Bashundhara Group to set up Tk 25b integrated steel plant

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/29/65099.html

Bashundhara Group to set up Tk 25b integrated steel plant

Jasim Uddin Haroon

A local company Tuesday disclosed that it will set up the country’s first ever integrated steel plant at a cost of around Tk 25 billion to cater to the domestic demand for steel products.

The Bashundhara Group said it will produce steel products from the proposed integrated plant by using the basic raw material- iron ore.

Currently, over 200 re-rolling and steel mills in the country are producing steel products by using imported and locally available ship scraps. Only a few steel factories use imported billet to produce high quality mild steel rod.

“We have taken up the project of an integrated steel plant as the steel products produced in it would be cheaper and of international standard,” Serazul Islam, chief coordinator of Bashundhara Basic Integrated Steels said.

He also said the proposed plant will produce initially 1.0 million tonnes of steel products a year with an option of future expansion.

Bashudhara officials said they will start the civil works for the plant shortly at Anowara in Chittagong. The plant will be set on 300 acres of lands.

The project coordinator said Bashundhara will seek international financing for the project besides local commercial banks.

Bashundhara officials said they will produce different kinds of steel products to be used in structural engineering applications, maritime purposes, automobiles and general industrial purposes.

Md Jahangir Alam, a tremor expert, told the FE: “The quality of steel depends on its raw materials. Steels produced by iron ores are much more qualitative than the other steel products.”

“The demand for steel product produced from ores is rising in rich nations. Even, neighbouring India is also using this kind of steel,” Jahangir added.

Bangladesh’s steel market is estimated to be about 2.0 million tonnes a year.

Local shipbuilders get orders from Finish company

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/04/28/news0640.htm

Local shipbuilders get orders from Finish company

BSS, Chittagong

Bangladesh’s much potential shipbuilding sector is going to usher another milestone through constructing international standard specialized vessels for foreign buyers.

Western Marine Shipyard Ltd (WMSL), the country’s pioneering company in shipbuilding sector, got the order to build a “Floating reception vessel” and a “Pontoon barge gangway with foundation” for LAMOR Corporation AB, a Finland-based internationally reputed company in oil spill response and consultancy services.

After building the vessel, the LAMOR will hand over it to Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) by November next.

As per an agreement singed between the CPA and the LAMOR, the company would supply to the CPA a specialized vessel along with necessary equipment for addressing oily waste pollution in the port jurisdiction that includes up to 50 nautical miles in outer anchorage of the Bay of Bengal from shore.

Officials of the WMSL and the CPA yesterday disclosed the news of landmark progress of the country’s shipbuilding sector at a function held in the city’s Agrabad commercial area.

Earlier, Bangladeshi shipbuilding enterprises got orders and exported only medium and big-size cargo and cruise ships to foreign buyers of the developed countries of Europe and Asia.

The WMSL arranged the function titled “keel-laying ceremony” that marks formal construction work of a vessel through hitting the hammers twice simultaneously by the officials concerned on a makeshift iron-plate that symbolises the deck-structure of the ship.

WMSL is the first Bangladeshi company in the sector which has earned reputation by receiving export orders to supply ocean- going advanced technology big ships for foreign parties from Denmark, Holland, Germany and Singapore.

CPA Chairman Commodore R U Ahmed spoke at the function as the chief guest while Chairman of the WMSL Saiful Islam and Managing Director Sakhawat Hossain, among others, also addressed it. CPA officials, bankers, representatives from local and international shipping firms were present. The CPA chairman said availability of services in protecting marine environment from oil pollution by engaging such specialised vessel was a commitment of the CPA for fulfilling the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirement.

He said environment protection facility would surely place Chittagong Port among the major safe international seaports in the region.

CPA and WMSL officials informed that the vessel would be capable of collecting operational and oily waste from ocean-going ships in the CPA limit.

The vessel will be designed to work under tropical conditions at high seas and shallow waters and fitted with fire fighting equipment sufficient to fight her internal and surrounding oil spilled areas.

Sakhawat Hossain of WMSL urged the government to ensure duty- free bond facilities and issuance of bank guarantee by Bangladesh Bank as first class international bank, and to fix ’single digit’ interest rate of bank loans and special financial allocation for further flourishing the shipbuilding sector.

The CPA chairman told BSS procurement of such specialised vessel and construction of other necessary facilities at shore and harbour to address both oily and solid waste under the port jurisdiction was part of an Asian Development Bank-financed scheme titled “Chittagong Port Trade Facilitation Project”.

He said CPA has signed an agreement with a Turkish company to supply a modern “solid waste collection vessel” at a cost of around Taka 13 crore. The ship will be available by 2010.

CPA, he said, has already built a ground oily waste treatment facility at right bank of the river Karnaphuli adjacent to Chittgaong Dry Dock where collected waste oil will be treated and disposed of.

Pharma sector assured of help

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=85953

Pharma sector assured of help
Star Business Report

Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haque said yesterday the government will provide every possible policy support to the evolving pharmaceutical sector.

The minister said this while talking to the leaders of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) at the ministry.

The BAPI leaders discussed with the minister about establishing an international standard drug testing laboratory and a pharmaceutical ingredients’ industrial park.

They also urged the minister to increase manpower of Drug Administration Department (DAD) and upgrade it to a directorate.

They said the Bangladeshi pharmaceuticals are entering the restricted European market and for that the quality control of the medicines should meet international standards.

The minister told them that the government is considering establishing a global standard drug testing laboratory and reconstituting the DAD.

Secretary to the ministry Sheikh Altaf Ali, Director General of DAD Brig Gen Md Ismail Hossain, BAPI President Salman F Rahman, Senior Vice President Momenul Haque, and Vice President Tarikul Islam were present at the meeting.

Japan to invest $7.021m in CEPZ

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=8&id=30159&date=2009-04-26&PHPSESSID=37b46c3b86a49d68fca694b4e03a3ea2

Japan to invest $7.021m in CEPZ

DHAKA, Bangladesh, April 26 (BSS) – M/s Meiji Corporation Limited, a Japanese company, will set up a motor parts manufacturing industry in Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ).

This hundred percent foreign owned company will invest 7.021 million US Dollar in setting up their unit and will produce and export motor parts.

The company will also create employment opportunity for 259 people, including two foreign nationals, said BEPZA press release.

An agreement to this effect has been signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) and the M/s Meiji Corporation Limited in BEPZA Complex here today.

Prasanta Bhushan Barua, Member (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and Yoshiyasu Mitsumura, Executive President of M/s Meiji Corporation Limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization.

Other officials from the respective organizations were present on the occasion, the release added.

IDCOL plans to produce solar panels

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/04/25/news0358.htm

IDCOL plans to produce solar panels

UNB, Dhaka

Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), a non-bank financial institution, is planning to produce solar panels locally in an effort to bring the country’s rural areas under power supply network in a faster way.

“We’ve planned to produce solar panel to make it cheaper as well as expand our service areas in line with the government vision of ‘Electricity for all by 2020′,” IDCOL’s newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director Islam Sharif told UNB.

IDCOL now imports solar panels from various countries, including China and India, which is costlier for local users. “But, if we can produce the solar panel locally it would be cheaper for the villagers to use it as an individual power system,” Sharif said.

Sharif, who served as Vice-president of Citibank NA in New York, suggested that the government should go for a comprehensive campaign to encourage people to use solar energy as the national power grid is unable to cope with the growing power demand.

“We also encourage the businessmen to install solar energy system in their industries and we’re ready to assist them (businessmen) in this regard,” he said.

Sharif said the country’s most development plans focus on the capital or metro cities. “But,” he said, “IDCOL turns its focus on urban, suburb and rural areas.”

The IDCOL boss said they also have a plan for setting up their own power plants in different regions of the country where poor road communications hamper local trades.

About IDCOL activities, Sharif said IDCOL promotes solar home systems (SHSs) in rural areas under a programme jointly being financed by IDA, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and KfW & GTZ.

IDCOL has made an upward revision in its target of financing 300,000 SHSs by 2009 as over 295,000 SHSs have already been installed.

The IDCOL CEO said the programme is being implemented through 15 partner organizations (POs) — Grameen Shakti, BRAC Foundation, Srizony Bangladesh, COAST Trust, TMSS, IDF, CMES, Upokulio Bidyuatayon O Mohila Unnayan Shamity (UBOMUS), Shubashati, BRIDGE, Padakshep Manabik Unnayan Kendra (PMUK), Palli Daridra Bimochan Foundation (PDBF), Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kalyan Sangstha, Mukti Cox’s Bazar, and Rural Services Foundation (RSF).

SHSs are sold (mostly through micro-credit) by POs to the households and business entities in remote rural areas of Bangladesh, Sharif said, adding that IDCOL provides refinancing facility to the POs and channel grants to reduce the SHS costs as well as support the institutional development of the POs. “IDCOL also provides technical, logistic, promotional and training assistance to the Pos.”

About cheaper biogas plants, Sharif said those plants consume huge time and space to produce energy, but solar energy takes only 1-2 hours for power generation and only the rooftop of any house for installation.

“Even then, IDCOL is also involved in the promotion of biogas plants across Bangladesh.”

Since June 2006, he said, they have set up over 7,000 biogas plants in rural areas through its partner prganizations under the National Domestic Biogas and Manure Programme (NDBMP). It has a target of financing 60,000 such plants by 2010. So far, 2400 biogas plants have been set up.

Gas produced through these plants is used for cooking and lighting of rural households. The slurry of biogas plants, being a very good organic fertilizer, is used to maintain soil fertility and increase crop production apart from being fish feed.

Scholastica students build low-cost car for Science Fair

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=123742

Scholastica students build low-cost car for Science Fair
Economic Reporter

A few creative students of Class IX have successfully built a cheap car, which they believe will cut down environmental pollution because it runs on batteries, and will also allow more people to have access to cars because of the low price.

The Science Fair 2009 was held recently at Scholastica Senior Section Uttara amid enthusiasm of young scientists displaying various innovative projects. Wasima Parveen. Deputy Chairperson, and Madiha Murshed, Head of Academics, were among the judges who assessed all the projects at the fair.

Some of the outstanding projects of the Science Fair were on heart disease and fermentation, the pangea, the star chart and solar system, and double circulation. Students were looking for problems to local solutions as well, such as flooding, load shedding and global warming.

The Science Fair was a platform for students to develop both their research and creative skills and the event was greatly enjoyed by the students, parents and management of the school.

Bangladesh-US venture to build country’s first solar panel plant

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/26/64862.html

Bangladesh-US venture to build country’s first solar panel plant

Mushir Ahmed

A local company has struck a joint venture deal with an expatriate Bangladeshi to set up the country’s first solar panel plant to provide a backbone for the fast-growing renewable energy sector.

Star Group, a power plant engineering company, said it has already bought land for the Aakash Solar Company and also is talking with American and Swiss companies to launch the plant later this year.

“We have readied a plan to invest more than $100 million to manufacture solar panels by 2011,” Ali Akbar Khan, the managing director of the group, said.

Star said it would initially assemble photo-voltaic panels and then gradually build manufacturing facilities over the next two years to cash in on rapid growth in the solar power system in Bangladesh.

Dr. Saifur Rahman, a Bangladesh-born American citizen, and Star would hold the majority stake in the company while Swiss and American technological partners would hold the rest.

“Our plant would meet the entire local demand and can also export sizeable amount of panels to countries in the region,” he said.

Khan said the plant would bring down costs of panels for the charities who have been importing solar panels at a subsidised prices from Japan.

“Tokyo has said it would cut the facility by end of 2009. But we are confident we can keep the prices lower than the subsidised prices being offered by Japan.”

Experts said the venture would plug the lone gap in the country’s fast growing solar energy sector.

Bangladesh is self-reliant in all the accessories in solar housing systems including batteries and wires except solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity.

The move to build the plant comes as solar power makes inroads in a vast swathe of rural areas left untouched by the national electricity grid.

The number of solar powered households have reached around 300,000, almost double in 18 months, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in Bangladesh.

Backed by soft-loan refinancing schemes by IDCOL, Grameen Shakti (GS) and other charities have lighted up homes and shops for around two million people.

The companies have also unveiled an ambitious plan to sell at least one million solar systems by 2012.

Niaz Rahim, the managing director Rahimafrooz, which sells batteries to the charities, says the plant would speed up growth of solar systems in the country.

“It’s an important move and has been a necessity for powering the growth of the renewable energy,” he said, referring to Star group’s move.

He said Rahimafrooz is also purusing its own plan to build a photo-voltaic panel factory, as he sees Bangladesh emerging as a top solar-powered nation within years.

“Solar power systems are changing the face of rural Bangladesh. And it would be a billion dollar industry within a few years,” he said.

Cut acrylic yarn import

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=85616

Cut acrylic yarn import
Urge local spinners
Star Business Report

Bangladesh can cut much of its import dependence on a sweater-making raw material, acrylic yarn, by making it locally, spinners said yesterday.

“Bangladesh requires about 40 crore pounds of yarn a year. But spinners can supply about 17 percent of the yearly requirement. The rest is imported,” said Tariq Ahmed, director for operations and marketing of TK Group.

Chin Hung Fibre Ltd, a subsidiary of TK Group, makes acrylic yarn.

“It indicates huge potential. We can reduce our dependence on import by making our own yarn. We have scope to produce value-adding acrylic yarn,” he said.

Tariq’s remark came on the sidelines of a seminar on value-chain development of acrylic yarn in Bangladesh, co-organised by Chin Hung Fibre and Thai Acrylic Fibre Co of Aditya Birla Group at Radisson Water Garden Hotel in Dhaka.

Referring to more than $1.0 billion earnings from sweater exports, Tariq said he hoped the exports would double in the next couple of years, as Bangladeshi makers would enjoy an edge in pricing over competing countries such as China.

“Although sweater exports now face a slowdown, we hope the next winter will be a good season for us,” he said.

According to the TK Group director, acrylic yarn is now imported from countries such as China, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand and Spain.

“But we will have more benefit, if we import raw materials and make yarn. Buying yarn from the domestic market will be helpful for sweater makers to meet the lead time easily,” said Tariq.

About 10 acrylic yarn spinners operate in Bangladesh and are trying to meet a part of acrylic-yarn demand by export-oriented sweater factories, Tariq said.

Tariq also said TK Group has a plan to increase production of acrylic yarn with focus to make value-added ones. “We are planning to make special yarn,” he said.

Local companies can meet 5-7 percent of demand for special yarn now. The rest is met by import.

Shammy Mathew, deputy general manager for marketing of Thai Acrylic Fibre Co Ltd, observed that many local sweater makers still depend on import, as there is a “knowledge gap” in the value chain.

“You can make here all yarn you need. You don’t need to import,” he said.

Shipbuilding has huge potentials to boost economy: Shipbuilders

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/04/25/news0355.htm

Shipbuilding has huge potentials to boost economy: Shipbuilders

UNB, Dhaka

Local shipbuilders, who have already made a mark in attracting foreign buyers, said Bangladesh has a marvelous opportunity to earn huge foreign currency by building and exporting ships.

“If the government patronizes this prospective sector, it can play a significant role in giving a boost to the national economy,” Managing Director of Karnaphuli Shipbuilders Ltd Engineer MA Rashid told UNB appreciating the present government’s positive approach to the sector.

He said marine vessels, ferries, cruise-ships, fishing boats and launches are built in the country’s coastal belt and the offshore islands, but the potential of this sector still remained untapped simply for lack of visionary entrepreneurs, favorable atmosphere and government support.

“We can raise GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by at least 3 per cent within the next six years if we’re given a favorable environment,” he said.

Industry insiders said the shipbuilding industry will be the driving force of another socioeconomic uplift in the country after the RMG-driven revolution in the 80s, as it can create huge jobs at shipyards and its backward linkage industries.

The annual turnover of the global shipbuilding industry is around US $ 1,522 billion. European shipbuilders stopped taking orders until 2010, while Asian shipbuilders in Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam have already received adequate export orders.

It is assumed that over US $ 300 billion worth of export still remain untapped and local ship-making companies can grab this opportunity.

“This is a new but bright sector for us. So, it deserves special consideration. The government will provide all necessary supports to this sector for its growth,” Industries Minister Dilip Barua told UNB correspondent AKM Moinuddin.

Meanwhile, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has recommended giving priority to the shipbuilding industry in the upcoming three-year import policy. It also recommended a plan to bring down bank interest rate to 8 percent and simplify the import procedures of raw materials for the shipbuilding industry.

Sources said Western Marine Shipyard Limited has so far received orders for manufacturing five seagoing cargo vessels from a Danish company.

Another two shipbuilders — Ananda Shipyard Limited and Slipways Shipyard Limited — are also doing a good business. Chairman of Western Marine Shipyard Md Saiful Islam said Bangladesh has a competitive edge on shipbuilding for having efficient and cheap labour force.

Referring to a problem, Saiful Islam said Bangladesh has an image crisis in the western and developed countries but “we can rebuild the image with a flagship industry such as shipbuilding.”

“Shipbuilding is a heavy industry and also highly technical.

Bangladesh can be turned into a shipbuilding nation from a ship-breaking one,” he said.

Entrepreneurs said having international certification and accreditation from the Germanisher Lloyd and Norske Veritas are a must for a country to grow as a shipbuilding nation.

“In most cases, international certification depends on the vessel’s design, craftsmanship, interior and exterior decoration, utilities, security and safety features what are again directly linked to the international suppliers of the vessel components,” an official of the country’s biggest private shipyard said demanding a favorable import policy for the budding industry.

Referring to Vietnamese investment in shipbuilding over the last decade, officials said Bangladesh has a competitive advantage over its Asian competitors because of its cheap and able workforce.

They think it is high time to tap the potential and urged the government to provide the industry required moral and infrastructural supports.

Western Marine Shipyard Limited has so far built 55 vessels. The vessels acquired certification from the international classification companies.

Recession opens scope for light engineering

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/apr/25/busi.html#1

Recession opens scope for light engineering

Khawaza Main Uddin

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs can ‘easily’ take joint-venture initiatives for relocation of hundreds of light engineering units from developing Asian countries facing the pinch of the global recession if the government properly supports the sector.

Terming the global financial crisis an opportunity for Bangladesh, a leader of the light engineering sector has insisted that the government should provide them with designated area for setting up a cluster of industries to house both local and joint venture units, instead of doling out lump sum bleeding the national exchequer.

At a time when many experts are talking about inward-looking development to evade risks in export market, small-scale formal and informal workshops at different parts of the city and other parts of the country have shown skill and innovative capacity to cater to the needs of accessories of various industries and households in the country.

‘We will get a maximum of two years to import at through-away prices machinery of many units now being closed under the impact of the financial meltdown. What we need is an industrial park which can substitute imports of light engineering products worth Tk 20,000 crore annually,’ Abdur Razzak, president of Bangladesh Engineering Industries Owners Association, told New Age.

He pointed out that the Bangladesh government could invite them to set up industries based on hundred per cent foreign direct investments or encourage the local private sector to take joint venture initiatives. ‘We can import the machines useful for light engineering almost at throw-away prices. This is a golden opportunity,’ Razzak added.

Asked about the opportunity of grasping the potentials of such relocation, the president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Zafar Osman, explained that the government would have to build necessary infrastructures within quickest possible time to use any potentials including attracting FDI. ‘If the government can give a signal that it has taken proper initiative to build the infrastructures and they would be completed in one year or two years of time, the entrepreneurs will act on such signals to take ventures,’ he said.

Hundreds of industrial units in countries like Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia are being forced to close down following fall in the demand of their products in the Western market, he said referring to his own experience of visiting those countries recently.

He felt that the government could allocate special funds in the next budget to support the light engineering sector, alongside similar other sectors, to ensure effective utilisation of public money at this time of economic recession. ‘We don’t want cash incentive. I think the taxpayers’ money should be utilised in productive investments,’ said Razzak, a former director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The country’s light engineering sector, which involves an annual trade turnover of around Tk 1,500 crore, has already been ‘facing recession internally in absence of policy focus and patronisation from the state’, he said adding that light engineering enterprises has burgeoned in scattered manner due to demands of diverse products in spite of different barriers to growth.

According to the Board of Investment data, the country has about 40,000 small-scale light engineering enterprises spread over the country and the industry manufactures about 10,000 types of items for the local industry.

The entrepreneur believes the government can promote industry, create employment and generate higher domestic demand by focussing on the small and medium enterprises of light engineering units due comparatively lower requirement of capital and technology.

SME [small and medium enterprises] Foundation can be used as a platform for coordinating a cluster of industrial parks for enterprises of different sizes, sectors and floating accessible public sector funds at reasonable interest rates, recommends Razzak, who has been active for more than a decade in this sector.

The light engineering association has chosen Keraniganj as a suitable place for development of cluster of industrial parks on khas land and the one to be allotted by the government. ‘We can purchase land if the government arranges and it will take not more than one year for a unit to go into operation,’ he said.

The association leader proposed that the government could make necessary arrangements for promoting job-oriented small and medium enterprises in the light of the ‘policies and practices’ in neighbouring India and Pakistan.

He pointed out that the light engineering products were understandably immune from duty in accessing markets of developed countries including the Untied States.

Bangladesh exports light engineering products including bicycle worth over $300 million, which the business leader termed meagre in view of the potentials of exports even after import substitution.

RAK to introduce beverages in Bangladesh mkt

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/25/64785.html

RAK to introduce beverages in Bangladesh mkt

Jasim Uddin Haroon

RAK, a United Arab Emirates-based conglomerate, has taken moves to introduce non-traditional beverage products and insect repellants in the country because of domestic as well as export market potentials.

RAK (Ras Al Khaimah), recently formed two separate concerns — RAK Food and Beverage Limited and RAK-Mosfly Bangladesh Limited — as a part of its expansion plan.

Mosfly is a concern of Maya Group of Singapore and one of the leading anti insect producers in the world is the co sharer of the mosquito repellant plant.

The Gulf conglomerate along with Mosfly will initially invest Tk 600 million in the project to produce anti mosquito products.

RAK Food and Beverage Limited will produce non-traditional beverages including lemon, bubble, coconut, mineral and tonic waters. Local raw materials will be used in producing most of the beverages.

AHM Zaker, a director of RAK Group, told the FE: “We have taken to launch the products mainly because of a large potential domestic market and especially considering the public health care.”

Sources said the market for fruit juices and soft drinks is around Tk 5.0 billion and only pure drinking water market in the country is over Tk 1.5 billion.

RAK sources said there is no market estimation for non-traditional beverages.

RAK Food and Beverage Limited is being built at Batulia in Gazipur while RAK Mosfly Bangladesh Limited is at Madapur in Habiganj.

RAK director said the anti mosquito products both in coil and aerosol forms is likely to be released in local market early in 2010 while beverages later in 2010.

He also said: ” Substantial quantity of pineapple, coconut and mangoes are produced in the country, but most of the produces are not used economically due to lack of preservation. We want to utilise the locally available products for making beverages through sophisticated methods.”

RAK sources said it is procuring machines from Thailand and China.

The company also said it will set up two pulp stations one in Sylhet and other at Bandarban to ensure coninuous supply of raw materials for its beverage plants.

Shipbuilding, renewable energy to be made new thrust sectors

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/24/64732.html

Shipbuilding, renewable energy to be made new thrust sectors

Mohammad Jubair Hasan

Renewable energy and shipbuilding will be declared new ‘thrust sectors’ as the government unveils on Saturday the draft of its industrial policy for the next five years, officials said Thursday.

Industries ministry officials said the two hot sectors have been singled out for special government sops as the authorities are giving a final touch to the Industrial Policy 2009.

“Shipbuilding has emerged as a major new export sector of the country, with potentials to create job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people,’” said a top industries ministry bureaucrat.

“Renewable energy such as solar power is now lighting up thousands of Bangladesh villages. It is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors and is creating huge job opportunities in the rural areas,” he said.

The ‘thrust sector” tag would make the two sectors eligible for special fiscal incentives, tax holiday, exemptions from double taxations and some cuts in customs and supplementary duties.

As many as 33 industries have been categorized as thrust sectors when the then four-party coalition government declared the last industrial policy in 2005.

Experts said many of these sectors including jewelry, luggage making, automobile light engineering and stationery items have failed to fulfill their expectations despite enjoying costly tax exemptions and fiscal benefits.

Officials said both shipbuilding and renewable energy have already proved their worth, as recent figures showed their “bright future” in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh joined the global ocean-going shipbuilding industry in 2007 when a local vessel maker received an export order from a European buyer. Since then local companies have won export orders of 45 ships worth over US$600 million.

Renewable energy has made big impact in rural areas in recent years as some 15 companies are now lighting up 290,000 off-grid households or about two million people.

Grameen Shakti has emerged as a major renewable energy company in the world, earning international awards and setting a target to sell solar systems to some one million households by 2012.

Talking to the FE, Industry Minister Dilip Barua said that the main objective of the new industrial policy is to make Bangladesh self-dependent in key sectors and help nurture private entrepreneurs.

He said raw materials of medicines, better known as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), would also be declared as a thrust sector and the government has already initiated move to build an API park on 200 acres of land at Munshiganj.

The minister said the coming policy will also give emphasis on labour intensive sectors to generate employment in line with the Awami League-led government’s pledge to give job to at least one member of a family by 2021.

Industry ministry top official said plastic and automobile sectors would also be given special emphasis in the industrial policy. The government is already conducting studies on their potentials, he added.

“In the forthcoming industrial policy, the government will announce allocation of land for exclusive industrial parks for plastics and automobiles as well as ready-made garments,” he said

The top bureaucrat was speaking on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to talk to press.

Indonesia keen to import more medicines

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=85206

Indonesia keen to import more medicines

AM Faruque, managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh Ltd, left, presents a souvenir to Maryamah Nugraha Besoes, head of an Indonesian parliamentary delegation, during a visit to Eskayef's Tongi plant yesterday. Zet Mirzal Zainuddin, the Indonesian ambassador to Bangladesh, right, is also seen. Photo: STAR

Star Business Desk

An Indonesian parliamentary delegation, now in Dhaka on an official visit, has expressed interests to import more pharmaceutical products from Bangladesh.

The six-member team, led by Maryamah Nugraha Besoes, an Indonesian lawmaker, showed their keenness when they had visited Eskayef’s Tongi plant yesterday, according to a press release.

The delegates also expressed their satisfaction over the plant’s latest machinery, equipment and overall quality system.

The plant won accreditation from the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (UK MHRA) in 2008.

Indonesia is one of the potential pharmaceuticals market has a strict regulation for pharmaceutical products, said AM Faruque, managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh Ltd.

During the visit, Zet Mirzal Zainuddin, the Indonesian ambassador to Bangladesh, was also present.

Saline-tolerant variety can help boost rice production, Says minister

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=85231

Saline-tolerant variety can help boost rice production, Says minister

Staff Correspondent

Cultivation of BR-47, a saline-tolerant rice variety, in the southern coastal region could bring about significant changes in rice production, Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said yesterday.

“There are around 2.8 million hectares of agricultural land in the coastal districts. If high yielding varieties like BR-47 are developed, there could be a dramatic change in rice production,” he said.

The minister was speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of a two-day seminar titled ‘Stress Tolerance Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA)’, at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) in Gazipur.

Farmers have already started cultivating the BR-47 variety in limited scale, which has shown huge success, he said at the seminar organised by BRRI.

“You cannot increase the yield of the existing varieties to a great extent. Therefore, development of stress-tolerant varieties, which can tolerate drought or submergence, is important,” said the minister.

The developed countries need to invest more in advance agriculture research, he noted.

BRRI is on the way to develop submergence-tolerant and drought-tolerant varieties and will be able to release those in near future, said BRRI Director General Dr Firoze Shah Sikder.

Chairing the closing session, Bangladesh Agriculture University Vice Chancellor Dr Abdus Sattar Mondal said it is necessary to seriously look into the nutritional standards and livelihoods.

Referring to the recent fall of rice prices, Mondal said the government must provide incentives to farmers to maintain better rice production.

International Rice Research Institute Program Leader Dr David Mackill, Liaison Scientist for Bangladesh Dr MA Hamid Miah and STRASA South Asian Regional Project Coordinator Dr Uma Shankar Singh also spoke.

IBBL net profit crosses Tk 2.0b-mark

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/04/22/64517.html

IBBL net profit crosses Tk 2.0b-mark

FE Report

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) has crossed Tk 2.0 billion-mark to earn net profit in a single year among the 30 private commercial banks (PCBs) in the country.

According to the latest audited financial accounts of IBBL, the bank earned Tk 2.674 billion as net profit in the year ended December 31,2008 against Tk 1.427 billion in 2007.

AB Bank Ltd, National Bank Ltd, Pubali Bank Ltd and Prime Bank Ltd bagged the second, third, fourth and fifth positions in earning net profits in 2008 with Tk 2.30 billion, Tk 1.517 billion, Tk 1.515 billion and Tk 1.24 billion respectively.

Started on March 30, 1983, the IBBL is now the largest private commercial bank in Bangladesh.

The IBBL profit before provision in the year ended December 31,2008 was Tk 7.95 billion against Tk 5.16 billion in 2007.

The bank’s paid-up capital rose to Tk 4.75 billion in 2008 from Tk 3.80 billion in 2007.

IBBL first crossed Tk 1.0 billion-mark in earning net profit in 2004.

The bank is going to inaugurate 15 new branches and 10 new SME service centers soon, according to IBBL sources.

As a result the number of IBBL branches will stand at 211 and SME Service Centers at 20.

The total deposit of the bank as on March 31,2009 stood at Tk 206.51 billion showing the growth rate of 19 per cent against the corresponding period of 2008.

The total investment reached at Tk 202.00 billion registering a 15 per cent growth against the corresponding period of 2008.

The bank handled foreign exchange business amounting to Tk.105.33 billion including import of Tk. 35.04 billion, export of Tk 25.71 billion and remittance of Tk.44.58 billion till March 31, 2009.