FTA’s to be signed with India, Lanka, Pakistan

The government has decided to sign bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with three south Asian nations India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with a view to increasing trade with those countries, sources said.

The first agreement will be signed with India followed by Sri Lanka and Pakistan, commerce ministry sources said.

To this effect the ministry of commerce will sit next Wednesday to review a submission by a core group formed to determine Bangladesh’s position in FTA negotiation. An inter-ministerial meeting will also be held later this month on this issue. Following that the ministry will later start formal negotiation with the three countries to sign FTA, sources said.

The government late last year formed the 12 member core group headed by chief executive officer of Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI) Dr Ali Taslim. The commitee recently has submited the report to the commerce ministry.

Informed sources said the core group in the report has suggested to sign FTA with India first and later with Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also suggested to sign the goods-based agreement first before signing about service industry.

The report also suggested first to ascertain the preference of goods and service sector of those countries before signing the deals.

Core group members said, Bangladesh is already far behind in the race of bilateral trade deals. Now the country will have to offer concession to those countries under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) deal without gaining anything.

Sources said the signing of FTA with India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan was first discussed in 2003 but fell behind due to indecision. The caretaker government did not go forward with the issue considering it highly sensitive.

Commerce Secretary Golam Hosen said, alongside the multilateral trade agreements bilateral agreement is also needed to raise trade. “Different countries are also signing FTAs to raise regional and international trades.”

He said the FTA negotiation was stalled for some years but steps have been taken to go forward. The Ministry has called a meeting in this regard, he informed.

Dr Taslim said core group has submited a report on FTA issue. “I don’t know how much of it the ministry will take.”

Core group member Manjur Ahmed said if the negotiation starts now, it will take two more years to finalise the agreement

He said the FTAs in no way would be signed before 2012. “We will have to give tariff concession to these countries under SAFTA agreement from 2015. Then we will have to give concession to them without gaining anything.”

Sources said a World Bank study has opposed signing FTA between Dhaka and Delhi. It said bilateral trade between the two countries will increase substantially if trade policy is liberalised.

Former Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said Bangladesh is geting trade preference under the World Trade Organisation as least developed country. It has to be taken under consideration before signing FTA.

“No deal can be signed which may put local entrepreneurs at bay and destroy our agriculture sector.”

Source: The New Nation

Zoom™ Laptop Fair 2009

A three-day long Zoom™ Laptop Fair 2009 began yesterday at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city.

It has been organized by Maker Communication.

Citycell is the title sponsor for this year’s fair. Acer, Asus, Hasee, and Toshiba are the four co-sponsors of while Intel is the technology sponsor, Radio Foorti is the radio partner and bdjobs.com is the online partner.

Lt Col (Retd) Faruq Khan, Minister, Ministry of Commerce, was present as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony.

Michael Seymour, Chief Executive Officer of Citycell attended the program as special guest.

Advocate Md Qamrul Islam, State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Mostafa Jabbar, President, Bangladesh Computer Samity were also present as special guests.

Speaking on the occasion, Michael Seymour said “It is my pleasure to be here today at the inauguration ceremony of the Zoom™ Laptop Fair 2009. In this day and age, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that information is power. When we started the first cellular operations of South Asia, our objective was to empower our customers with access to information through instant mobile communication. After almost one and a half decade of operations, our goal has not changed. As a logical evolution to voice communications, we have extended the horizon of our services by making internet available to people all over Bangladesh through our Zoom™ wireless internet service. We all know how mobiles have revolutionized telecommunications in Bangladesh. Laptops and mobile phones are similar in many ways. They are personal, they are mobile & convenient, and they offer more privacy and security. We see a clear synergy in bringing Zoom together with laptops, because a simple laptop can now be converted into a portable powerhouse of information and communication by simply connecting to the worldwide web through our Zoom service. While PC penetration has increased over the last decade, there has been significant growth in the past 2 years alone, spurred by the advent of affordable laptops and the favorable tax environment. Moreover, this was followed by the reduction in the domestic bandwidth lease cost. We look forward to such public initiatives to ensure a business environment conducive to sustainable public-private ventures that develop the ICT sector as a whole. Only then will we be able to spread the benefits of a knowledge-based society to the people of Bangladesh. We all dream of a Bangladesh which is economically robust and integrated by a knowledge-based society. This dream leads to the concept of Digital Bangladesh. Citycell is proud to be a part of this dream by helping to bridge the digital divide: We already have the infrastructure in place to spread internet to more than 500 thanas though our nationwide network.

We are hopeful that by truly harnessing the power of internet and ICT-based services, we can go a long way in achieving great results in mass communication, health, agriculture, commerce, education and good governance. We pledge our support for education and community development through data connectivity and the access to internet that will generate a win-win situation for the government, the business community and the people of Bangladesh. I congratulate the organizers, sponsors, partners and participants of this event and I wish the Zoom™ Laptop Fair 2009 every success.

Customers will avail special offers of Zoom™ at Citycell’s pavilion No.1 by showing the proof of purchase of any laptop from the fair.

These include attractive start-up prices for Zoom™ connections bundled with devices, together with exclusive monthly data plans and voice tariff for these packages.

Specific Zoom™-enabled handsets, USB Modems or PCMCIA Data Cards will also be available at unbeatable discounted prices.

Visitors will be able to enjoy free internet browsing using Zoom™ at the Pavilion. Other features of Zoom™ service will be displayed at the Pavilion using innovative touch-screen computers.

World renowned brands like HP, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Hasee, Gigabyte, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Great Wall, BenQ, Apple are participating in this fair and bringing brand new laptops with attractive prices on the occasion of the fair.

The fair will be open for visitors everyday from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm. There will be 10 pavilions and 06 stalls in the fair.

The entry fee will be Tk. 20 but only students (up to regular post graduate) can avail free entry by showing their ID card.

Participating organizations and Maker Communication will also jointly arrange raffle draw, quiz program etc.

Flower cultivation now a profitable venture

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan yesterday said commercial flower production is now a profitable venture and that unemployed youths can build their career in this field.

“Now, flower is a symbol of not only purity and beauty but also profitable business. Many unemployed youths can enter the job market through commercial flower cultivation, as flower has a huge demand both at home and abroad,” the minister said while inaugurating the Unesco Club Flower Show and Competition-2009 in the capital.

National Association of Unesco Clubs in Bangladesh organised the flower show at Banbeis Bhaban at Nilkhet in the city where a total of 75 participants exhibited flowers in small bunches into hand-made basket in Japanese Ikebana style and also displayed rare species of flowers.

Appreciating the participants for their interest in gardening, the minister said such initiatives could lead to some economic benefits for both flower growers and sellers.
Referring to the huge demand for flowers at home and abroad, he said every corner of a homestead and rooftops of buildings can be used to grow flowers.

Prof Dr Aminul Islam, Cambrian College Chairman MK Bashar and Unesco Clubs Secretary General Mahbubuddin Chowdhury also spoke at the programme presided over by Adviser to the Unesco Clubs Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.

The flower growers identified a number of obstacles such as non-availability of seeds and lack of technical knowledge, marketing facilities and preservation facilities.

Flower cultivation can be developed into an industry in the country like in India and Thailand if adequate facilities can be provided for farmers, they added.

Sadia Priyanka won the first prize while Nasreen Chowdhury and Sonia Razzaque obtained the second and the third positions respectively in the competition. Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman gave away prizes among the winners.

Source: Internet

Rupee falls back by six paise to 48.97/98 Vs dlr

In sync with the weak stock market, the Indian rupee yesterday ended lower by six paise at 48.97/98 against the greenback. Continued capital outflows from the equity markets also affected the rupee sentiment.

In a rangebound trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed lower at 48.95/96 a dollar but improved to a high of 48.88 on the back of initial firmness in equity markets. However, a negative turnaround in local share prices after midsession weighed on the rupee and it fell back to a low of 49.03 before ending the day at 48.97/98 a dollar, still lower from previous close of 48.91/93.

Indian benchmark Sensex Thursday ended lower by over 21 points or 0.23 per cent. Dealers attributed narrow breadth to alternate bouts of buying and selling on the last day of expiry of January contract at the currency futures exchange MCX-SX for the fall in rupee. Some dollar buying by state-run banks on behalf of their clients, mainly oil refiners, to meet their month-end requirements put pressure on the rupee, they added.

Also firm dollar against its major rivals in Asian trade Thursday also led the rupee fall. The euro fell Thursday against the dollar after the Obama administration approved stimulus package to stem the deepening recession.

The Reserve Bank of India, however, fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at Rs 48.90 and for the Single European Currency at Rs 64.10.

Source: AFP

Jute products regain market: Poor show marks int’l trade fair

Traditional jute products have become popular to the visitors of Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF). Both local and foreign visitors throng to these stalls. The selling of the goods is comparatively a bit higher than any other products of the fair.

Different small industrial enterprises have taken part in the fair at the pavilion of Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC). Handbag, school bag, moneybag etc are found in these stalls. Sellers told this correspondent that visitors thronged to the stalls throughout the day.

Abul Basar Bhuiyan, Researcher of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute said that jute made products figure huge demand among the visitors this time. The disappeared golden fibre retuned as golden dream. Europe and America based companies have ordered for the products in good quantity he added.

Asma Mahbub Moni, owner of ‘Suchili’ said that she had noticed huge demand of jute products among the visitors. “We have received export order for one lakh bags from Singapore and Canada”, she said.

A few stalls like jute made product ones have been able to retain the image of the DITF, which has been held for the last 13 consecutive years as wane by local stuffs, mismanagement of authority, fake stalls and things.

The purpose of trade fair is to represent local products to the visitors instead of making profit. But the purpose is marred. Authority should allocate pavilion only to the manufacturers said Mujibar Rahman, Managing Dircetor of Asian Textile Mills Ltd. “Only a handful organisations are allocated Pavilions and Stalls. Rest of all have come to make business”, he added.

Stalls were allotted to even such organisation whose stuffs were found in the streets, as appears from the actual circumstances.

Cheap and fake stuffs have marred the image of the fair said a visitor. “We have to buy low standard materials like sandal, bungle etc in double the price though the same things are found in the footpaths near New Market, Chadni Chawk “, he added.

The joint force of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) seized illegal roaming SIM from a stall of the fair on January 04.

They caught the sellers of Awal Call Centre at the time of vending ‘World SIM’, a product of an international company, for which they were not approved.

An official of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Bangladesh said that these organisations got allotment by lobbing and as a result of nepotism.

According to an EPB source, many rules could not be implemented due to irrational interference by it. At the onset of the fair, rules were followed which went on for two years. After, 1997 the fair was opened for the local organisations too and the scenario has changed.

The space of the fair has been more constricted this year. According to EPB 373 stalls were allotted in 2006 while 395 stalls in 2007. But this year 467 stalls were given allotment for the fair, which have made the fair congested.

High speed to build vessels for European, Japanese companies

Highspeed promoted the largest Japan-Bangladesh joint venture in collaboration with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Bangladesh in the year 1979 in the field of Shipbuilding and Heavy Engineering, and completed many large infrastructure projects including petro-chemical industries, hydropower plant and many specialized ships including barge mounted power station in collaboration with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co Ltd of Japan.

To date Highspeed built more than 100 specialised ships, such as fishing trawlers, oil tankers, dry cargo vessels, passenger ferries, coastal patrol boats, and thus contributed substantially to the national economy. Besides maritime involvement, Highspeed Engineering wing has successfully completed many plant engineering projects with several multinationals of Japan and Europe. To cite some examples, Highspeed completed lot of steel structural works, pipe lines, pressure vessels, installation of heavy machineries and equipments, civil construction, storage tanks of Zia Fertilizer, Jamuna Fertilizer, KAFCO, Chittagong Eastern Oil Refinery, Kaptai Hydro Power, Parbatipur Railway workshop works among many other similar large projects.

Highspeed promoted a large joint venture in the field of deep sea fishing industry. Completed for the first time five deep sea shrimp and white fish trawlers and thus exported huge marine food and earning foreign currency for the country and also a new “technology” was transferred to Bangladesh from Japan as Highspeed built Deep Sea Fishing Trawlers for the first time in Bangladesh in 1981.

Highspeed built the first two container terminals with Interbeton BV Holland in 1986 with the World Bank finance.

Highspeed successfully completed the construction of 8 Food Grain Carriers for FAO (UNDP) under Swiss Government Food Security Programme. This is the first time that Bangladeshi shipyard participated against so many nations of the world and earned great fame for the country as well as foreign currency for the country.

Highspeed Group owns and operates a large fleet of 25 oil tankers which carry more than a million tons of POL products annually for Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

The latest achievement of Highspeed Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd is the formation of the joint venture company with Mitsui OSK Line, the largest shipping line of the world, which is due to start functioning from January 1, 2009.

Employment–the Group employs over a thousand people including engineers, specialists, skilled workers, a team of marketing and accounting personnel with office network, warehouse and terminals in Bangladesh including Dhaka, Chittagong, Mongla (Khulna) and Sylhet.

The chairman of Highspeed Group is also the president of three major associations of water sector (Launch Owners Association, Bangladesh Shipbuilders Association and Bangladesh Cargo Owners Associations) which employ millions of workers. The members of three associations carry 70 per cent of dry cargo, 90 per cent of POL product and 40 percent of passengers of total Bangladesh capacity.

For the above notable achievements, Chairman of Highspeed Group KM Mahmoodur Rahman received the prestigious award from the Government of Bangladesh on October 16, 2008 on World Maritime Day for his outstanding contribution in maritime sector.

The Highspeed shipyard has now undertaken an ambitious expansion plan to construct and export foreign vessels as several enquiries are received by us almost everyday from Europe and Middle East. It has also signed MoU with a European company and also with a Japanese company for construction and delivery of several types of vessels. In this yard, Highspeed is capable of constructing vessels of up to 7500 DWT.

Source: The New Nation