help of BHTPA's one-stop service centre.

The authorities are also working with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to arrange tax exemption for IT devices and raw material needed for industries located at the hi-tech city.

Ghosh said, "We have sent a special proposal to NBR to arrange tax rebate and customs exemption for IT devices and raw material for our industries. Besides, we have hired former NBR members as our consultants to train our investors about our laws related to tax and customs.

"We are also working with Bangladesh Bank and Brac Bank to arrange loans on easy terms for our small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. We also arrange training and send trainees to international business expos on a regular basis."

SK Tito's Sidney Sun International is one such medium-sized companies that will start producing CCTV, XBR, NVR and other video surveillance accessories in BHTC by May this year.

Tito commented, "We are really impressed with the fact that we can now import our raw material more easily than before. Thanks to the authorities' training and consultation, we can now efficiently interact with the customs officials and have our goods quickly released from the ports.

"Now we need better inter-ministerial coordination so that the ongoing works do not stop in the upcoming days".

ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, "Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City is a dream project of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Through BHTC, we shall rebrand Bangladesh as an ICT exporter country in the world and it will be a great leap towards fulfilling our dream of building a digital Bangladesh.

"We believe that the internet is no longer a luxury. Rather, it is as essential as water and electricity. So, we are working to arrange a tax exemption for internet equipment. We shall complete all the continuing works of the hi-tech city within the time frame at all costs," he told The Daily Star.

Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City likely to get $1.3b investment by 2025

Oryx Bio-Tech Limited was struggling for quite some time to find a suitable plot near Dhaka for building a large manufacturing plant -- the first-ever plasma fractionation plant in Bangladesh.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[Isa Khan]

McDonald Steel Building Products Limited has delivered the first consignment of products produced at the country's largest industrial city, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN).

The joint venture company delivered its first shipment of 20 tons of steel to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority on 23 March, confirmed Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) Assistant Engineer Ferdous Wahid.

He said, "McDonald's Steel Building Products Limited has been conducting experimental production of galvanized and prefabricated steel sheets from 25 January."

The steel plant was set up on 10 acres of land with an investment of Tk114 crore as a joint venture between Nippon Steel Corporation of Japan and Mcdonald Steel Building Products of Bangladesh.

Director (PD) of the project Abdullah Al Mahmoud Farooq told The Business Standard that in addition to McDonald's Steel, Asian Paints is going to start production in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar this year.

He said, "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate this factory. Construction of several other establishments is also nearing completion."

Recently, after inspecting the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar area it was seen that the work of Mirsarai part of the project is progressing fast. On the other hand, the land allotment work in Sitakunda and Sonagazi is still pending.

About 6,000 acres of land in that part have already been filled with soil. At present roads, bridges and other infrastructures are being constructed.

Authorities are installing gas and electricity lines in various factories under construction. In addition, solar systems have been installed for roads inside the industrial city.

In addition to Asian Paints and McDonald Steel, Healthcare Pharma is operating in 40 acres, Bangladesh Auto Industries in 100 acres, SQ Cable in 40 acres, Jinguan in 10 acres, Modern Syntex Limited in 20 acres, Nippon and other companies in 100 acres and Berger Paints in 30 acres.

First consignment of products made in Bangabandhu industrial city delivered

The McDonald Steel Building Products Ltd delivered the first consignment of its products manufactured in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar, the largest industrial city in the country. "On 23 March, the joint venture company shipped 20 tonnes of steel to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority,"...

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Cumilla Economic Zone is expected to go into production within 2023, with its land prepared for factory construction and many local and foreign companies expressing interest to set up factories at the industrial hub.

Situated on the bank of a tributary of the Meghna River near the Dhaka-Chattagram highway, the under-construction private economic zone is the first of its kind in the fast-growing Cumilla district.

The developer of the economic zone – Meghna Group of Industries, following a 20 March gazette notification, will soon start to allot plots to the aspirant companies.

The group hopes it will be able to open the 246.3-acre economic zone by the middle of next year (2023), with the utilisation of its previous experience of developing two other zones in Narayanganj – Meghna Industrial Economic Zone and Meghna Economic Zone.

Some of the proposed factories would be built and would go into operation by this time, it said.

"Several local and foreign companies particularly from the US, Japan, and Germany have already expressed their keen interest to set up their facilities in the economic zone," Suman Bhowmik, senior deputy general manager of Meghna Group, told The Business Standard.

"We expect at least $2 billion investment here and with its full-swing operation, approximately 50,000 people will get job opportunities," he added.

"We are always committed to providing our best to our clients with cost-effective packages, modern facilities and first-class services to help them explore their full potential."

Suman Bhowmik said the economic zone would be completely green – work and environment-friendly – and compliant with all the rules and regulations. "We will allow factories mainly of textile, garment accessories, RMG, chemical, steel, and glass."

The zone land has already been prepared for factory construction, according to officials, and a boundary wall surrounding the area has been built.

Currently, the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board supplies electricity to the under-construction industrial hub, but a separate station by Power Grid Company of Bangladesh will be built to meet the high electricity demand there.

The authorities of the economic zone, meanwhile, applied to Titas Gas for gas connections and are now awaiting approval. For water, they will set up a water treatment plant and depend on the adjacent Meghna tributary. Besides, it will also lift groundwater on a limited scale.

Meghna Group expects the economic zone would have all the basic amenities within this year.

Other amenities

Among other facilities, the zone will have solid waste management, fire-fighting service, investor recreation club, convention hall, separate car parking lot, and medical and childcare centres.

The developer will also ensure some modern amenities like helipads, commercial centres, residential buildings and parks inside the economic zone.

115 plots on 246 acres

Meghna Group received the pre-qualification licence from the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (Beza) in 2016 to develop the Cumilla Economic Zone at Megna upazila's Shonarchar. Immediately after getting the licence, it started land development and other preparatory works.

Currently, the zone has 246.3 acres of land with 115 plots – the majority are 4046.86 square metres. Meghna Group also has a plan to expand the zone to 350 acres soon.

The Beza is working toward establishing 100 economic zones across the country by 2030.

The goal is to create employment for 10 million people. The Beza also expects to produce and export products worth $40 billion annually in and from these economic zones.

Investors can avail of tax holidays, duty-free imports of raw materials and machinery, exemption from dividend tax, VAT-free electricity, gas and water and other fiscal facilities in the zones.

Besides, they enjoy some other non-fiscal advantages, such as bond facility, One-Stop Service (OSS), repatriation of disinvestment, unlimited telephonic transfers and separate customs procedures.

Cumilla EZ looks to have $2b investments

The under-construction private economic zone is the first of its kind in the fast-growing Cumilla district

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

The construction of the country’s first maritime runway, in Cox’s Bazar, is going on schedule despite various challenges since the project was inaugurated last year.

The project recently reached a major milestone as all the work on reclaiming land from the sea has been completed.

“More than 19% of the construction work was done as of February 2022, so it is a rapidly progressing project of Bangladesh,” said Li Guangqi, site manager for the Cox’s Bazar Runway Extension project.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) inked the deal for the project with the Chinese joint venture of Changjiang Yichang Waterway Engineering Bureau (CYWEB) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) on February 9, 2021. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work on August 29 last year.

The estimated cost of the project is Tk1,568.86 crore.

According to project documents, the deadline to finish construction is May 10, 2024. However, Li Gaungqi said they are planning to complete construction work by September 2023 despite challenges posed by Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Challenges​

Project officials said the main construction work started after the inauguration in August last year, but a surge in Covid-19 cases due to the arrival of the Omicron variant soon threatened to cause disruption.

However, the Chinese joint venture continued to work while maintaining health guidelines during the spike in Covid-19. More than 50 foreign engineers, experts, and staff are working on the project.

The Russia-Ukraine war is posing a challenge as it has interrupted the raw material and equipment import process by causing delays at various seaports.

“Overcoming all the challenges, like Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, construction work is progressing. We are committed to finishing it in time,” said Li.

Construction materials for the project, such as stone, are mostly imported from Malaysia. Most of the equipment, tools and machinery are being imported from China.

Runway to boost tourism​

Under the agreement, the contractor will extend the existing 9,000ft runway by 1,700ft towards the Maheshkhali Channel through coastal land reclamation. Once completed, it will be the longest runway in the country.

The length of the runway at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is 10,500ft.

The extended runway will allow much larger aircraft to take off and land at Cox’s Bazar airport, paving the way for it to operate international flights.

“It will be a marvellous runway as it is being constructed by reclaiming land from the sea at the largest sea beach in the world. There will also be an airfield ground lighting system. Tourists who arrive in Bangladesh will be impressed to see it,” said Li.

“Cox’s Bazar airport is being converted into an international airport with an attractive runway. It will help to boost tourism, despite it being an ambitious project for Bangladesh,” said Md Rafeuzzaman, president of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB).

“Various development projects are underway to turn Cox’s Bazar into an international tourist destination. The runway extension project is one of the most vital parts of these projects,” he added.

The project was approved by the government on November 4, 2018.

Cox’s Bazar maritime runway construction on track despite challenges

Cox’s Bazar runway extension project progress over 19%

www.dhakatribune.com

The country's first wind power project is being implemented in Khurushkul of Cox’s Bazar Sadar upazila.

State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid laid the foundation stone of the project on Thursday.

The wind power plant would generate 60MW of electricity upon project completion.

Besides, there will be another wind park in Inani capable of generating 50MW of electricity, said State Minister Nasrul.

The director of the project in Khurushkul, Mukit Alam Khan, said the government is constructing the plant at a cost of Tk900 crore.

The project will reach completion by December, he said, adding that the electricity generated by this plant will be connected to the national grid after meeting local demand.

It is being implemented by US-DK Green Energy (BD) Ltd.

Bangladesh to get its first wind power plant in Cox’s Bazar

The 60MW plant will cost Tk900 crore

www.dhakatribune.com

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladesh's forex reserves rose to $44.30 billion again after a month, thanks to growing inward remittance.

The forex reserve fell to $43.89 billion on 6 March 2022 after paying import bills of $2.16 billion to Asian Clearing Union (ACU). It was the lowest forex reserves for Bangladesh in past one year.

The export earnings and remittance inflows of $15.29 billion in nine months of the current (July-March) fiscal year (FY), pushed the foreign currency reserves to 44.30 billion on Sunday in contrast to a month ago.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources said with the reserves, it will be possible to meet the import costs over five months. But even six months ago, Bangladesh Bank had reserves to meet the import cost of 10 months.

However, the inflow of remittance is still in negative growth in the first nine months (July-March) of the current 2021-22 fiscal year. In these nine months, the expatriates have sent $15.30 remittance. During the same period of the last fiscal year 2020-21, the expatriates sent $ 18.59 billion remittance.


It shows that the inflow of inward remittance has decreased by 18% in nine months despite remittance inflow increase by 24.45% in March compared to February.

Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of BB told UNB that remittance inflow in the banking channel is increasing gradually after raising the cash incentive to 2.5%.

The expatriates are taking Tk102.5 by sending Tk 100 remittance in the hassles-free legal channel, he said.

Serajul hinted that the remittance inflow would increase in April for Ramadhan and Eid as the expatriates usually send more money to their relatives in the country during the festival.

The inward remittance inflow of the last nine months of FY2022 saw a decreasing trend compared with the similar months in the FY2021.

Bangladesh received remittance $1.87 million in July, $1810.10 million in August, $1726.71 million in September, $1646.87 million in October and $1553.70 million in November, $1630.66 million in December, $1704.53 million in January, $1149.08 million in February and $1859.97 million in March of FY22.

In the same period of FY21, the remittance inflow was $2598.21million in July, $1963.94 million in August, $ 2151.05 million in September, $ 2102.16 million in October, $2078.74 million in November, $2050.65 million in December, $ 1961.91 million in January, $1780.59 million in February and $1910.98 million in March.

Bangladesh’s forex reserves crosses $44 bln thanks to better inflow

The export earnings and remittance inflows of $15.29 billion in nine months of the current (July-March) fiscal year (FY), pushed the foreign currency reserves to 44.30 billion on Sunday in contrast to a month ago

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A new branch of the National Maritime Institute will be established in the northern district of Kurigram in 2024, said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.

He made the announcement while addressing the Mujib Year passing out parade of the 23rd and 12th (Madaripur branch) cadet batch of the National Maritime Institute (NMI) in Chattogram on Saturday.

The construction of NMI's Madaripur branch and procurement of necessary equipment has already been completed, said the state minister adding that the branch will be operational from June and as many as 600 cadets will be able to receive training from the facility every year.

Till now, all activities of the Madaripur branch of the NMI were being conducted at the Chattogram establishment.

The state minister also spoke about Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) ship Banglar Samriddhi and the slain sailor Hadisur Rahman who was killed following a missile attack in Ukraine last month.

"A sailor died in the incident. He is a martyr. His body and the remaining sailors were brought back home successfully because of effective diplomatic lobbying of the ruling government."

"The courage shown by our sailors (in Ukraine) has been appreciated all around the world," he added.

New branch of National Maritime Institute to be built in Kurigram: State minister

He made the announcement while addressing the Mujib Year passing out parade of the 23rd and 12th (Madaripur branch) cadet batch of the National Maritime Institute (NMI) in Chattogram on Saturday

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Russia is keeping the shipments of equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant uninterrupted despite the global sanction following the Ukraine crisis.

A cargo ship with a new batch of equipment on board for the Rooppur power plant has left St Petersburg recently, said a press release.

The equipment for units 1 and 2 of Bangladesh's first-ever nuclear power plant included 1300 various items weighing 1573 tons.

The cargo is expected to be delivered at the power plant site in June of the current year.

"Despite the international situation, our division being the general contractor for the Rooppur NPP construction fulfills all its obligations, both in terms of construction and supply of equipment," said Alexey Deriy, the vice-president of ASE and director, the Rooppur nuclear power plant construction project.

Rooppur nuclear power plant will be equipped with two Russian VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 MWe.

It is an evolutionary Generation III+ design that fully complies with all the international safety requirements, the press release added.

The engineering division of Rosatom State Corporation, Russia is the general designer and general contractor of the project.

Russia keeps equipment shipment for Rooppur plant uninterrupted

A cargo ship with a new batch of equipment on board for the Rooppur power plant has left St Petersburg recently

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[Isa Khan]

Technicians at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant have successfully installed the generator stator – the main element of a turbine unit that converts mechanical power received from the turbine to electric power – in the turbine hall of Unit 1.

The installation work was performed by specialists of the VdMU LLC branch office in Bangladesh, a release said Wednesday.

"The generator stator equipment is the heaviest element of the power unit with a total weight exceeding 440 tons. Completion of its installation in the design position allows us to proceed with full-scale work on the installation of the turbine hall main equipment", noted Alexey Deriy, vice president of ASE and project director for the Rooppur NPP construction.

The turbine generator TZV-1200-2 was developed and manufactured by Power Machines JSC.

The advantages of this type of turbine generator are fire safety, enhanced reliability, high overload capacity due to low heating and vibration levels, lack of shaft oil seals, fans and gas coolers.

The Rooppur NPP will be equipped with two Russian VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,400 MWe.

This is an evolutionary Generation III+ design that fully complies with all the international safety requirements.

The engineering division of Rosatom State Corporation, Russia is the general designer and general contractor of the project.

Rooppur plant gets power converter

Technicians at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant have successfully installed the generator stator – the main element of a turbine unit that converts mechanical power received from the turbine to electric power – in the turbine hall of Unit 1. The installation work was performed by specialists of...

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the Padma Bridge, a dream project of her government, will open to traffic by the end of this year.

She said this while responding to a tabled question from ruling party MP (Naogaon-2) Shahiduzzaman Sarker during her question-answer session.

The premier said that the Padma Bridge has been the most challenging project in the history of a developing country like Bangladesh.

The construction of the 6.15km-long bridge connecting central Bangladesh with the south has been a brave move by her government that overcame many obstacles.

She said that 100% work on the approach road and service area at both ends of the project has been completed.

She mentioned the completion of the physical work of the main bridge at 96.50%.

Sheikh Hasina said that currently, works of carpeting, viaduct carpeting, installing waterproof membrane, movement joint of main bridge and viaduct, lamppost, aluminium railing, gas pipeline, 400KVA power and railway line is in progress.

She told the House that the revised budget of the Padma Bridge project stands Tk30,193.39 crore.

Earlier on several occasions including on 3 April, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader informed that Padma Bridge will open to traffic in June this year.

Hasina, also leader of the House, informed said that work on 17 notable mega projects taken by the government is going on for the development of the country.

The megaprojects include -- Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction Project, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Moitre Super Tharmal Power Project (Rampal), Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project, LNG Terminal and Gas Pipeline Construction Project, Paira Sea Port, Paira Thermal Power Plant, Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, Cox's Bazar Airport Development Project, and Ashrayan Project.

Padma Bridge to open for traffic by end of this year: PM Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the Padma Bridge, a dream project of her government, will open to traffic by the end of this year. She said this while responding to a tabled question from ruling party MP (Naogaon-2) Shahiduzzaman Sarker during her question-answer session. The...

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Bepza has signed an agreement with M/s Goodwood (Dhaka) Co., Ltd., a Canada-China owned company to set up a diversified product manufacturing industry in Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (Bepza) Economic Zone.

This fully foreign owned company will invest $5.74 million where 1,990 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities, reads a press release.

Ali Reza Mazid, member (Investment Promotion) of Bepza and Li Xin, project manager of Goodwood (Dhaka) Co. Ltd. signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations on 5 April at Bepza Complex, Dhaka.

Bepza Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, ndc, psc witnessed the signing ceremony.

The company will produce annually 10,000 tons of wooden disposable cutlery (Knife, Fork, Spoon, and Stirrer) and medical products (Swab, Tongue depressor).

Bepza has been working to strengthen the economic base of the country by reducing the risk of single dependency on the garment sector through diversifying export products. As a part of this effort, Bepza signed the agreement with Goodwood (Dhaka) Company.

Mentionable, including M/s Goodwood (Dhaka) Company Bepza approved total 7 companies to set up industries in Bepza Economic Zone, reads the statement.

The proposed investment of the other 6 companies which have already signed lease agreement is $114.37 million where 32,962 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities.

Among others, Member (Engineering) Mohammad Faruque Alam, Member (Finance) Nafisa Banu, Executive Director (Administration) Md Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Director (Public Relations) Nazma Binte Alamgir, Executive Director (Investment Promotion) Md Tanvir Hossain, Executive Director (Enterprise Services) Md Khorshid Alam and Project Director of Bepza EZ Md Hafizur Rahman were present during the signing ceremony.

$5.74 million investment to produce diversified products in Bepza EZ

Bepza has signed an agreement with M/s Goodwood (Dhaka) Co., Ltd., a Canada-China owned company to set up a diversified product manufacturing industry in Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (Bepza) Economic Zone. This fully foreign owned company will invest $5.74 million where 1,990...

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There were almost no factories in the country after independence. The industrial sector of Bangladesh started with only 313 factories in a war-torn country. According to official figures of that time, the country’s industrial sector incurred losses of Tk 2.9 million during the liberation war. In addition to the crisis over the company ownership, there was a shortage of loans and lack of skilled manpower. Despite that, this sector was recovering due to the various initiatives undertaken by the government at the time. These details were found while studying old official documents.

Fortunately, a huge entrepreneurial and business class has developed in that war-torn country over the last five decades. In addition to meeting the demand of the domestic market, the list of products for export has also grown.

The industrial sector has seen vast expansion in the last 50 years. The number of factories has multiplied 150 times. As a result, the number of factories in production has increased to 46,110. Of these, about 3,000 are large factories. These are now the mainstay of the country’s industrial sector.

The industrial sector has witnessed huge success in the last 50 years, as in evident in the fact that Bangladesh is now the world's third largest exporter of ready-made garments. Bangladesh is also is a reputable exporter of leather products. And the golden days of jute and jute products are also being reinstated. At present Bangladesh ranks second in the world in terms of jute production. The country has also started manufacturing electronic products. Local companies are producing essential products like refrigerators, air conditioners and mobile phones.

Abul Kashem Khan, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and chairman of AK Khan Group, said, "The difference between from where we started and where we stand today is very clear. The government has supported entrepreneurs continuously through industrial policies. At the same time the entrepreneurs have also developed their competence. Therefore, we have succeeded to grow into the world’s third largest exporter of ready-made garments.”

He said, “It is high time that our entrepreneurs get the scope to work in the global arena."

It wasn't easy in the beginning​

The first five-year plan of Bangladesh was finalised in November 1973 under the leadership of Nurul Islam, the then vice-chairman of the Planning Commission and an eminent economist. The plan details how much damage was done to the industrial sector during the war and how it then turned around.

At the end of the Pakistan period before independence, the number of registered industries in the country was 3,130 in 1968-69. Of them, 791 were companies from the apparel sector, the highest number of companies from a certain sector at the time. Besides, there were unregistered factories as well.

The fight to turn around​

After the liberation war the country’s industrial sector faced multilateral crises. Massive changes came up in the ownership. As the Pakistani owners left their business establishments in Bangladesh after the country became independent, the state took the ownership of those factories.

In particular, jute, textile and sugar mills were nationalised. The nationalisation programme for the industries was announced on 26 March, 1972. This programme was taken to help the industrial sector turn around.
Sena Kalyan Sangstha and Muktijoddha Welfare Foundation were given the responsibility of running some of the factories. In total, the amount of property of the industry in the hands of the government at that time was Tk 5.17 billion.

As per the official figures of 30 June 1973, the country's industrial sector started with 313 factories which was just the number of industries owned by the government. There were not many industrial establishments in the private sector then.

After that, various problems obstructing the development of the industrial sector were pointed out in the first five-year plan. It stated that as a result of nationalisation, a crisis of skilled manpower and managers in the jute and textile sectors had emerged. A dearth of economic analysts, accountants and marketing experts emerged as well as the managers. And then in the process of recovery, the labour discontent and the inability to motivate the workers in the industrial sector became a big issue.

Besides, industrial raw materials, intermediary products and consumer’s products were all imported from Pakistan. However, after independence the supply of these products couldn’t be restored. In addition, there was a power crisis. Due to the destruction of many roads and bridges during the war of liberation, the supply of goods was disrupted to a great extent immediately after independence.

Another big problem after independence was the challenge of providing loans to entrepreneurs. The first five-year plan said most entrepreneurs at the time needed capital to run a business. Many were unable to import raw materials due to lack of funds. Some ongoing development projects were cancelled then. The financial corporations of the country did not have a clear idea about their probable contribution up to that point.
The country’s industrial sector started its journey amidst this crisis. However, the industrial sector did not develop much in this country till the 90's. Therefore, the contribution of the industrial sector to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) still fluctuated between 10 to 20 per cent.

In the 90's, the country adopted the free economy policy, providing the private entrepreneurs with various benefits.

Zahid Hussain, former leading economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office, thinks that mainly four factors have influenced the development of the industrial sector of the country. These are – trade benefits in the global sphere, availability of labour, interest of the entrepreneurs and government policy. Industrial revolution in a country usually starts with the apparel sector. And so was the case in many countries of the world.

The garment sector of the country embarked in the 1980's with international trade benefits (quota benefit).There was also enough workers available in the country for the garment sector. Women who used to remain confined at home also came to work in the garments industry.

Industries see growth from 313 factories to 46,000

The industrial sector of the country started with only 313 factories in the war-torn Bangladesh. According to the official figures at the time, the country’s industrial sector incurred losses of Tk 2.9 million during the liberation war

en.prothomalo.com

https://www.facebook.com/tbsnews.net/posts/5038792219502020

 

[Isa Khan]

Cumilla Economic Zone (CEZ), a concern of Meghna Group of Industries, has received the final approval from the government as the 12th private sector economic zone of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) awarded the final license to the Meghna Group, a leading business conglomerate in the country, to build an economic zone in Cumilla, said a press release.

The event took place in hotel intercontinental, Dhaka, on Sunday (10 April), said a press release.

Prime Minister's Office Secretary Md Tofazzal Hossain Miah attended the event as the chief guest, while Mostafa Kamal, chairman of Meghna Group of Industries, arrived as the special guest.

The programme was presided over by Shaikh Yusuf Harun, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).

CEZ got the final nod from the government to pave the way to attract more local and foreign investments, people familiar with the matter said.

Md Tofazzal Hossain Miah said, "Besides a conducive investment environment, BEZA's modern fast and standard services have enhanced the scope for investments. BEZA has contributed in upholding the country's economic status despite the strains posed by the pandemic."

Mostafa Kamal said that he is keen on attracting investors from around the world.

Among others, high ranking officials of top business organisations and representatives of financial institutions were also present on the occasion.

Cumilla Economic Zone gets final govt nod

Highlights 12th private economic zone in the country Situated near the Dhaka-Chattagram highway Expected to go into production by 2023 Will create 50,000 jobs in 60 industrial factories The Cumilla Economic Zone (CEZ), a concern of the Meghna Group of Industries, has received the final...

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Bangladesh is turning into a major sourcing hub for sweaters for international clothing retailers and brands as work orders are shifting from China and global fashion trends are changing.

Chinese manufacturers are no longer interested in making sweaters because of the complexities in the manufacturing process, higher cost of production, and shortage of skilled workers, according to industry insiders.

As a result, exports of the item are rising from Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment supplier after China.

Earnings from sweater exports reached $4.05 billion in the fiscal year of 2020-21, up 12.62 per cent year-on-year, data from the Export Promotion Bureau showed.

In FY20, the receipts stood at $3.59 billion, a decrease of 15.47 per cent from the previous year's $4.25 billion, as the severe fallout of the coronavirus pandemic took a toll.

"Trends show that the export earnings will cross $6 billion at the end of the current fiscal year," said Mostofa Quamrus Sobhan, managing director of Dragon Sweater and Spinning, one of the leading sweater exporters.

He secured 20 per cent higher rates this year compared to last year after his buyers adjusted the price in line with increased cutting and manufacturing costs and raw materials prices in the local and international markets.

"The buyers are also paying a bit higher this year because of an abnormal rise in freight charges," said Sobhan. He is receiving nearly 20 per cent more work orders this year compared to a year ago.

The demand for sweaters is rising worldwide because of changes in fashion trends.

Previously, people used to wear sweaters only during the winter season but now they put on lightweight sweaters all year round as a fashion item.

"So, sweaters have turned into an all-weather fashion item," said Sobhan, who has been shipping the item for a long time.

The temperature has gone up in many cold countries because of climate change, driving down the demand for thick sweaters and pushing up the consumption of lightweight sweaters.

Bangladesh has a strong position in the manufacturing of lightweight sweaters.

Moreover, the use of modern technologies such as the Jacquard machine in sweater production has raised productivity. Four or five workers are needed to run a manual sweater machine but only a single labourer can operate four to five Jacquard machines that have a higher production capacity.

"This technological transformation has made exporters more competitive globally," said Shahidul Islam, managing director of Rupa Group, which sells sweaters worth $30 million a year.

A number of new markets such as South Africa, Japan, and Russia have emerged as promising sweater export destinations from Bangladesh in recent years. The largest sweater markets for Bangladesh are Canada, Europe and the US.

Of the $600 million garments exported to Russia last year, the majority were sweaters. Russians use sweaters all year round and they offer better prices than other countries.

At the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Islam faced difficulties in getting payments from Russian buyers. The uncertainties disappeared as the banks he dealt with have not been banned by the global financial messaging network SWIFT.

What is more, Russian buyers are seeking to use alternative channels to pay Bangladeshi exporters so that their shipments to the country are not affected.

Islam shipped the garment item worth $2.5 million to Russia last year and may resume sweater exports to the country from August.

"We have increased sweater sourcing from Bangladesh by 15 per cent this year," said a top official of a major European retailer and brand asking not to be named.

Sweater is a very trendy item, especially in European countries. As a result, the demand for the all-weather lightweight item is going up all over the continent, he said.

"Bangladesh is turning into a major sourcing hub for our company."

Mohammad Hatem, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, says globally the demand for casual wear is increasing because of the change in fashion trends.

"Sweaters are a knit item and people use them also as casual wear."

Bangladesh becoming a key sweater sourcing hub

Bangladesh is turning into a major sourcing hub for sweaters for international clothing retailers and brands as work orders are shifting from China and global fashion trends are changing.

www.thedailystar.net

https://www.facebook.com/zapalak/posts/557721962376520

The Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), with the support of the Bangladesh Computer Council, has launched a cyber range lab at its campus in the Mirpur Cantonment in the capital.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak inaugurated the lab on Sunday, according to an ISPR press release.

With an arrangement of training and research works, the platform is expected to help learners become more skilled in cyber security, it reads.

MIST Commandant Major General Md Wahid-Uz-Zaman, its Computer Science and Engineering Department Head Brigadier General Md Abdur Razzak, cyber security officials of armed forces and office bearers of the Bangladesh Computer Council, were present at the event.

"The lab is the first of its kind in the country's educational institutions, which has been set up under the supervision of the ICT Division. I hope the lab will bring a new dimension to the cyber security sector," Palak said, addressing the event as the chief guest.

Mentioning different initiatives taken by the government to develop information and communication technology in the country, the state minister called for a strong preparation to face future cyber challenges.

At the event, the MIST commandant vowed that MIST would continue its contributions to the development of the ICT sector, reads the press release.

A cyber range lab is a simulation platform that aims to educate cyber security students, trains and assess cyber security practitioners, and tests different technologies in a true-to-life environment. It usually remains equipped with virtualised networks, hi-tech machines, traffic generators, training setup tools, debriefing tools, assessment tools and others.

MIST launches cyber range lab

The platform is expected to help learners become more skilled in cyber security

www.tbsnews.net

https://www.facebook.com/madeinrussianfederation/posts/2187254744761536

 

[Isa Khan]

Construction of the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) is progressing in full swing with completion reaching 2% more than the April target.

Officials say the soft launch of the much-awaited terminal is expected within September-October next year.

After visiting the project site at Kurmitola of the capital on Monday, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mahbub Ali told journalists, "The construction of this world-class airport is 1.9% ahead of the expected target.

"By April 8, the construction of the third terminal was supposed to be 32.7% complete. However, in reality it is at 34.6%. The construction will be completed within the stipulated time."

Expressing hope that the terminal can be inaugurated within the scheduled December 2023 timeline, he said, "Passengers at the third terminal will enjoy the same quality of services they get at London's Heathrow Airport or Thailand's airports.

"There will be no compromise with quality," he said of the project being implemented by Mitsubishi and Fujita of Japan, and Samsung of South Korea.

"Even if there is some work left, the soft launch can be done earlier. During the Covid-19 outbreak, construction work of the third terminal did not stop for a single day," he added.

Around 4,000 national and international workers are working on the project, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

Once completed, the terminal can serve twice the number of passengers than the Dhaka Airport is handling currently, officials said.

On the elevated expressway, the state minister said, "These works need to be coordinated. Work on the elevated expressway will begin in a few days, when the terminal will be connected to the expressway.

"The prime minister has instructed us to extend the tunnel to Ashkona Hajj Camp. We will work accordingly," he said

After completion of the project, HSIA will be able to provide service to over two crore passengers every year, according to the CAAB.

Asked if the cost of the project could increase, Mahbub Ali said, "We will see. There is no guarantee."

CAAB Chairman Air Vice-Marshal Mafidur Rahman said, "The construction of the third terminal is going on as per schedule. There was a small delay because work on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway is starting a little late."

When the third terminal is completed, it will double the airport's annual passenger and cargo handling capacities, according to AKM Maksudul Islam, the project director of the third terminal.

Recently, he told a visiting Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association delegation that after completion of the terminal, the airport will be able to handle five lakh tonnes of cargo from the current two lakh tonnes.

According to project sources, the terminal is being constructed on 542,000 square metres of land and will have a floor space of 230,000 square metres, 115 check-in counters, 64 departure and 64 arrival immigration desks.

Meanwhile, construction of a high speed taxiway at the airport is also being done quickly.

The CAAB chairman on Monday said, "The plan was to complete the work by June. However, it will be completed within the first week of May."

The chairman also said that the work of installing a new radar at the airport has started.

On December 28, 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of the Tk21,300 crore "Third Terminal of HSIA" in Dhaka aimed at increasing the airport's passenger and cargo capacity.

The project received the green signal from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on October 24, 2017. It involved an estimated cost of Tk13,610crore.

However, in 2019, the cost was later revised. Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk5,000 crore and the rest will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Dhaka airport third terminal construction outpaces target

Officials say the soft launch of the much-awaited terminal is expected within September-October next year

www.tbsnews.net

Bangladesh received second highest remittance from the United States in March, which showed a change in inward remittance flow.

The remittance earning has been dominated by the Middle Eastern countries since independence.

But now the situation is changing as many Bangladeshi skilled people work in the developed countries, said Md Serajul Islam, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank (BB).

"By analysing the earlier record of the BB, we found that the inward remittance flow is gradually increasing from the US and European Union, outside the Middle East," he said.

The remittance earning will get diversified because of freelancing job in the developed countries like the US, Canada and the EU, he said.

The BB's remittance update shows that Bangladesh received $308.82 million remittance from the US in March, which is highest so far in remittance from the country in a single month.

In March, Bangladesh received inward remittance of $377 million from KSA, $214.16 million – UK, $184.14 million – UAE, $144.48 million – Kuwait, $119.59 million – Qatar, $85.88 million – Italy, $81.43 million – Malaysia, $74.30 million – Oman, and $57.48 – Bahrain.

The central bank data shows that inward remittance inflow has increased from the US during the worst period of Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, there are currently 12 million Bangladeshis living in different countries of the world.

Reviewing the data of the central bank, it is seen that the expatriates in the Middle East, America and European countries are playing a major role in remittance earning of Bangladesh.

Since independence, Bangladesh has always received major share of remittances from Saudi Arabia. This was followed by the the United Arab Emirates.

The United States is now second and the United Kingdom is third.

The UAE, once second, now ranks fourth.

The largest market for Bangladeshi expatriates is Saudi Arabia with around 2.2 million Bangladeshi migrants there.

Remittance income increasing from US, EU

The remittance earning will get diversified because of freelancing job in the developed countries like the US, Canada and the EU, says Bangladesh Bank's Executive Director

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Chattogram port will soon accommodate 10-metre draught vessels, increasing the port's berthing capacity.

After a survey report due this June, the container handling capacity of the largest port in the country will go up significantly.

UK-based HR Wallingford, conducting a survey, "Detailed Hydrologic & Hydraulic study of the Karnaphuli River", is scheduled to file a draft survey report on 24 April. It will submit its final report in June, paving the way for 10m draught vessels to start docking, said port officials.

Currently only 9.5m draught vessels, 190 metres long, are able to anchor at the port jetty. These vessels carry 2500 to 2600 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers.

Once the port authority officially clears the docking of 10m draught and 200m long vessels, each vessel will have 1000-1100 more TEU containers.

Officials said, HR Wallingford has already verbally informed the port authority they can begin allowing 200m long vessels.

The survey is being conducted on a 41km stretch from Kaptai Dam to the Karnaphuli River estuary at a cost of Tk11 crore.

Omar Faruq, secretary to the Chattogram Port Authority, said increased berthing capacity will contribute to reducing turnaround time.

10-metre draft vessels to berth at Ctg port soon

Chattogram port will soon accommodate 10-metre draught vessels, increasing the port's berthing capacity. After a survey report due this June, the container handling capacity of the largest port in the country will go up significantly. UK-based HR Wallingford, conducting a survey, "Detailed...

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The Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) will double its bandwidth capacity with support from the third submarine cable in a bid to gear itself up for the growing demand.

As the company disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Monday, its shares closed 0.77% higher at Tk210 each in the downward market of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

According to the declaration, the bandwidth capacity will go up to 13,200 Gbps from the existing 6,600 Gbps. But to make it happen, the company needs an additional investment of Tk176.83 crore.

The landing station of the third submarine cable – widely known as South East Asia–Middle East-Western Europe-6 (SEA-ME-WE-6) Consortium – will be built in Cox's Bazar, around 100km south of the Chattogram port city.

In December 2020, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the Tk692 crore project titled "Installation of Third Submarine Cable for Expansion of International Telecommunication System of Bangladesh" connecting the country to a third submarine cable and meeting the growing demand for internet bandwidth.

Tk392 crore was set to come from the government while BSCCL will pay the remaining Tk300 crore on its own for the project scheduled for completion by 2025.

A senior officer at the company, seeking anonymity, said it is still unknown whether the remaining finance will come from the government or the company. The project time will also increase to raise the capacity.

BSCCL operates two submarine cable landing stations with a capacity of 1,900 gigabits per second. The first is SMW-4 in Cox's Bazar launched in 2005 and the second is SMW-5 in Kuakata, which started operations in 2017.

Since the beginning of 2017, the market share of BSCCL began to increase significantly, which is now about 74%.

At present, Bangladesh consumes 1,564 Gbps of bandwidth from BSCCL and 95% of it comes from the Singapore route.

That is why the company has decided to sell 25.31% of the capacity of the western section (France route) of the second submarine cable for a one-time fee of Tk30.6 crore to Saudi Telecom Company.

According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the number of internet users was 12.18 crore till January this year, while mobile internet subscribers were 11.17 crore and broadband users 1.01 crore.

Meanwhile, the BSCCL posted a 21% growth in revenue and a 57% rise in net profit in the first half of fiscal 2021-22 compared to the same period a year ago.

According to its financial statement, in the July-December period, its revenue was Tk145.12 crore and the net profit was Tk112.90 crore.

BSCCL to double bandwidth capacity with support from a third submarine cable

The Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) will double its bandwidth capacity with support from the third submarine cable in a bid to gear itself up for the growing demand. As the company disclosed in a stock exchange filing on Monday, its shares closed 0.77% higher at Tk210 each in...

www.tbsnews.net

Around 102 factories in greater Rangpur, including 28 at the Uttara EPZ in Nilphamari, will likely get gas connections by December 2023 as the "Construction of Bogura-Rangpur-Saidpur Gas Transmission Pipeline Project" should be complete by then.

The project, which aims to supply gas to 11 districts in the country's northern region, was initially supposed to be implemented by between October 2018 and June 2021.

However, construction delays due to the advent of Covid-19 and complexities in land acquisition pushed the deadline back by two years at first while it was eventually set at December 2023 after the second revision.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had made a public commitment in 2011 that she would ensure gas connections in the country's northern districts to meet the demand for such services from gas-based power plants and other industries in the region.

As such, the Ministry for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources initiated a project for constructing the 150-kilometre long pipeline with a capacity to transmit 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The project, being implemented by Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL), is set to cost Tk 1,359 crore in total.

Running from Bogura to Nilphamari, the 30-inch diameter transmission line will feature above-ground ancillary installations, including a central gas supply station in Saidpur that has the capacity to handle 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, according to project details.

"About 60 per cent of the construction has been completed and work is ongoing in full swing to complete the rest in due time," said Project Director Khondokar Ariful Islam.

In addition, two other town border stations with the capacity to transmit 50 and 20 million standard cubic feet of gas per day are being set up in Rangpur and Pirganj respectively.

Sources say that PGCL, which has already acquired 305 acres of land of the project, has requisitioned an additional 577 acres.

This has led to fresh concerns over meeting the deadline as some landowners have halted construction on their properties in demand of payment for their land.

During a recent visit to the project area, this correspondent found that work was stopped in six villages of Saidpur as land owners alleged that they have yet to receive the money for their land.

Razu, a landowner of Bakdogra village, said they are in the dark in this regard as the concerned authorities are yet to even mention the value of their land despite having already acquired it.

Echoing the same, Hamim Arshad, a landowner of Dholagas village, said they urged the authorities to arrange payment before starting work.

"The problem should be addressed urgently or else it will cause further delays in supplying gas to the region," said SM Shofiqul Alam Dably Shah, president of the Nilphamari Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Khondokar Yasir Arefin, deputy commissioner of Nilphamari, said all odds should be settled amicably as landowners would get payment soon.

Other than heavy industries, two under-construction power plants in Rangpur and Nilphamari that will have a combined capacity to generate 253 megawatts of electricity will also get gas supply from the pipeline, bringing opportunities for employment and socio-economic change in the area.

Business communities in the two northern districts expressed enthusiasm over the project as it will offer them the chance to use cheaper fuel compared to the costly furnace oil and diesel they are used to.

Mostofa Sohrab Chowdhury Titu, president of the Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said many people in his community have purchased land alongside the pipeline in hopes of setting up new industries once the project is complete.

Rezaul Islam Milon, president of the Rangpur metropolitan chamber, said they need a gas connection for the proposed economic zone in Rangpur while private industries at the BSCIC Industrial Park in Gangachara upazila are also clamouring for the same.

New gas pipeline ushers in hope for businesses in north

Around 102 factories in greater Rangpur, including 28 at the Uttara EPZ in Nilphamari, will likely get gas connections by December 2023 as the “Construction of Bogura-Rangpur-Saidpur Gas Transmission Pipeline Project” should be complete by then.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[Isa Khan]

A new gas reserve has been found in an abandoned well at the Kailash Tila Gas Field in Sylhet.

The state-run energy exploration company, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), made the discovery in Well No 7 recently.

Bapex is expecting to yield some 15 million cubic feet of gas every day from the new layer.

Gas is being extracted from the well for the last two days on an experimental basis at a pressure of 2,700PSI, a Bapex official, seeking anonymity, confirmed to The Business Standard.

He said that Bapex is hopeful to start commercial production from the well very soon as it still has all the infrastructure from the previous expedition.

It has been learned that Well No 7 of the Kailash Tila Gas Field was declared abandoned in 2017.

There are total seven wells in the gas field in Sylhet.

Around 29 million cubic feet of gas is being produced from the currently operational (two) wells.

Gas was found in the Kailash Tila Gas Field in 1962. However, production started in 1983.

Bapex finds new gas reserves in Sylhet

A new gas reserve has been found in an abandoned well at the Kailash Tila Gas Field in Sylhet. The state-run energy exploration company, Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex), made the discovery in Well No 7 recently. Bapex is expecting to yield some 15 million...

www.tbsnews.net

• Bangladesh cancelled 10.8GW of coal projects in 2021
• Global coal plant capacity under development shrank 13% in 2021
• Steeper cuts needed to achieve climate goals

---

Even after ditching coal projects of 10.4 gigawatts (GW) capacity in 2021, ongoing projects would nearly quadruple the 1.8GW coal power capacity in Bangladesh, said the Global Energy Monitor.

Its eighth survey of coal plant pipeline said many projects in Bangladesh were abandoned, but not on the scale initially suggested by government announcements in 2020.

Instead, construction of new coal plants with a capacity of 2.6GW began in 2021, raising the number of plants under construction from four to six, for a total of 6.7GW. If completed, the plants would nearly quadruple the 1.8GW coal power capacity in Bangladesh.

Commenting on the survey report, Sharif Jamil, general secretary of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon and coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said, "Bangladesh needs to reassess its electricity demand and stop construction and operation of any coal plants for the sake of its people, the environment, and its economy."

The report titled "Boom and Bust Coal 2022" also found that after rising in 2020 for the first time since 2015, total coal power capacity under development around the globe declined by 13% last year, from 525GW to a record low at 457GW.

Thirty-four countries have new coal plants under consideration, down from 41 countries in January 2021.

China, South Korea, and Japan notably pledged to stop funding new coal plants in other countries, but China continued to lead all countries in domestic development of new coal plants, commissioning more coal capacity than the rest of the world combined.

"In Bangladesh, a combination of high coal prices and guaranteed purchase agreement are putting consumers and the Bangladesh Power Development Board in a tough situation," said Flora Champenois of Global Energy Monitor.

"The false promise of coal being easy and cheap has turned out not to be true, and the country's dependence on coal is becoming an increasing drag on its economy."

Bangladesh to quadruple coal capacity: Global Energy Monitor

Many coal projects in Bangladesh were abandoned, but not on the scale initially suggested by government announcements in 2020

www.tbsnews.net

The Chattogram Port is all set to become a fully automated port, with it already boasting a Computerised Container Terminal Management System (CTMS), which ushered in the digital era for the facility.

Speaking at a views exchange meeting with journalists at the Shaheed Fazlur Rahman Munshi Auditorium of Chittagong Port on Sunday afternoon, Chairman of the Chattogram Port Authority Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said the port has become a fully automated port with the CTMS, which has been upgraded to a Terminal Operating System (TOS), and a data centre equivalent to Tier-2 set up.

By setting up the data center, the port will be able to ensure uninterrupted operational automation services like modern ports of the world, he said.

Shahjahan said that on 30 March, the Cox's Bazar district administration handed over 283.27 acres of land under the Matarbari Port Development Project. Contractors will be hired soon for the port construction work. With the implementation of the Matarbari Port, commercial vessels with a depth of 18 metres will be able to pass through, which will be a milestone for the country's economy. This port will become a regional hub for trade and commerce and other ports will also serve as service ports.

He also said that a new milestones was reached by sending goods directly from the port to Europe.

"Today [April 24] I approved a ship to operate from Chattogram port to a European port. Discussions are also underway on direct shipping to Slovenia, Portugal and Dubai. Shipping on these routes will start soon."

With the construction of the 580,000 square metre yard to increase the capacity of the port, the container capacity has been increased to 55,000. Port limit has been increased from 7 nautical miles to 50 nautical miles. Over the last decade, 390 different types of cargo and container handling equipments have been collected.

In 2021, container handling had been 32 lakh 14 thousand TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), a growth of 13.19%, and general cargo handled was 116 million tonnes.

The chairman of the port said container ships are currently arriving at the jetty within one to two days of anchorage, in which case on-arrival berthing is being provided. During the coronavirus period, many developed ports of the world saw congestion for a long time but no congestion was created in Chattogram port.

He said the port is in the process of collecting two modern scanners for scanning export containers. In the last one year, no robbery has taken place in Chattogram port, he added, saying that the port had been declared a zero-piracy port.

‘Chattogram Port to become a fully automated port’

The Chattogram Port is all set to become a fully automated port, with it already boasting a Computerised Container Terminal Management System (CTMS), which ushered in the digital era for the facility. Speaking at a views exchange meeting with journalists at the Shaheed Fazlur Rahman Munshi...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Foreign direct investment to Bangladesh rose 13 per cent year-on-year to $2.89 billion last year, in a positive development for an economy long looking to increase the flow of external funds to accelerate its growth, official figures showed.

FDI inflow has been far lower than the expected level given the country's business volume and potential of the economy.

Strict regulations, bureaucratic complexities, inadequate infrastructures and lack of one-stop service have become major challenges to lifting the volume of FDIs.

Fresh investment, or equity capital, was at a higher level last year compared to 2020, which has been described by economists as a good development for the country's investment sector.

FDI in the field of equity capital rose 35 per cent to $1.13 billion, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank.

Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said that the inflow of equity capital had not been positive for long. It finally rebounded last year.

The inflow of equity capital means that foreign companies brought in fresh funds to the country.

Two other segments of FDI are reinvested earnings and intra-company loans.

Foreign investors had earlier reinvested their earnings, generated in Bangladesh, significantly, but the trend reversed last year.

The reinvestment of earnings stood at $1.562 billion last year in contrast to $1.566 billion a year prior.

Intra-company loans increased to $194 million, up 25 per cent year-on-year.

Rahman said that the government should ensure one-stop services for foreign investors so that they felt comfortable in making the country their investment hub.

"There are a lot of positive indicators of the economy, but it has not tapped the potentiality of FDI."

Some peers of Bangladesh have managed to secure a higher volume of FDI.

For instance, Vietnam received $19.74 billion last year and $4.42 billion in the first quarter of this year.

"The country should follow the measures that Vietnam has taken," said Rahman.

Rahman said that development works of economic zones should be completed in the quickest possible time as they would attract foreign investors.

He laid emphasis on the ease of doing business by removing red tape as many investors are shying away from the country due to the bureaucratic complexities.

The government had targeted to attract $32 billion in FDI during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period stretching from the fiscal year of 2015-16 to 2019-20. But the country managed less than $10 billion.

Zahid Hussain, a former lead economist of the World Bank's Dhaka office, said the Bangladesh Bank should liberalise its foreign exchange regime further so that businesses could repatriate funds smoothly.

"The central bank should provide policy support to them in a way that helps them settle foreign transactions in Bangladesh without any hassles."

The economist called for ensuring a one-stop service as many investors were struggling to get the benefits from the initiative.

Mamun Rashid, an investment analyst, says Bangladesh has a strong wish to attract foreign investment, but there are some barriers that discourage foreign entities.

"The country's protectionism attitude is one of the major roadblocks to drawing the attention of foreign entrepreneurs."

The average protection rate, which includes different levies and taxes imposed by a government, is 27 per cent in Bangladesh.

The protection rate is 1-1.5 per cent in the developed nations, 4-4.5 per cent in the developing countries of Asia, and 9 per cent in China and India, he said.

"This means foreign businesses have to face more expenses than the local ones. We should create a level-playing field for foreign investors, or else they will not choose the country as their investment destination," Rashid said.

On top of that, the country's rules and regulations relating to the FDI are regularly described by analysts as more complex than in many other countries.

"Financial regulators such as the central bank and the National Board of Revenue should address the issues efficiently in the interest of the economy," said Rashid.

FDI goes up but lower than expected

Foreign direct investment to Bangladesh rose 13 per cent year-on-year to $2.89 billion last year, in a positive development for an economy long looking to increase the flow of external funds to accelerate its growth, official figures showed.

www.thedailystar.net

The government has granted permission to manufacturers to produce bikes up to 500cc engine capacity, a move that is expected to give a huge boost to the motorcycle industry in Bangladesh and provide the scope to bike lovers to ride higher engine two-wheelers.

The development comes as demand for motorcycles with a higher engine capacity is growing among bike enthusiasts thanks to reduced prices and a reduction in registration fees.

In the Import Policy Order 2021-24, published on Sunday, the government said motorcycle makers would be able to import machinery and spare parts required to manufacture 500cc bikes. It, however, banned the import of bikes above 165cc engine capacity.

AHM Shafiquzzaman, additional secretary of the commerce ministry, says the government has given the permission to encourage investment in the manufacturing of higher capacity motorcycles.

"Locally made bikes with a higher engine capacity could be marketed at home and abroad."

Manufacturers welcomed the move, saying that liberalisation will enhance the capacity of the sector.

"This is a positive development. This will attract fresh investment and give a boost to the backward linkage industry and vendor development," said Taskeen Ahmed, managing director of IFAD Motors Ltd.

IFAD has already signed a memorandum of understanding with British-bred Royal Enfield to import the latter's famous two-wheelers.

Ahmed said the bikes with higher engine capacity run on the streets of the countries such as Singapore and Malaysia and European nations.

"This will create the scope for exporting components to the global market."

Earlier, the government permitted Runner Automobiles to import machinery and components needed to make bikes of up to 500cc engine capacity.

Thanks to the latest measure, all manufacturers would now be able to bring components and machinery to make higher engine capacity bikes.

"This has created the opportunity for us to market bikes locally as well as export," said Hafizur Rahman Khan, chairman of Runner Automobiles Ltd, one of the leading manufacturers of bikes in Bangladesh.

He explains that function remains low in bikes with lower engine capacity. "The entire system of a bike with a higher engine capacity will be better than the lower capacity ones," Khan said.

The measure will add new capability and create new jobs, said Subrata Ranjan Das, executive director of ACI Motors Ltd, the local distributor of Yamaha.

Some 375,000 motorcycles were sold in 2021, up 21 per cent compared to 311,016 units the year before, data from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority showed.

Up to 500cc motorbikes can be made locally

The government has granted permission to manufacturers to produce bikes up to 500cc engine capacity, a move that is expected to give a huge boost to the motorcycle industry in Bangladesh and provide the scope to bike lovers to ride higher engine two-wheelers.

www.thedailystar.net

Bangladesh is becoming a major manufacturer of sleeping bags as China is losing its market share because of worker shortage and higher cost of production.

Even a few years ago, two or three multinational companies, located in the export processing zones under the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, used to produce sleeping bags. Now at least 10 local companies manufacture such export-oriented items.

The production of sleeping bags in Bangladesh is gaining ground as the country is increasingly turning into a strong player in the production of outerwear such as jackets, tents, skiing wears, sportswear, hunter wears, safety wears, workwear, and rain wears.

Sleeping bags require the same materials and machinery that are used in making outerwear. As a result, a lot of factories are capable of supplying the items.

Outerwear shipment fetches nearly $4 billion annually for the country and a good portion of the earnings comes from the exports of sleeping bags.

China has been the main producer of sleeping bags, but in recent years, work orders have shifted to Bangladesh and other countries because of the shortage of skilled workers and the higher cost of production in the world's second-largest economy.

As a result, despite facing a higher duty on the shipment of sleeping bags to the US, the main export destination for the country, earnings from the item stand at around $500 million annually.

Exporters in Bangladesh used to enjoy the zero-duty benefit on the export of sleeping bags to the US before the scrapping of the generalised system of preferences in June 2013 following the Rana Plaza building collapse.

Since then, local exporters have faced nearly 12 per cent duty on the export of sleeping bags to the US markets.

Still, investors from the US, Korea and China have shifted their production units to Bangladesh to produce the item at competitive prices.

One of the manufacturers is Julio Lin, director of Eusebio Sporting Ltd, a Taiwanese company located in Chattogram. He exports $20 million worth of sleeping bags a year. He also exports tents.

He has been operating the business in Bangladesh for the last 15 years and ships sleeping bags to Europe, Russia, the US, Canada and some South American countries.

Russia is one of the top markets of sleeping bags for Eusebio Sporting, which ships nearly $3 million worth of the item to the country annually.

"I have not faced any challenge in exporting to Russia despite the ongoing war. I am shipping the goods as usual and receiving the payments from my buyers through third countries," said Lin.

Bangladesh has an abundance of skilled workers whereas their number is going down in China.

"The shipment from Bangladesh will grow in a bigger way in the future," Lin said.

People who go outings like trekking and skiing use sleeping bags in the Scandinavian and other European countries as well as North and South American countries.

Abdullah Hil Rakib, managing director of Team Group, a sleeping bag exporter, says the shipment is growing rapidly from Bangladesh.

"The demand will grow further when people start skiing and mountaineering following improvement of the Covid-19 situation."

The demand for sleeping bags has declined a bit over the last two years because of the pandemic and it may take two to three years for the segment to fully recover.

The country leader of a French company that sources sleeping bags from a number of factories in Bangladesh says his company's sourcing growth is 7 per cent to 8 per cent annually.

S M Khaled, managing director of Snowtex Outerwear Ltd, a major exporter of outerwear, says the sleeping bag manufacturing industry is expanding in Bangladesh as the demand is growing globally.

Bangladesh's share in the global sleeping bag manufacturing segment is on the rise as China is losing market share, he said.

Khaled is expecting to

export $300 million worth of garment items. Most of them are outer wear such as skiing wears, jackets, work wears, safety wears, and sportswear.

In 2021, top importers of sleeping bags were the US, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain, data from the World Integrated Trade Solution portal of the World Bank showed.

Sleeping bags turning into major export item

Bangladesh is becoming a major manufacturer of sleeping bags as China is losing its market share because of worker shortage and higher cost of production.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Chittagong Port will be getting a new terminal after 14 years as the construction of the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) is almost complete.

If all goes according to plan, the PCT will be launched in July this year. Preparations are underway to launch the operations of the terminal.

The new terminal will be able to load and unload containers from three cargo vessels simultaneously. In addition, goods can be unloaded from oil tankers at the Dolphin Jetty.


Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, chairman of Chittagong Port Authority, on Friday noon told The Business Standard that the marine terminal is capable of handling around 5 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) annually.

At a cost of around Tk3,262 crore, the container terminal has been constructed on an area of 32 acres stretching from Chittagong Dry Dock Ltd to the Boat Club on the west bank of the Karnaphuli River.

Three 600-meter long jetties, along with a 220-meter long Dolphin Jetty, have been constructed under the project.

With the launch of this terminal, the annual container capacity of Chittagong Port will increase by 4,500 TEUs. At present, the main seaport of the country handles around 32 lakh containers.

Some 1,12,000 square meters of the internal yard, as well as a container yard with a volume of 16 acres, have been dedicated for the terminal, where 4,500 TEUs can be kept at a time.

The annual operating cost of Patenga Container Terminal is estimated to be about $8 million.

Rear Admiral M Shahjahan said, "The terminal will be launched in the first week of July. Once opened, the number of jetties for loading and unloading containers at the port will increase to 16. Thus, the waiting period for ships in the outer anchorage will be reduced."

Engineer Mizanur Rahman Sarkar, project director of Patenga Container Terminal, said, "The construction is 95% complete. Due to the terminal's proximity to the estuary, it will be possible to unload ships at Patenga Container Terminal in less time than the main jetty of the port. The three jetties of the terminal will be able to facilitate ships up to 190 meters in length at a time.

Ctg Port launching the terminal on its own

The terminal was supposed to be launched on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis, but the Chittagong Port Authority is going to commence operations of the terminal from next July for its own needs, which will later be allocated to private companies.

In the meantime, a number of international organisations have offered to conduct and invest in the operations of the terminal.

These include the Red Sea Gateway Terminal of Saudi Arabia, Apm Terminals-Denmark, DP World of Dubai, Adani Port and Special Economic Zone Limited of India and PSA of Singapore.

In this regard, Rear Admiral Shahjahan told TBS, "Ships that have crane facilities will be moored at this terminal for now and oil tankers will dock at the Dolphin Jetty."

"Although four companies wanted to operate the terminal, none of them has been finalised for selection yet. Whoever gets the job will make the rest of the necessary arrangements, including installation of gantry crane for the terminal," he added.

PCT's backup yard at Laldia Char

Announcing the construction of the multipurpose terminal, the Chittagong Port Authority took over the land a year ago by evicting 2,300 families from 52 acres of land at Laldia Char adjacent to the estuary of the Karnaphuli River.

However, the port authority later changed its decision and chose to build a backup yard for the Patenga Container Terminal on the recovered site.

Omar Faruk, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority, said, "The Laldia Char Multipurpose Terminal project is no more. The project has been cancelled by the government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) Authority.

"We are now moving towards the implementation of the Bay Terminal project after the Patenga Container Terminal. However, plans are afoot to set up a backup yard for the Patenga Container Terminal at Laldia Char," he added.

On 13 June 2017, the government approved the Patenga Container Terminal project at an estimated cost of Tk1,868 crore. The deadline for implementation was set for December 2019.

Later, the project implementing company applied to the port authority for a budget increase of an additional Tk1,393.41 crore, together with a deadline extension till December this year.

Meanwhile, in March this year, the government approved in principle the "Equip, Operate and Maintenance of Patenga Container Terminal" project to implement terminal operations and maintenance projects under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

Ctg Port to get a boost as Patenga terminal set to open in July

With the launch of this terminal, the annual container capacity of Chittagong Port will increase by 4,500 TEUs

www.tbsnews.net

The Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line project is expected to be completed within December this year and be opened to traffic.

Construction works of the 64-kilometre broad gauge line from Khulna to Mongla have seen a progress of 90%.

Speaking with The Business Standard, Project Director (PD) Arifuzzaman said: "Around 90% of the project has already been completed.

"Efforts are underway to complete everything by December despite delays caused by Covid-19."

"Besides, we had to call for tenders twice for the signalling system. A local contractor, within our budget, is implementing the installation works," he added.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) Director General (DG) Dhirendra Nath Majumder said, "Ecnec approved this project on December 21, 2010, in a bid to improve communication and increase imports and exports through the Mongla port.

"The cost of the entire project, with multiple extensions, now stands at over Tk4,200 crore."

Balram Dey, an official of Ircon International Ltd, an Indian state-owned construction company working on the project, said that total 31 bridges and 108 culverts have been built for the train link.

Contacted, Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa said, "After the rail link is established, it will be easier to import-export goods to and from India, Nepal and Bhutan at low cost."

The Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line project was taken in December 2010 with a decade-long time period. The 64.75 km long broad-gauge rail line was supposed to be completed by June 2021.

But due to the slow pace of work, the project has been going on for more than a decade. It got an extension for one year and a half years and now the project is supposed to be completed by December 2022.

Along with the time extension, the revised project cost has also increased from the initial estimation of Tk3,801 crore to Tk4,261 crore.

A large portion of the financing for the project is coming from the Indian line of credit (LoC). Due to revising the project cost, the LoC assistance has increased from Tk2,371 crore to Tk2,946 crore.

Khulna-Mongla rail link: Project progress 90%, to be operational by Dec

The cost of the entire project, with multiple extensions, now stands at Tk4,261 crore

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Padma Bridge's construction is almost complete.

 

[Isa Khan]

The authorities plan to construct eight six-storey factory buildings in the country's four export processing zones (EPZs) to attract new foreign investments so that investors can take the plunge into operations soon.

The EPZs are in Chattogram, Ishurdi, Mongla and Uttara. Officials said four buildings will be constructed in Chattogram EPZ, two in Ishurdi and one each in Mongla and Uttara EPZ.

"Most of the investors like to go for immediate operations. They seek readymade floor spaces to avoid construction-related problems," Nazma Binte Alamgir, executive director at the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (Bepza), told The Business Standard.

According to Bepza, the new factory buildings will help bring in $35 million in new investment and increase export earnings by $70 million a year. Besides, there will be 14,000 new jobs for local residents.

Beginning in July this year, construction of the buildings will be completed within three years. The construction cost has been estimated at Tk466 crore.


Nazma Binte Alamgir said the buildings will create a total of about 127,272 square metre floor spaces and help boost Bepza's revenue eventually.

Bangladesh currently has eight EPZs in different regions of the country. With 457 industries, the EPZs contribute 20% to the country's annual export earnings.

Bepza data show the EPZs have received more than $5 billion in investment so far, and generated 4.5 lakh jobs for locals.

Foreign investors can apply for both plot and floor spaces in the EPZs from Bepza. But foreigners' growing interest over choosing Bangladesh as their investment destination has compelled Bepza to focus on ready floor spaces in multi-storeyed buildings instead of allocating limited plots.

According to the authorities, Asian investors alone want to invest around $100 crore in the EPZs. Bepza officials said Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, American, Japanese and European manufacturers are eager to relocate their industrial units to Bangladesh owing to their increasing production costs, mostly prompted by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to Bepza's project proposal, four six-storey buildings will be constructed in Chattogram, adding 54,672 square metres of floor space to the current 1.49 lakh square metres. These buildings will help raise Bepza's revenue by $1.64 lakh per month.

At present, there are 16 factory buildings in the Chattogram EPZ that are entirely allocated to investors, fetching Bepza $54 lakh per year.

As many as 1.63 lakh people are working at the Chattogram EPZ. Foreign investors are visiting the EPZ frequently and expressing interest in investment. But there are no vacant plots or spaces for allocation.

As the EPZ is located only around 2.5 km away from Chattogram port, foreign investors are more interested in the zone for easy import and export.

In the Ishurdi EPZ, there will be two buildings with 3,250 square metres and 2,350 square metres of space per floor. Currently the EPZ has eight factory buildings spanning 64,576 square metres.

The Mongla and Uttara EPZs will have one building each with 3,250 square metres of space per floor.

In the Uttara EPZ, 71,300 square metres of space in 7 buildings have already been leased out to investors. In the Mongla EPZ, 58,589 square metres of space have been rented out to industries.

All the eight EPZs in the country are producing diversified items of many renowned brands. The items include face masks, surgical gloves, shoe covers, medical gowns, sanitary napkins, diapers, hand sanitisers, toys, wedding dresses, bicycles, toothbrushes, cigars, pants and jackets, mobile parts, automobile parts, optical fibre cables, furniture, jute products and processed agro products.

In the EPZs, 37% of industries are producing electronics and other items, 30% woven garments, 6% knit garments, 7% textiles and 20% accessories.

EPZs to welcome more investors with ready factory buildings

The export processing zones now offer both floor space and plot to foreign investors

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Two Quay Side Gantry Cranes (QGC) and three Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes have been added to the fleet of Chittagong Port for fast and safe handling of containers.

A ship carrying the equipment arrived at the port on Saturday, confirmed Omar Faruk, secretary to Chittagong Port Authority.

With the addition of these state-of-the-art gears, the container handling capacity of the country's main seaport is expected to increase further, he said.

"All five of the gantry cranes are made in China. After unloading, fitting, and trial, these cranes will go into operation as soon as possible," Omar Faruk added.

At present, 4 QGCs are in operation at Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) and 10 others in the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of the port. Two new QGCs will be installed in NCT-5 berth.

On the other hand, the port had a total of 39 RTGs and the three new RTGs are likely to be added to the Reefer Yard operation.

Ctg port gets 5 new gantry cranes

Two Quay Side Gantry Cranes (QGC) and three Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes have been added to the fleet of Chittagong Port for fast and safe handling of containers. A ship carrying the equipment arrived at the port on Saturday, confirmed Omar Faruk, secretary to Chittagong Port Authority. With...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

The initial construction or pre-assembly of the outer containment dome at unit 1 of Rooppur nuclear power plant has begun.

Assembly work and subsequent construction and concreting are being carried out by specialists of Trest RosSEM (part of the Engineering Division of Rosatom), reports Nuclear Engineering International magazine Friday (13 May).

"Installation of the NZO dome is the final stage of construction work at the construction of the power unit. It opens up an opportunity for the arrangement of structures and equipment for passive heat removal systems and is an important step towards the start of a physical start-up," said Alexei Deriy, Vice President of JSC ASE, Director of the Rooppur construction project.

The stage of preparation, assembly, installation and concreting of the dome is generally one of the longest during the construction of a unit, lasting 1151 days.

To reduce the time for this stage, a special project has been launched aimed at reducing the time to 584 days.

The dome of the consists of two parts: lower and upper ("skirt" and "skullcap").

The lower part is formed from 12 separate segments, the total weight of each of which is 18 tons with reinforcement.

The dome part consists of 17 of the same segments.

The entire dome will be completely assembled on the ground, after which the lower part will be mounted at elevation 48.88 metres, After its alignment and fixing, the upper part will be mounted at elevation 57.14 metres.

After installation of both parts, the dome will be concreted.

Rooppur nuclear plant: Dome construction at Unit 1 begins

The initial construction or pre-assembly of the outer containment dome at unit 1 of Rooppur nuclear power plant has begun. Assembly work and subsequent construction and concreting are being carried out by specialists of Trest RosSEM (part of the Engineering Division of Rosatom), reports Nuclear...

www.tbsnews.net

It was in 1990 when a rapid industrialisation was taking place in Malaysia, leading to a crisis of workers. The need for a skilled workforce in factories, where many Bangladeshis worked, turned into a blessing in disguise for the bicycle manufacturing industry in Bangladesh, helping it to flourish.

Yea Chang Min, a Taiwanese, ran a bicycle manufacturing factory – Akoko – where a few Bangladeshi workers were employed. Yea Chang's factory was also facing a worker shortage at the time. He discussed the problem with his Bangladeshi employees, informing them of his interest in relocating to Bangladesh. The workers also assured him that cheap labour was available back in the country. And that was the beginning of the bicycle manufacturing industry in Bangladesh.

In 1994 the Malaysian bicycle manufacturing company Alita secured registration from the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority to establish a factory in the country. In March 1995, Yea Chang Min's new company, Alita Bangladesh Limited, started manufacturing and he established the first export-oriented bicycle producing factory in the country. It took the company some one and a half years to elevate the production quality to export standards and after that it did not have to look back. The export market in Europe started to grow bigger and more local companies moved to manufacturing bicycles, leading to a stronger position of 'Made in Bangladesh' bicycles in the global market.

Initially the challenge in exports was to prove that the bicycles were indeed made in Bangladesh, AHM Ferdous, general manager of Alita Bangladesh Limited, told The Business Standard.

"In our first consignment we exported some 1,000 bicycles to the UK. We also had to prove the quality of the bicycles," Ferdous said, adding that from 1997 onwards exporting became much smoother.


Exporting bicycles started to become profitable from 2008. After Alita Bangladesh, Meghna Group became the first Bangladeshi company to start manufacturing bicycles. In 2014 Pran-RFL Group followed suit. Currently six companies are producing bicycles in the country, German Bangla, Corvo and North Bengal being among them.

In 2007 Bangladesh exported 3.55 lakh bicycles, which increased to 6 lakhs in 2014. In fiscal year 2020-21 a total of 10 lakh bicycles were exported.

With an increase in exports, export earnings also increased gradually. In FY2019-20 export earnings stood at $82.84 million. In FY2020-21 they increased to $130.89 million and in the first ten months of the current fiscal export earnings reached $140.71 million.

According to Eurostat data, Bangladesh is currently the 3rd largest exporter to the European Union (EU) and 8th largest exporter in the world. Some 80% of the export goes to the 27 countries of the EU. The rest are exported to India, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and others.

This massive export industry began with only eight Malaysia-returnee workers, who joined the Alita factory. These eight workers trained some 250 workers, who were the workforce in other local factories that had sprung up over time. Currently over 400 workers work in Alita's one manufacturing factory and two equipment producing factories.

Alita mainly manufactures mountain trekking bicycles, priced between $60-$280. Its factory has the capacity to produce 2.40 lakh bicycles a year, its current yearly production standing at 1.60-1.70 lakh. Some 98% of Alita's production is exported to Europe, with 70% of the bicycles ending up in the UK. Alita manufactures bicycles for top EU brands, notably Halfords, Reece Cycles Limited and Monty Bikes.

Alita Bangladesh Limited built its factory at Chattogram EPZ area with an investment of $47.46 lakh. The company invested $59.23 lakh more to set up two other factories under the name Ace Hicycle to manufacture various bicycle parts, including tyres, tubes, brakes, frames, forks, handles, saddles, pedals and grip.

According to the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), the company has exported bicycles worth $178.186 million since 2003. The company's export revenue in 2004 was $4.84 million which in 2014 rose to $14.683 million. However, in 2021, revenue dropped to $12.520 million.

Alita Bangladesh GM Ferdous said bicycle order volume during the pandemic was very good. However, the post-pandemic hike in freight charges and raw material prices caused sales to drop.

"Besides, some shipments were stuck during the lockdown phases. So the overall situation is a bit challenging now," he said, adding, "Currently we are not taking orders for lower value bicycles and are focusing on higher value ones instead, causing the order flow to be low."

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

According to Eurostat data, Bangladesh is currently the 3rd largest bicycle exporter to the European Union and 8th largest exporter in the world

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[Isa Khan]

Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have pumped billions of dollars into the shipbuilding sector in recent years to meet their own demand for vessels as well as regain the international market.

Their entry came despite sinking ship exports from Bangladesh, driven by the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, collapse in demand, and failure to maintain international standards and deliver vessels on time.

Ship exporters fetched only $0.2 million in the last fiscal year, the lowest in a decade, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.

Export proceeds stood at $0.18 million in the July-April period of the current fiscal year, slightly up from $0.16 million during the same period a year ago.

Although the ship export is in a tight spot, a big market has been created, thanks to Bangladesh's fast-expanding international trade through sea routes.

More than 90 per cent of the country's $110 billion international trade takes place through seas. Hundreds of ships are needed every year to provide the service.

Today, Bangladesh has more than 100 shipbuilding yards, with most serving the local market, worth more than Tk 3,000 crore.

According to the latest report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Bangladesh has moved 13 places up to 14th in the shipbuilding industry in a span of five years, ahead of the US, India, Singapore, and Spain.

The success has been achieved by major industrial groups, including Meghna Group, City Group, and Delta Shipyard, a joint investment of TK Group and Seacom Group.

Meghna Group has so far manufactured the highest number of ships of international standards.

The group started investing in the sector in 2008 and has built 110 ships so far at the Meghna Shipbuilders & Dockyard, a subsidiary of the group, at Meghnaghat in Sonargaon of Narayanganj.

In the last three years, the company has produced 45 ships operating in coastal areas.

"In order to bring raw materials from the Chattogram port to factories or warehouses by inland waterways, a larger ship is needed instead of a lighter ship," said Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of Meghna Group, recently.

"As the movement of goods is increasing, it is not possible to handle them in small ships. So, I've invested a lot in building relatively large ships."

The group has invested Tk 700-800 crore so far and employs more than 1,200 people.

"After meeting our own needs, we are now ready to export ships," Kamal said.

City Group, one of the largest commodity processors in Bangladesh, made its foray into the sector in 1996 to carry goods and raw materials from Chattogram to Dhaka.

It had a shipbuilding yard in Rupganj of Narayanganj that has now been shifted to Meghnaghat.

So far, it has built 60-65 ships. Another 20-25 ships are being built currently, said Biswajit Saha, director for corporate and regulatory affairs of the group, recently.

It has pumped about Tk 2,000 crore into the sector and employs 4,000-5,000 people.

Despite sluggish business, shipbuilders are expected to continue their investment spree because of the local industry's potential.

Another reason is the market leaders of the global shipbuilding sector are not interested in producing small-sized ships of less than 25,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) where Bangladesh can lead the way.

Globally, the market size of the shipbuilding sector is $1,600 billion whereas the small ships' market is worth around $400 billion.

If Bangladesh can grab 1 per cent of the market, the amount will be $4 billion, according to Prof NM Golam Zakaria, head of the naval architecture and marine engineering department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Recently, the government signed a contract with two foreign companies to set up a shipbuilding facility at the Payra seaport in Patuakhali with an investment of $1.58 billion to cut import dependence for vessels and market ships globally.

State-run Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation under the industries ministry will provide land to Gentium Solutions, a Singapore and Australia-based company, and Damen Shipyards Group, a Dutch company, to construct the shipyard.

Shipbuilding sector: Investment rises despite gloom

Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have pumped billions of dollars into the shipbuilding sector in recent years to meet their own demand for vessels as well as regain the international market.

www.thedailystar.net

https://www.facebook.com/tbsnews.net/posts/386201816887892

 

[Isa Khan]

Bangladeshi Bagda Prawn has got geographical indication certificate as the 10th product of the country.

Registrar of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks of the industries ministry Zanendra Nath Sarker said that Fazli Mango was also supposed to get the GI certificate and it is now at the hearing stage.

Although Bagda cultivation started in the Sundarbans, its farming spread all over the country after the 1970s as the global demand went up. In the '80s, it was incorporated into the export list.

The fisheries department applied for the GI recognition of Bagda prawn in May 2019 to promote it in the international market.

The Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks issued a gazette notification on 6 October last year and published it in two journals.

According to the rules, if no one raises any objection after publishing in the journals within two months, there is no bar to getting a GI certificate for the product.

In the case of Bagda, the deadline ended on 6 December last year.

A geographical indication is a name or sign used on products which correspond to a specific geographical location or origin.

If the environment or weather of any country plays an important role in producing a good and relates to the culture of the country, then it gets the recognition of being a GI product.

Bagda Prawn receives GI certificate

The fisheries department applied for the GI recognition of Bagda prawn in May 2019

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While Hazrat Shahjalal International airport is struggling to maintain its regular flight schedule because of space constraints amid the construction of its third terminal, helicopter operations to and from the country's principal airport only put an additional burden on it.

Increased air traffic caused by helicopter operations at the airport delays the movement of other scheduled flights, says the civil aviation ministry.

In this situation, the need for elevated helipads and heliports is constantly rising in the country. But currently, there is no heliport in the country, and private operators are not allowed to build elevated helipads.

Taking this issue into cognizance, the civil aviation ministry has embarked on formulating two separate policies for the establishment and operation of elevated helipads and heliports so that private operators also can come forward.

Besides, work is underway to build the country's first heliport at Ashkona in the capital.

A heliport is similar to an airport, a facility designed to support the takeoff and landing of several helicopters from its hub. On the other hand, a helipad is a single takeoff and landing zone designated for use by one helicopter at a time.

Elevated helipads are usually placed on the roof of the tallest building in an area or on a high infrastructure. Due to the high altitude, the take-off and landing of the helicopter are quite easy.

A member of the policy formulation committee and also an official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation wishing anonymity told The Business Standard that at least three corporate groups, including Square and Shikder Medical, applied for establishing elevated helipads in 2018.

"We took an initiative to formulate heliport and elevated helipad policies in 2019, but the process got delayed as the public security division of the home ministry raised some concerns. However, the process has now picked up pace as we sat with the home ministry," the official said, adding the Civil Aviation Authority can approve the construction of helipads in horizontal areas (plain land), but at present, there is no policy framework for the establishment of elevated helipads.

At present, helicopters going outside Dhaka can land at airports, stadiums, school grounds, or any other open space, subject to the permission of the Civil Aviation Authority, and the local administration.

The growing business

The 2019 draft policy on the establishment and operation of heliports states that the demand for using helicopters has significantly increased in the country in recent years, thanks to the growing and rapidly changing economic and business environment, as more and more people are travelling by helicopters for business, recreation, and emergency medical needs.

To cater to the divergent needs of VIPs, CIPs, corporate heads, medical evacuation, travel agents, tour operators, aerial shooting, religious preachers, etc, at least 10 organisations offer helicopter services.

Currently, 10 organisations have got air operator certificate (AOC) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab). They have 34 helicopters in their fleet. While the already certified organisations are continuously enriching their fleet size by buying new helicopters, several other firms' applications for the AOC await approval by CAAB.

The country's private helicopter service activities at present are dominated by a few large business groups.

Currently, the helicopter operating companies are Square Air, South Asian Aviation, Meghna Aviation, BRB Air, ATL Aviation, Partex Aviation, R&R Aviation, Bangla International Airlines, Bashundhara Airways, and BCL Aviation.

Space constraints at airports are an obstacle

All the 10 certified helicopter companies have been allotted space at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for setting up offices and helicopter hangars, from where the companies conduct their daily operations. The helicopters are also parked at the airport at night.

But the current space constraints at Shahjalal Airport and other airports in the country is an obstacle to providing AOCs to any new helicopter company.

Against such a backdrop, some helicopter operators have applied to the civil aviation ministry seeking permission to establish heliports and helipads.

In response, the ministry has formed a committee to formulate elevated helipad and heliport policies.

Complaints about taxation

Meanwhile, operators have claimed the helicopter business is failing to grow in accordance with market demand and is yet to reach a sustainable position (profitable business) because of high supplementary duty and VAT.

None of the 10 companies having AOC are turning any profit despite the fact that they charge passengers a flat rate of Tk66,000 per hour, excluding VAT, according to industry insiders.

Square Air Ltd, a member of Square Group, has been operating helicopter services since 2010.

In order to facilitate movement safely and comfortably for top executives, as well as air ambulance/ emergency medical services (EMS) services for Square Hospital, Square Air has purchased the brand new helicopters Bell 407 and Robinson R66.

Kaium Sarker, senior sales executive at Square Air, told TBS, "We have three helicopters both for use in corporate needs and medical evacuation. When needed, we convert the helicopters into air ambulances by providing emergency medical amenities."

"Any organisation may use this facility for their business and medical needs. But many people who need emergency medical services cannot afford the high air ambulance cost. The per-hour rent of a four-seater helicopter is Tk84,500, and it is Tk2.45 lakh per hour for a seven-seater one," he added.

He mentioned that despite having huge demand in the market, the helicopter business in the country is yet to become viable as helicopter transport is subject to 15% Vat and 30% supplementary duty.

The government should decrease the supplementary duty to help the sector attain sustainability, he added.

"Earlier, we used the helipad at Square hospital. But, now we use Dhaka airport as Caab has imposed restrictions on the use of helipads," he said.

Several business groups, other than the certified 10, have helicopters for private use, but they do not provide aviation services. Instead, they let other aviation services operate their vehicles on a rental basis.

For example, Ad-din Foundation has an air ambulance, but it takes operational and maintenance services from South Asian Airlines.

In 1999, South Asian Airlines (SAA) rolled out the first commercial helicopter service in Bangladesh.

Sources concerned said Ad-din Foundation is going to purchase two Bell 505 helicopters having state-of-the-art medical equipment to provide fast and modern services to critical and emergency patients across the country.

"At present, Ad-din Hospital uses an air ambulance to transport doctors across the country. As helicopter services are too costly, we will use two new air ambulances both for corporate services and medical purposes," Ad-din Hospital director general Dr Nahid Yasmin told TBS.

"We have a plan to build a heliport and helipad in Jashore. But the authorities should provide duty and VAT exemption to the sector so that the cost for critical patients can decrease, "she added.

Group Captain Md Mukeet-ul-Alam Miah, director (Flight safety and regulation), Caab, told TBS "Market research needs to be done to understand the extent to which the use of helicopters has increased. And we have no say in raising or reducing VAT."

Country's first heliport at Ashkona

Work has already started on building the country's first-ever heliport at Ashkona in the city with the aim of overseeing the operations of helicopters. But the process is being delayed due to a crisis of funds.

"We wanted to build the heliport with Jica investment under the third terminal project of Dhaka airport. But Jica did not agree to build the heliport," Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman, chairman of Caab, told TBS.

"However, now we are planning to build the heliport with our own funds. We have already sent the development project proposal to the ministry," he added.

Policies on cards to pave way for private heliports, helipads

Increased air traffic caused by helicopter operations at the airport delays the movement of other scheduled flights

www.tbsnews.net

Highlights:

• H&M and Inditex have already written to the shipping ministry expressing their support for Maersk
• Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal, and Dubai-based DP World are also trying to get the job
• The construction of the terminal is going to be completed by next June and the government plans to run it on a PPP basis.

---

Buyers from Europe, the largest export destination for Bangladesh's readymade garments, have favoured AP Møller-Maersk for the job of operating the Patenga Container Terminal in Chattogram.

H&M, the largest buyer for the country's garments, and Inditex have already written to the shipping ministry expressing their support for Maersk to run the terminal set to be completed by next June and is expected to be operational by July.


According to a report by UK-based media Loadstar, the conglomerate is also pursuing the deal via the Danish government.

In addition to Maersk, Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RAGT), and Dubai-based DP World are also trying to get the job of operating the terminal.

As per the sources concerned, the construction work of the terminal is going to be completed by next June and the government plans to run it on a public private partnership (PPP) basis.

Trade experts say those who comply with government requirements and have a good reputation for operating such terminals internationally should have the opportunity to operate the container terminal.

However, no decision has been made by the government in this regard yet, Chairman of Chattogram Port Authority Rear Admiral Mohammad Shahjahan told The Business Standard.

"It was decided to operate through PPP. Those who can meet the criteria will get the job to operate. Otherwise, the port authorities will operate it," he added.

As a single company, Sweden-based H&M Group buys the largest amount of products from Bangladesh. Masarrat Quader, Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs Manager of H&M Group, wrote a letter to Shipping Secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury.

In the letter, she emphasised the importance of environmental compliance saying, "We, therefore, urge the government of Bangladesh to strongly consider the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects when commencing operations at the new terminal. Now is the time for Bangladesh to be the torchbearers in this transformation of the global supply chains." "We, along with our global logistics partners such as Maersk, will do our best to support your initiative," she added.

The letter also read, "As companies like us H&M Group, look to meet the demands of consumers, we are increasingly concerned with the ESG parameters, not just in terms of responsible production but in terms of responsible sourcing, increasingly considering the sustainability of the entire supply chain. This includes maritime infrastructure."

H&M buys garments from more than 200 factories in Bangladesh, amounting to over $3 billion.

In a letter to the secretary on the same issue, Inditex, which buys $1.3 billion worth of products a year, also raised the ESG issue, saying, "We would like to direct your attention to the proposal submitted to the government of Bangladesh by the Maersk Group for operating the Patenga Container Terminal."

"We have global experience of working with the Maersk Group and consider them to be the ideal operator for this new terminal, not only because of their extensive experience of operating world-class container terminals but also because of their focus on safety and sustainability while providing complete supply chain solutions," it added.

"We believe that their appointment as the operator of this new terminal can unlock the greatest value for all stakeholders," read the letter.

Loadstar's report said the annual 0.5m TEU (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) capacity and 600-metre long container terminal are being constructed for $240m on 32 acres of land. It will be able to accommodate vessels up to 10.5 metres with a carrying capacity of 4,500 TEU, three of 190-metre length at a time, and a 220-metre oil tanker.

A leader of the Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association (BICDA) told TBS on condition of anonymity that companies with an international reputation and experience should be offered jobs at the Patenga Container Terminal.

M Masrur Reaz, an international trade expert and chairman at Policy Exchange of Bangladesh, told TBS, "If an organisation like AP Møller-Maersk operates a container terminal in Bangladesh, it will no doubt brighten the image of the country in the international arena."

"However, those who will meet the criteria should be given the responsibility to operate the terminal, not on the consideration of anyone's letters," he added.

Exporters are also in favour of operating the terminal by the most compliant organisation.

However, Mohammad Hatem, executive president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), said that it should be ensured so that no quarter gets the opportunity to form a syndicate.

European buyers back AP Møller-Maersk to run Patenga Container Terminal

H&M and Inditex have written to the government preferring the globally reputed company for the job

www.tbsnews.net

The Spanish recycled cotton fibre producer Recover has announced the official opening of its new facility in Bangladesh to expand its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate its efforts to transform the fashion industry.

Recover came forth with this initiative as Bangladesh produces about 4 lakh tonnes of garment cutting waste annually, which is locally known as "jhut", of which, only 5% can be recycled at four mills, according to industry insiders.

This garment waste has gradually been gaining a foothold in the apparel world because of its usefulness in manufacturing high-end items. Most global fashion brands are now shifting to recycled yarns in producing apparel products. Such items produced from recycled yarn hold only 5% of the global market.

The global fashion giants H&M and Inditex have set goals of using 100% recycled or sustainable fibres by 2025-30 in readymade garment production.

According to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, the Spanish company took this initiative as a joint venture project with the Bangladeshi leading apparel exporter Beximco group. However, company officials are not willing to make any comment on this matter.


According to the company website, it is the second out of three recycle hubs for this company, where it has plans to set up another six recycle units.

"Recover is investing globally to increase recycling capacities to achieve maximum output by being where the waste is, thereby close to both supply and demand and reducing simultaneously its carbon footprint," the website reads.

As a fourth-generation, family-owned company, Recover has a mission to scale its proprietary technology to make a lasting positive impact on the environment and partner with brands and retailers and other change-makers to meet the industry's sustainability targets.

The Bangladesh facility comes fully equipped with Recover's proprietary machinery, as well as RColorBlend installation, Recover's innovative technology that provides fibre blends with colour, with a lower environmental impact, said a press release.

Located in Dhaka, the new manufacturing hub is an integral part of Recover's strategy for growth and scalability with its recent partnership with STORY3 Capital, a leading alternative investment manager. This new facility helps Recover support the surging global demand for sustainable fibres, and circularity in the textile and fashion industry.

The strategic location of the facility, close to both textile waste sorting and textile manufacturing, will support Recover with its scaling ambitions, and place it close to supply and demand, reducing the carbon impact of transport. Asia is one of the largest cotton waste-producing regions and by establishing a presence in Bangladesh, Recover can provide a fully closed-loop solution.

Alfredo Ferre, CEO of Recover, said, "The new facility in Bangladesh is just one step in Recover's ambitious expansion plans. In addition to our existing facilities in Spain and Pakistan, we are excited to announce the opening of a new manufacturing hub in Vietnam and a second facility in Bangladesh this year."

"Operations in Spain will also be expanded with greater investment in product development and further strategic alliances and business partners established globally," he added.

Spanish recycled cotton producer opens new facility in Bangladesh

The Spanish recycled cotton fibre producer Recover has announced the official opening of its new facility in Bangladesh to expand its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate its efforts to transform the fashion industry. Recover came forth with this initiative as Bangladesh produces about 4...

www.tbsnews.net

 

[Isa Khan]

Highlights:

• Tk126.5cr agreement will be signed on 31 May in Dhaka
• The companies will prepare design, tender documents, and supervise construction
  
  
• The terminal will be built on about 2,500 acres of land
• The terminal will be six times bigger than current operational area of Ctg port
  

---

The Chhattogram Port Authority is going to appoint two Korean consulting firms to prepare the design of the Bay terminal for the port and supervise its construction.

The port authorities will sign an agreement with the Korean firms, Kunhwa Engineering and Consulting Company Limited and Dian Yang Construction and Engineering Company Limited, on 31 May at the InterContinental Hotel in Dhaka.

Under the Tk126.5 crore agreement, the companies will prepare a detailed drawing of the design of the terminal and tender documents, and supervise the construction of the terminal, to be funded by the port.

Earlier, on 7 April, the government approved a proposal to appoint consulting firms at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement.

The government took the initiative to build the terminal in 2015. In July 2019, the prime minister approved the implementation of the Bay Terminal project through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) system.

A total of three terminals will be constructed under the project: one funded by the Chattogram Port and the other two with foreign investment.

It is yet to be decided which foreign company will build the other two terminals.

But already China Merchants Sport Holding Company Limited of China; DP World of the United Arab Emirates; PSA International of Singapore, APM Terminals of Denmark, Adani Port of India, and Hyundai Group and International Port Development Cooperation of South Korea have expressed interest to construct and operate the remaining two terminals.

Port officials say the government wants to implement the project by 2025. The signing of agreements with the two Korean firms is going to be a big step in the implementation of the project.

Rafiul Alam, executive engineer of Chattogram Port and also the focal person of the Bay Terminal Project, said, "Various issues, including how many jetties will be built in this terminal, how many ships can be loaded, how much money will be spent for preparation of tender documents and construction of the terminal, will be finalised through the signing of the agreement."

Mahbubul Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the signing of the agreement is positive news. However, it is important to ensure that the project is completed on time.

At present, ships larger than 9.5 metres deep and 190 metres long cannot enter the Chattogram Port. The Bay Terminal will be able to accommodate ships up to 12 metres deep and 260 metres long. There will be no need to depend on high tide to berth the ships.

The Bay Terminal will be built on about 2,500 acres of land, including 871 acres of privately owned and government land and another 1,600 acres that emerged from the sea.

The area of the terminal will be six times more than the current operational area of the port. If the project is implemented, it will be possible to berth a ship with 6,000 containers. The current port jetty can accommodate a ship with a maximum capacity of 1800 containers.

Two Korean firms to prepare Bay terminal design

Highlights: Tk126.5cr agreement will be signed on 31 May in Dhaka The companies will prepare design, tender documents, and supervise construction The terminal will be built on about 2,500 acres of land The terminal will be six times bigger than current operational area of Ctg port The...

www.tbsnews.net

Exporters fetched $1.3 billion from shipping home textiles in the July-April period of the current fiscal year, posting 39 per cent year-on-year growth.

Receipts from shipments of home textile items such as bed sheets, pillow covers, curtains and cushion covers were higher than export receipts from agricultural products as well as leather and leather goods during the period.

Home textile exports were 28 per cent higher than its nearest peer, agricultural products, namely dry foods, vegetables, tobacco and spices.

Jute and jute goods, which topped the export basket as the second biggest earning source in fiscal year 2020-21, fell to fifth place in the face of falling demand for jute yarn, twine, sacks and bags, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

"We have been registering increasing demand for home textiles from the last fiscal year as people stayed home as a part of coronavirus containment measures," said Shahidullah Chowdhury, executive director of Noman Group, the main exporter of home textile. It exports $27 million worth of home textiles each month.

"Our main markets are Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan. However, our exports are increasing in new markets such as Australia," he added.

The sector first crossed the $1 billion mark in fiscal 2020-21 thanks to a 49 per cent year-on-year hike in export earnings, driven mainly by higher costs and prices of raw cotton and other materials.

Export earnings were only 3 per cent of the total receipts of $38.75 billion for that year with garments accounting for 81 per cent, according to the EPB.

"Definitely the volume of exports has increased too," said Abul Basar, general manager of human resource, admin and compliance of Momtex Expo Ltd, another major exporter.

He said Bangladesh can offer competitive prices as labour costs here are the cheapest. Labour cost has increased in China, which once dominated the home textile market.

Political uncertainty in Pakistan has also discouraged buyers from placing orders there, Bashar said.

"So, the increased order flow is likely to sustain," he added.

Harun-Ar-Rashid, managing director of Apex Weaving and Finishing Mills Ltd, said nearly 10 textile mills export home textile products from Bangladesh and the export volume is not that high. Bangladesh only has a 7 per cent share in the global home textile export market.

He went on to say that demand may decline due to a yarn shortage and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Noman Group's Chowdhury said exports would grow if the government provides policy support. Increasing the cash incentive for exports to 10 per cent from the present 4 per cent and reducing congestion at ports will be instrumental for increasing export earnings from home textiles.

"We have political stability now but what we need is policy stability," he added.

Home textile now second biggest export earner

For the first time, home textile has emerged as the second largest export earning sector after garments as demand remains buoyant in major markets, particularly Europe, according to exporters. Exporters fetched $1.3 billion from shipping home textiles in the July-April period of the current...

www.thedailystar.net

The construction work of Bscic Chemical Industrial Park in Munshiganj will be completed by December 2023 if everything goes according to plan, said Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun.

The minister said this while visiting the progress of the work of the park of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (Bscic) in Sirajdikhan upazila yesterday.

Humayun said the industrial park will create employment for one lakh people. Although the construction work came to a halt a bit due to the Covid-19 pandemic, now it is going on in full swing, he added.

He also said as several projects are underway in Munshiganj, including a new industrial zone, roads and communications in the district will also be improved, he added.

This park is being built on 308.33 acres of land at a cost of Tk 1,615 crore.

'BSCIC chemical industrial park to be completed by 2023'

The construction work of Bscic Chemical Industrial Park in Munshiganj will be completed by December 2023 if everything goes according to plan, said Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[Isa Khan]

South Korean company HKD Bangladesh Limited is going to establish tents, tent accessories, camping furniture and camping equipment manufacturing industry in the Bepza Economic Zone.

It will invest $35.03 million where 6,650 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities, read a press release by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza).

Ali Reza Mazid, member (Investment Promotion) of Bepza, and Chul Hee Kim, chief operating officer (COO) of HKD Bangladesh Limited, signed an agreement on behalf of their respective organisations on Thursday at the Bepza Complex in Dhaka.

Bepza Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman was present at the agreement signing ceremony.

The company will produce annually 18.8 million pcs of tents, backpacks, bags, steel poles, fibre glass poles, travellers' bags, gazebos, screen houses, cots, pet carriers, camping furniture, chair, tables, float tube bag, wagons, tarp, trolley, purse, steel wire, walking stick, steel accessories, steel ferrule, steel peg, O-ring, D-ring, steel trips, revert, screw, washer, steel bracket, nut with washer, tent accessory, cotton blinder, wallet/purse, bag accessory and sleeping bag.

HKD is a fully foreign owned company that started its operation in 1990 in Chattogram Export Processing Zone.

HKD Bangladesh Limited would be the 5th venture of HKD Group with Bepza.

The group has four operational enterprises in Chattogram and Karnaphuli export processing zones which invested about $100 million in producing tents, camping equipment and readymade garments. Around 10,000 Bangladeshi nationals are working in those factories.

Mentionable, including HKD Bangladesh Limited, Bepza approved a total of eight companies to set up industries in the Bepza Economic Zone.

The proposed investment of the other seven companies which have already signed the lease agreement is $120.11 million where 35,000 Bangladeshis are working.

Among others, Member (Engineering) Mohammad Faruque Alam, Member (Finance) Nafisa Banu, Executive Director (Public Relations) Nazma Binte Alamgir, Executive Director (Investment Promotion) Md Tanvir Hossain, Executive Director (Enterprise Services) Md Khorshid Alam and Project Director of Bepza EZ Md Hafizur Rahman were present during the signing ceremony.

Korean HKD Group to invest $35m in Bepza Economic Zone

HKD Bangladesh would be the 5th venture of HKD Group with Bepza

www.tbsnews.net

The installation of a fuel pipeline from Chattogram to Dhaka is progressing at a brisk pace as about half of the work is already complete while the rest is expected to be complete by December, according to project officials.

The pipeline is being set up to facilitate direct shipments of fuel from Patenga in Chattogram to Narayanganj in Dhaka.

At present, fuel is transported from Chattogram to destinations across the country either by land or sea, said officials of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

In addition to the huge amount of related transport costs, fuel theft also happens every day.

Moreover, due to navigability issues in inland waterways, transporting fuel become particularly difficult during the dry season.

This disrupts the supply of fuel but if the project is implemented, the BPC could avoid these losses, they said.

The BPC officials went on to say that the project would facilitate the movement of 27-30 lakh tonnes of fuel directly from Chattogram to Dhaka each year while the capacity could be increased to 50 lakh tonnes later.

This will revolutionize the transportation of fuel, sources said, adding that with this, the long wait for safe fuel transportation will come to an end.

The BPC is implementing the project at a cost of about Tk 3,172 crore under the supervision of the 24th Engineer Construction Brigade of Bangladesh Army.

Colonel Jahangir Hossain, a project director, told The Daily Star that the project's deadline is in December.

"In the meantime, all the works will be completed and the pipeline will be made suitable for transporting fuel," he said.

All the pipes required for installing the 250-kilometre (km) pipeline have already reached the country while about 80 per cent of the other necessary equipment is here as well.

"We have completed the work of laying pipes in an area of 200 km. Pipe welding has also been completed in an area of 170 km. In all, the progress of the project is 50 per cent," Hossain added.

Project officials said the BPC started a feasibility study in 2015 on building a pipeline to transport fuel directly from Chattogram to Dhaka. Engineers India Limited was then hired as a consultant and after the feasibility study, a policy decision was taken to implement the project in 2017.

In October 2018, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the project, called "Supply of fuel oil in the pipeline from Chattogram to Dhaka", at a cost of Tk 2,861.31 crore.

However, the development project proposal was revised in several phases and the cost now stands at Tk 3,171.85 crore.

Around 241.28 kms of pipes have been installed between Guptakhal area of Patenga and Godnail in Narayanganj via Feni, Cumilla, Chandpur and Munshiganj.

This pipeline, placed five feet below ground, has a diameter of 16 inches.

Besides, 8.29 kms of pipeline will be constructed from Godanail in Narayanganj to Fatulla. However, the diameter of these pipelines will be 10 inches instead of 16. The pipeline will run from Patenga to Fatulla, touching the bottom of 22 rivers and canals.

There are about 10 big rivers in the construction zone and at present, the work on installing pipes under two of them is pending. There will be nine stations across the entire pipeline and a new fuel depot will be set up in Barura upazila of Cumilla.

Engineer Aminul Haque, who is acting project director on behalf of the BPC, said work on the project to is progressing at a fast pace after overcoming various complications.

"It is scheduled to be complete by December this year," he said, adding that the implementation of this project will revolutionize fuel transportation in the country.

Dhaka-Ctg fuel pipeline: Construction 50% complete

The installation of a fuel pipeline from Chattogram to Dhaka is progressing at a brisk pace as about half of the work is already complete while the rest is expected to be complete by December, according to project officials.

www.thedailystar.net

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