ACI to launch 200 chain-shops as it forays into organised retailing

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ACI to launch 200 chain-shops as it forays into organised retailing

Mushir Ahmed

Leading conglomerate ACI would launch at least 20 value stores across the country in the next four months, making it the first company to foray into nationwide organised retailing, officials said Saturday.

The company has opened two stores in Dhaka’s Wari and Postagola areas as pilot project and would replicate them across the country once its finds the right ‘sourcing and price’ chemistry to launch Bangladesh’s biggest chain shop venture.

A top official of the agro-chemical-consumer goods company directly involved in launching the project told FE his company is giving the final touches to Fresh N’ Near what he believes would be the creation of Bangladeshi version of Wal-Mart or Tesco.

“At present we are working with the price propositions. We want to make the chain stores affordable for the mass people, while at the same time keeping things fresh and close to the consumers,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We have already opened up two stores and would open at least 20 by May. Once we find the right chemistry through experimentation, we have a plan to launch 200 stores in prime locations,” he said.

BSRM Steels introduces SQC

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BSRM Steels introduces SQC
Business Desk

Concrete reinforcing bar manufacturer BSRM Steels Ltd has introduced Statistical Quality Control in its manufacturing programme.

With the introduction of the SQC system design engineers will have greater confidence in the reliability of the product in the design of concrete structures, a news release said.

This, in turn, will mean greater optimisation of steel use in the structure and further reduction in total steel cost of the project, it added.

10 power plants to get priority

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/01/25/news0551.htm

10 power plants to get priority

UNB, Dhaka

As part of its efforts to resolve the country’s chronic power crisis, the new government appears to make it a priority to implement 10 power plant projects initiated by previous governments.

According to official sources, moves had been initiated by the previous BNP-led coalition government and the caretaker government to implement these power plant projects.

They said some agreements had also been signed by the previous governments with a number of donor agencies to implement the projects.

Of the projects, eight will be implemented in the public sector while two in the private sector.

The proposed projects to be implemented in the public sector are 300 MW Siddhirganj peaking plant (150×2), 360 MW Haripur power plant, 150 MW Sirajganj power plant, 150 MW Khulna power plant, 150 MW Bhola power plant, 150 MW Sylhet power plant and the 210 MW Khulna power plant. The plants to be implemented in the private sector are 450 MW Bibiyana power plant and 450MW Sirajganj power plant.

Among the projects, loan agreements were signed by the previous governments for 300 MW Siddhirganj, 150 MW Sirajganj, 150 MW Khulna and 150 MW Bhola power plants.

As per the agreements, the World Bank is supposed to finance the 300 MW Siddhirganj plant while Japanese JBIC will finance the 360 MW Haripur project, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) 150 MW Sirajganj project and 150 MW Khulna project. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will finance the 150 MW Bhola project.

The government is supposed to finance from its own funds the 150 MW Sylhet and 150 MW Chandpur projects. The 210 MW Khulna project will be implemented under supplier’s credit.

State-owned Power Development Board (PDB), according to the sources, is preparing a paper on the position of the projects to place it before the government’s highest policymaking body.

They said the new AL-led Grand Alliance government might give priority to implement these projects as funding has been confirmed by the donor agencies for such projects.

They also said gas supply to the projects has also been confirmed by state-owned Petrobangla.

A top official at Petrobangla, however, said they are unlikely to be able to supply gas to the projects before 2013.

PDB officials said these projects may not require gas before 2013 as it would take at least 2-3 years to install the plants.

Allout govt support to achieve $25b RMG export target

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/01/24/news0474.htm

Allout govt support to achieve $25b RMG export target

Chittagong Correspondent

Minister for Commerce Muhammad Faruk Khan said here yesterday that his government would not only give policy support to the readymade garment sector but also work hand-in-hand with the entrepreneurs to achieve the RMG export target of US $25 billion a year.

He urged the entrepreneurs to invest their profit for accelerating the pace industrialization, creation of employment opportunities, producing skilled manpower and reduction of poverty.

The Commerce Minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of Chittagong Apparel, Fabric and Accessories Exposition ( CAFAXPO-2009) as chief guest.

President of the BGMEA and Chairman of the Exposition Management Committee First

Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez presided over the function while President of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Annisul Huq, Mayor of the port city ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury addressed the function as the special guests.

First Vice-president of BBMEA MA Salam delivered the welcome speech.

The Commerce Minister told the gathering that port the development of the Chittagong port city is among the priority tasks of the present government as per the election pledge of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.The city will start witnessing the materialization of this pledge within seven to eight months.

Thanking the BGMEA leaders for impressive progress in the garment sector and fixing the ambitious export target of US $ 25 billion by 2012, the minister held out the assurance of working in unison together for making the country as one of the top apparel exporting nations.

He also assured to table the issues of raising port facilities, charges and logistics at the inter-ministerial meeting and get the problems solved on priority basis through mutual discussion.

FBCCI President Annisul Huq said that only two basic policy supports like ‘back-to-back letter of credit’ and ‘bonded warehouse facilities’ for the readymade garment sector in the previous years had brought the industry to today’s shape.

He expressed his optimism that the industry would grow even faster than the speculation made by the financial analysts and economists if necessary policy support is given to it from the government side.

The FBCCI leader pleaded with the bankers not to make the RMG industry sick by slapping higher interest but to grow up together with the borrowers on reciprocal approach. He also sought government’s intervention in slashing down the interest rates for the RMG sector borrowers.

Putting emphasis on re-fixing Sunday as the weekend, he said that the weekend mismatch with the developed nations had been spoiling at least three days from the weekly working days.

He also proposed separate handling areas at the maritime port for foodstuff and RMG products for enhancing the capacity of the port in all respects.

President of the BGMEA Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez put forward a 13-point charter of demands and urged the government to give adequate attention to their demands.The demands include formulation of a long term planning for the development of the RMG sector, increase of power generation, quick implementation of the 6-lane highway project between Dhaka and Chittagong, making Mongla as the alternative maritime port, creation of a new ministry for textile and apparel sector, implementation of garment village project, formulation of sick factory act, hiring actually professional people for the country’s mission abroad and creating a research cell comprising appropriate think-tanks and economists.

Later, the minister opened the three-day Chittagong Apparel, Fabric and Accessories Exposition (CAFAXPO-2009) by cutting a ribbon. A total 43 companies from home and abroad are participating in the exposition.

Breaking new grounds in garment export

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Breaking new grounds in garment export
Let’s concentrate on the new price calculus to reap benefit

It is with cautious optimism that we greet the news of our garment sector maintaining steady growth in export, pretty much unruffled by the buffetings of global recession. This has been made possible by timely diversification involving addition of some new destinations to our export map. The process began in earnest since mid-2008 with our garment products penetrating Brazil and Mexico markets.

The other relatively new countries on our radar screen are Japan, Russia and South Africa. With a single country exhibition in Japan, participation of local companies in the Moscow Consume-2009 and a demonstrative vigour in South Africa, we may well have bypassed the horror of demand shrinkage in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown.

Therefore, our congratulations on the enterprise of garment manufacturers and exporters, the facilitation measures taken by the export promotion bureau (EPB), and the dynamism of the banking system and ports and custom authorities.

Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that we have had to mark down the prices to avail of the new market opportunities. Here we have some clear cut suggestions to offer before all those concerned with invigoration of our garment exports. We should try to keep our products competitive by redrawing the strategy for pricing. Let’s not forget that the large segment of value addition that we have to provide to garment production through import of raw materials must now be a lighter burden on us because of the falling prices of inputs in the world market. Our diplomatic missions, BGMEA and EPB should adopt a strategy immediately aiming to reduce the cost of shopping inputs in the countries that we import these from. Simultaneously, we must insist on the shipping lines to negotiate best freight rates against the backdrop of free falling oil prices.

Above all, of course, all efforts need to be made to keep industrial peace.

Agro-based industries to be set up in CHT

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Agro-based industries to be set up in CHT
Says Dilip Barua
Our Correspondent, Rangamati

The government will set up agro-based industries in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region.

Minister for industries Dilip Barua said this while briefing journalists at Rangamati Circuit House during his visit to the hill town yesterday.

Fruits like lemon, pineapple, orange, jackfruit and guava are largely grown in three hill districts of the region, he said. “If agro-based industries are established then various food products can be produced by processing the fruits which will ultimately fetch good forex for Bangladesh through export those to foreign countries”, he said. “Our government has a plan to reopen the industries which were closed by former BNP-led alliance government,” the minister said.

“There is also a good potentiality for tourism industry in CHT”, he said adding, the entire CHT will be developed as a tourist spot which will create employment opportunities for jobless people.

The government will ensure peaceful co-existence of people of all communities so that everybody irrespective of religion, caste and creed can live in the region peacefully, he assured.

Referring to CHT peace accord, the minister said the accord will be implemented properly in the next five years as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is aware enough in this regard.

The minister also visited Rangamati Rajban Vihar and attended a religious function. State minister for CHT affairs ministry Dipankar Talukder accompanied.

Dipal wins $1.5m prize to develop energy

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Dipal wins $1.5m prize to develop energy

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Depurty Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, presents the Zayed Future Energy Prize to Dipal Barua, pioneer of a rural development in Bangladesh, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre last night

Staff Reporter

Dipal Chandra Barua, Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti (GS) was awarded the first Zayed Future Energy Prize for his visionary efforts to bring renewable energy solutions to the rural people of Bangladesh.

The award was handed over at a colourful ceremony on January 19 by Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The award winner Barua has devoted more than 13 years of his life in developing one of the most successful market- based sustainable models to reach the off-grid rural people on a mass scale.

His programs are creating income, green jobs in the rural areas; protecting the environment and health of rural people by replacing kerosene, reducing cutting down of trees and promoting organic fertilizers.

Barua will receive US 1.5 million to help accelerate the development of his programs and ideas.

Under his leadership, his organisation Grameen Shakti has installed more than 200, 000 Solar Home Systems, to become one of the largest and fastest growing Solar PV programs in the world benefiting more than 2 million rural people all over Bangladesh.

The GS now employs 3500 staffs and has an annual budget of US$ 100 million. It has developed a number of other initiatives including a biogas technology that converts cow and poultry wastes into gas for cooking , lighting and fertilizer and also an improved cooking stove program that is protecting women from indoor air pollution and reducing cutting down of trees.

It has installed more than 6000 biogas pants and over 25, 000 improved cooking stoves. In addition, the GS has trained rural women to be solar technicians hereby creating Green Entrepreneurs, according to a press release.

The Zayed Future Energy Prize was launched in January 2008 at the inaugural World Future Energy Summit to honour the legacy of the UAE’s late ruler Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his commitment to environmental sensitivity.

This prize recognises pioneering ambitious ideas that provide us with a more sustainable future. A pool of 204 submissions was received from more than 50 countries from every region of the world. Out of this one winner and finalist were honoured during the award ceremony.

Nobel Laureate Dr Rajendra Pachuri Chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Chairman of the jury of the Zayed Future Energy Prize termed the award as the Nobel for Renewable Energy.

This award will inspire him to reach 50% of Bangladeshis with renewable energy technologies by 2015. He plans to install 1 million Solar Home Systems by 2010 and construct 5 hundred thousand-biogas plants and 10 million Improved Stoves by 2012.

He wants to make Bangladesh a land of renewable energy and set an example to other countries facing the same problem and be a Global Ambassador in the fight against Climate Change.

Agronomists forecast bumper maize production in N-region

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Agronomists forecast bumper maize production in N-region

RANGPUR, Bangladesh, Jan 23 (BSS) – Agronomists and officials today forecast an all-time bumper maize production in northern parts of the country as the farmers have cultivated the crop in more lands under favourable climatic condition this season.

They said there was no scarcity of seeds this time as huge quantities of the same were distributed among the farmers and they timely completed sowing maize seeds in more lands under the programme.

The early variety maize fields have now worn eye-catching look everywhere in the region including the vast tract of the sandy- barren char lands in the river basins, they said.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) expects around 10 lakh tonnes of maize production against the fixed target of 9,27,000 tonnes from 1,54,500 hectares of land in the region this season which is an all-time record target for the region.

The farmers including the small and marginal farmers have cultivated the cash crop in more lands including the vast tract of char areas in the river basins of greater Rangpur and Dinajpur districts.

The DAE sources said that maize cultivation in vast sandy-char lands and in the dried-up beds of the rivers and their tributaries in the region brought about a revolutionary change to the poor farmers and unemployed youths that encouraged every one in recent years.

The farmers in the char areas have brought huge sandy-barren lands under maize farming and they have been getting fair prices in recent years, DAE officials said.

Experts and agronomists said that there are huge potentials in increasing maize production further by bringing thousands of hectares of char lands in Kurigram, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj, Pabna and other districts of the region.

Japan firm seeks to buy $600m RMG

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Japan firm seeks to buy $600m RMG

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

One of the largest Japanese retail chains, Uniqlo, sought to purchase readymade garment (RMG) products worth more than $600 million from Bangladesh in 2009, said a top official of the company.

“Uniqlo purchases RMG products worth $3 billion from different countries a year,” said Akhteruzzaman, managing director of Pacific Quality Control Centre Bangladesh Limited, the local quality inspection agent for the company.

Bangladeshi products will take up 20 percent of $3 billion in the company’s total purchases from different countries in 2009.

He said Uniqlo started its liaison office in Dhaka in September last year although the company had previously outsourced RMG products from an operational office.

“Uniqlo is conscious about quality and standards and has operations in 30 countries,” Akhteruzzaman said.

Uniqlo started operations in June 1984 and purchases trousers, shirts, cargo pants and knitwear products from Bangladesh and other countries of the world.

Uniqlo has a network of over 750 stores in Japan and is currently looking to boost the brand’s appeal through the development of more large-format stores, the official said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh exported woven items worth $20.801 million and knitwear items worth $7.234 million to Japan in fiscal 2007-08, the Export Promotion Bureau data said.

Bangladesh exported RMG products worth $10.70 billion in fiscal 2007-08 and now aims to export RMG (woven and knitwear) worth $12.267 billion in fiscal 2008-09.

reefat@thedailystar.net

Plastic products earn Tk 1,636 crore from export

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Plastic products earn Tk 1,636 crore from export

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 22 (BSS) – The country had earned a total of Taka 1636.76 crore in 2006-2007 by exporting plastic products. “Plastic industries have immense potential where about five lakh people are employed,” Shamim Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers Association (BPGMEA) said while talking to BSS today.

He said at present only 20 percent of the potential of the country’s plastic industries is being used.

The domestic demand of plastic products was 5.40 tonnes in 2005 and the demand is growing at an annual rate of 20 percent. The export growth of plastic products was 63.24 from 2005-06 fiscal to 2006-07.

There are 2,997 plastic industries in the country, of which 52 are large scale, 980 medium and 1,965 small. Of the total plastic industries, 381 are hundred percent export-oriented.

Among the plastic industries, 65 percent are based in Dhaka while 20 percent in Chittagong, 10 percent in Narayanganj and five percent are in Khulna, Comilla, Bogra and Rajshahi.

Presently Bangladesh has been exporting plastic items to Italy, New Zealand, Poland, China, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, USA, Canada, Spain, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Australia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries.

The BPGMEA sources said Bangladesh is now exporting plastic shopping bags, garbage bags, butcher bags, oven sacks, industrial films, PVC pipes, polythene sheet, plastic hanger, hand gloves, ropes, plastic waste, V-belt, toys, electronic switches, polyester thread, computer accessories, video/audio cassette, melamine table ware, toothbrush, ball pen and artificial flower etc.

Plastic products are popularly used as household items, table ware, kitchen ware, office equipment, toiletries, packaging, building materials, engineering parts, industrial equipment, agricultural product, poultry and fishing, automobile and cycle parts, electronics, textiles articles and musical products.

Referring to various demands of the BPGMEA, Shamim Ahmed said withdrawal of 100 percent bank guarantee is necessary for smooth running of the plastic industries. Process is going on to set up a plastic industrial estate but getting environment clearance certificate should be made easier in this regard, he said.

The BPGMEA sources said plastic is a wonder of polymer chemistry, have become an indispensable part of modern life. At the same time, its disposal is being viewed as a matter of environmental concern, since plastic is not biodegradable.

Bangladesh do not have polymer industry, despite having facilities of using natural gas. As all polymer raw materials are imported and there is a scope of recycling waste plastics which could be a way to protect the environment.

With the growth of plastic manufacturing sector, plastic industries have been successfully exporting plastic products to the developed countries.

Nearly hundred percent of the plastic packaging materials used by the exporters of Bangladesh are being supplied by the local plastic industries, in the form of deemed export.

The volume use of plastic products is growing with the development of the country. Volume of plastic wastes is also increasing. At least, 60 percent of plastic wastes are being recycled in the country that save about 400 million US dollar per year cutting import of resin.

Since plastic is not bio-degradable, it is essential to promote recycling of plastic waste and to reach 100 percent recycling of such wastes, the source added.

Germany keen on exchanging teachers with Dhaka Univ

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Germany keen on exchanging teachers with Dhaka Univ
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka

Two German universities have showed their eagerness to launch a joint educational project with Dhaka University to exchange teachers and researchers among the universities.

Hans-Peter Muehlbach, professor of Hamburg University, and Professor Engineer Saifullah Khandaker of Berlin University of Technology of German discussed this issue when they called on Dhaka University vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique at his office on Thursday.

During the meeting, they discussed different bilateral educational issues between the two countries and feasibility of the project, said a press release.

Professor Arefin Siddique thanked the visiting German professors for their eagerness to DU and Bangladesh under a joint exchange programme.

Mesbah Uddin Ahmed, a physics professor of Dhaka University, and Shah Mohammad Keramot Ali, professor of Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, were also present at the meeting.

Bangladesh fares well as exports slip in Asia

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Bangladesh fares well as exports slip in Asia

Workers make clothes at a garment factory in Dhaka. Bangladesh's exports dominated by the sale of low-cost garments to mass-market retailers like Wal-Mart have fared well. Photo: STAR

KARAWANG, Indonesia — At a three-story factory here that used to make television remote controls, most of the fluorescent lights have been turned off. The hallways are nearly silent, and three-quarters of the workers have been laid off.

A pencil factory down the road closed last September, laying off 100 workers. Another nearby factory that turned out carved and painted wooden window frames shut down and laid off 800 workers. And two Toyota factories, one here in Karawang and another in a nearby city, have not renewed the contracts of 277 temporary workers.

“In our 11 years here, this is the worst situation with so many layoffs not even in 1998 was it this bad,” said Abraham Sauate, the manager of the TV remote factory, comparing today with the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998. “The problem now is we don’t know where to go, and we don’t know how long it will last.”

On Thursday, Japan said exports fell 35 percent in December from a year earlier as the crisis hurt its main markets. China and Japan draw the most attention, but the global slump in manufacturing is spreading across Asia.

Industrial production is dropping in South Korea at the fastest pace since record keeping began in 1975. Taiwanese exports dived 40 percent in December compared with a year earlier. And ports from Indonesia to Thailand are handling ever fewer shipping containers.

During the last crisis, investors took their money out of country after country. Asian leaders thought they had found a solution increases in exports to the West, particularly of electronics. But that dependence on exports fed this crisis. Now American and European buyers are pulling their import orders from country after country. And while governments have short-term economic stimulus plans, long-term answers seem more elusive.

Hard times in factory towns are especially troubling in Asia, where countries depend on manufacturing for a far greater share of economic output than Western countries do, as much as 40 percent in the case of China and other big exporters.

That is triple the current 13 percent in the United States, and much higher even than the American peak of 28 percent in 1953.

While all of Asia is suffering, some economies are feeling the effects of the global downturn less than others.

Many of these countries are latecomers to the world market. They have even lower wages than China and were just starting to benefit from the arrival of businesses seeking to avoid increases in wages and other costs in China from 2003 through last summer.

For example, Bangladesh’s exports are dominated by the sale of low-cost garments to mass-market retailers like Wal-Mart that have fared well as consumers have begun shifting toward thriftier purchases. Garment workers in Bangladesh still earn $40 to $50 a month, barely half the minimum wage in export-oriented coastal cities in China.

Economic difficulties in the West “will have an impact on Bangladesh in terms of our growth rate, but I’m not concerned it will eat into our share” of the global garment market, said Mustafizur Rahman, the executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a nonpartisan research group in Dhaka that specialises in trade and other economic issues.

The numbers bear that out. While overall American imports dropped 12 percent in November compared with a year earlier, imports rose from Bangladesh and from Vietnam. Each country shipped more knit apparel to the United States, and Vietnam also shipped more furniture.

Few countries were hit harder in the Asian financial crisis than Indonesia. Much of the banking system collapsed, economic output plunged, riots ensued and the government fell.

But Indonesia is often described as one of the less vulnerable countries in Asia, because its insular economy relies less on trade than other countries in the region. Indonesia has long had a domestic market big enough to sustain large industries without the need for foreign markets.

Three-day Asia Pharma Expo begins in city

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Muhith lays stress on quality, research as three-day Asia Pharma Expo begins in city

FE Report

The government would help the pharmaceutical industry secure latest technology and come up with new innovations in the interest of the economy, said Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Thursday.

Laws could be amended and regulations changed for the sake of development of the sector, Mr. Muhith said at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day Asia Pharma Expo-2009 organised by the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.

‘The pharmaceutical companies should maintain two things – quality and research,’ he said, admitting that the pharmaceutical sector is one of the most neglected sectors.

Speaking on the occasion, Commerce Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan said the government is hopeful of solving the problems in the sector.

The health sector is extremely important for the government and the pharmaceutical sector is part of it, he added.

Bangladesh is producing world-class medicine using latest technology and highly sophisticated machinery, said Annisul Huq, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), while speaking at the ceremony.

‘Some of the local companies even have certificates from US FDA, UK MHRA and some other organisations of developed countries,’ he said.

However, many medicines are sold at higher prices than the retail prices, he lamented.

The sector needs government support to become a major export-oriented sector, said Beximco Group Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman.

The government should remove the bureaucratic bottleneck to help the sector flourish smoothly, he said.

The sector should explore if there is any opportunity to export low-value product in the recession period, said Health Ministry secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali, who joined the ministry Wednesday.

Medicine prices have gone down drastically over the last two decades due to improved production process and a bigger market size, said Nazmul Hassan, secretary general of BAPI.

‘Amoxicillin was sold at Tk 7 in 1982 but now it is sold at only Tk 3.5,’ he said in his presentation.

Country achieving self-sufficiency in salt production

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/01/23/news0376.htm

Country achieving self-sufficiency in salt production

The country is achieving self- sufficiency in salt production by adopting new technology and expanding the industry.

Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) sources said the annual demand of salt in the country is 13 lakh metric tons and the production target for the current year has been fixed at 13.2 lakh metric tons.

They said the expansion of the use of ‘polythene technology’ in producing white salt helped raise 30 to 35 percent salt production and it is getting higher market price. Officials of the BSCIC salt project hoped that the production would rise up to 16 lakh metric tons this season. In the last season (2007-2008), the salt production stood at 12.22 metric tons against the target of 13 lakh metric tons in 68,101 acres of land. The average salt production was 17.94 metric tons per acre.

More manpower for BSTI soon

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More manpower for BSTI soon
Barua tells DCCI
Star Business Report

The government plans to strengthen the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) with additional manpower and modern equipment, said the industries minister yesterday.

“BSTI has been suffering from a severe crisis in manpower. We are trying to strengthen it to ensure the quality of our products,” Dilip Barua told a delegation from the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) at his office.

He said the government has already approved the appointment of 113 new persons in BSTI on Tuesday, as part of the process.

The minister urged the manufacturers to be cautious against the production and campaign of contaminated and substandard products and strictly follow the quality guidance set by BSTI.

Barua said the government considers formulating a draft for a new industrial policy by April.

“We previously had an industrial policy that was never implemented properly and lacked industry-friendly directions,” he said.

“We are going to form a committee soon in this regard, which would emphasise attracting investment from both local, non-resident Bangladeshi and foreign entrepreneurs, create more employment and develop and patron the local industries,” he added.

Barua said the government also considers reviewing the bank’s high interest rate, seen as a major problem that hinders new entrepreneurship.

Zafar Osman, president of DCCI, said the government should review the present duty structure and take an initiative to reduce import duty on raw materials and ingredients for our local industries.

He said the government should take specific measures to patron and safeguard the small and medium enterprises, including the light engineering sector.

He stressed developing a special industrial zone for different sectors, such as RMG, pharmaceuticals and leather industry, and creating a database on the entire industrial sector.

He also emphasised organising training programmes for labourers in different factories that would eventually improve the present condition of the industrial sector.

MS Shekil Chowdhury, senior vice president, and Mohammad Sirajuddin Malik, vice president of the chamber, were also present at the meeting.