Refrigerators to be exported to Africa, Europe

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=127518

Refrigerators to be exported to Africa, Europe
Economic Reporter

For the first time, a local company is going to export its world standard refrigerators to African and European countries.

RB Group of Companies, a familiar name in the country’s electronics and automobiles sector, has completed most of the tasks including signing agreements to export refrigerators to some countries of the two continents. Sources said RB Group would be able to send their world standard products to the countries within few months.

Walton High Tech Industry established on 20 acres of land at Chandra in Garipur, outskirts of the capital Dhaka, is now manufacturing world standard refrigerators. The high-tech factory is capable of producing over six lakh refrigerators annually as against as the domestic demand of four lakh refrigerators. The factory has created an employment opportunity for over two thousand of people.

Policymakers of the company said the factory is equipped with the latest technology and capable to increase production of refrigerators if they get opportunity to export more refrigerators to foreign countries.

Assistant Director of RB Group (Export) Mizanur Rahman said Japanese entrepreneurs now are not interested in manufacturing refrigerators in their country as they are facing high labour cost and other problems. Japanese now see import of refrigerators from foreign countries like Bangladesh that witness duty free facility and cheap labour cost.

With a view to importing refrigerators from Bangladesh, representatives of several Japanese companies recently visited the Walton High Tech Industry and have expressed their satisfaction over the world standard production facility of the factory. Some Japanese companies have already taken some initiatives like opening LC to import refrigerators. Mizanur Rahman hoped that within few months Walton refrigerators would be exhibited in the showrooms of Japan and some European countries.

Retail pharma sales to peak in 2009

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Retail pharma sales to peak in 2009

Sajjadur Rahman

Retail pharmaceutical sales are expected to reach Tk 6,000 crore this year, riding on people’s health consciousness and booming hospitals and clinics, industry people say.

Annual turnover from retail drugs sales was Tk 4,701.63 crore in 2008, nearly 7 percent rise over the figure a year earlier, according to IMS (information on medical statistics) data. The market size was Tk 4,075 crore in 2007.

“We expect 15 percent growth this year based on the current sales trend,” said Mizanur Rahman Sinha, managing director of Acme, a fast-growing pharmaceutical company in the country.

Eskayef, which has been growing at 30 percent for the last several years, also believes that the market will grow nearly 15 percent in 2009.

“People’s growing awareness, increased rural penetration of manufacturers and a significant development in healthcare sector helped the industry to grow,” said AM Faruque, managing director of Eskayef.

Some 250 small, medium and large local and multinational companies are in operation in Bangladesh. Many started their business after 2000 sensing the growth potential in the local market.

Of the 250 companies, top 10 companies — Square, Beximco, Eskayef, Incepta, Acme, ACI, Opsonin, Renata, Aristopharma and Drug International take up nearly 70 percent of the total market share, according to the IMS 2008 survey.

The survey reveals that Square Pharmaceuticals, the flagship company of business conglomerate Square Group, holds the leading position in the local market with Tk 943 crore sales in 2008. The company alone holds a fifth of the total market share.

Incepta, the second, sold drugs worth Tk 354 crore in the local market last year.

Beximco, Acme and Eskayef are the third, fourth and fifth respectively, with Tk 333 crore, Tk 247 crore and Tk 218 crore in sales turnover.

“Actually, Eskayef’s retail sales figure was Tk 306 crore in 2008. IMS figure didn’t reflect it,” said AM Faruque.

The sales were only Tk 1 crore in 1990 when Transcom Group took over the company.

“We have set a target to sell Tk 400 crore worth of drugs this year,” said the Eskayef MD.

“We have recently got approval of UK MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) for non-sterile production of tablets, capsules and granules, which will help us to grow further in both local and foreign market,” he added.

Mizanur Rahman Sinha of Acme said rising population and health consciousness and booming hospitals and clinics are pushing retail sales up.

“People’s buying capacity has also increased,” Sinha pointed out.

He said IMS survey covers only urban areas. “But we are very strong in rural markets,” he noted.

Beximco Pharma Director (Sales) Zakaria S Chowdhury also expects 15 percent growth this year, pointing to the positive changes in the country’s political scenario after two-year uncertainty.

Besides meeting 97 percent of the nearly Tk 5,000 crore domestic market demand, the industry exported Tk 300 crore worth of medicines in 2008. The export figure was Tk 200 crore and Tk 150 crore in 2007 and 2006 respectively.

sajjad@thedailystar.net

Tipaimukh may cause a disaster, Warn environmentalists

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Tipaimukh may cause a disaster, Warn environmentalists
Staff Correspondent

Environmentalists yesterday said Bangladesh must immediately assert that India’s proposed Tipaimukh dam will be a disaster for Bangladesh’s river system, livelihood and environment.

India must also consult with Bangladesh on the proposed dam and comply with the international conventions before embarking on construction of the dam over the cross-boundary river Borak for its Tipaimukh Hydropower Project, they said.

Addressing a press conference organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa) at the National Press Club in the city, they raised their voice against the proposed dam.

“We demand for detailed design and other technical information on the proposed dam,” said Bapa general secretary Abdul Matin in his keynote presentation.

Bangladesh must register its protest against the dam before it is built, he said, adding that Surma, Kushiara and Meghna rivers would dry up and Sylhet region would be flooded during rainy season if India constructs the dam.

“What is power-luxury for India is a life-and-death question for Bangladesh,” said Bapa president Prof Muzaffer Ahmad. “Energy cannot be more important than human disaster.”

He condemned recent statements by a couple of ministers that the damage would be assessed after the dam is built. “Refrain from utterances that may harm interests of the country and the people,” said Prof Ahmad.

Responding to commerce minister’s comment that people are talking of the dam without knowing about it, Prof Ahmad said, “We have been working on Tipaimukh dam issue since 2004 and we invite the minister to have a share of what information we have.”

Tipaimukh is going to be more disastrous than Farakka barrage that has destroyed river Padma and ecology in the country’s southwestern region, he said.

ASM Shahjahan, former advisor to a caretaker government and Bapa vice-president, said that the government must forge a consensus among all political parties to deal with the issue.

Construction of river dams is contradictory to global combat on climate change, said Bapa Secretary General Matin.

The proposed dam is to be built 100 kilometres upstream of the confluence of Surma and Kushiara rivers at Jokiganj border in Sylhet. The dam will be 1500 feet long and 500 feet high. Expected power generation capacity of the dam is 1500 megawatt. Indian authorities have targeted to complete the project by 2012, said Matin.

Bapa central leaders Taqsem A Khan, architect Iqbal Habib and Sharif Jamil among others were present.

US firms keen to invest in coal sector

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US firms keen to invest in coal sector
Unb, Dhaka

American companies are keen to invest in Bangladesh’s coal sector, State Minister for Power and Energy Shamsul Haque Tuku said yesterday.

He was talking to reporters following a meeting with US Ambassador James F Moriarty at the energy ministry.

He said the US envoy apprised him that American energy companies are interested to help Bangladesh in developing energy sector. They particularly want to invest in coal mining after finalisation of the coal policy by the government.

Following the meeting, the envoy said that the minister discussed many issues regarding the energy sector’s development in Bangladesh and also the assistance for the victims of very recent cyclonic storm ‘Aila’ that hit the country’s southwest coastal belt.

Moriarty noted that the United States would provide necessary assistance for the victims if Bangladesh side seek any help.

A number of US companies, including oil major Chevron, have been operating in the country’s energy and power sector. But this is the first time it was learned that US energy companies are also interested in the coal mines.

Bangladesh has about five coal mines in the country’s northern region, having a total coal deposit of 2.5 billion tons.

A draft coal policy is now being reviewed by the government.

Govt seems to be undermining Tipaimukh danger

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/may/28/edit.html#1

Govt seems to be undermining Tipaimukh danger

THE Awami League-led government, it increasingly seems, has somehow been convinced by its New Delhi counterparts that there is benefit for Bangladesh to be had from the construction of the Tipaimukh Dam/s on the river Barak. Ever since the Indian high commissioner disclosed late last week India’s plan to go ahead with the construction of the dam, at least three members of the cabinet said Dhaka would not oppose the project if it benefits Bangladesh. The commerce minister, Faruk Khan, as usual, came up with by far the strongest hint that the government may have been already convinced that dam could after all benefit, and not harm, Bangladesh, when he told journalists on Tuesday that ‘those who are talking too much against construction of the dam are talking without knowing anything…’ He did say the government ‘will soon send a delegation comprising experts and parliamentarians to see what is going on there and how it will benefit Bangladesh.’ That is, however, hardly reassuring.

It would indeed be interesting to know who the commerce minister was accusing of ‘talking too much… without knowing anything’; after all, the individuals who have been at the forefront of the ever-intensifying wave of opposition to the Tipaimukh project are mostly experts with years of experience under their belts. Interestingly still, many of them are Indians. They are unanimous in their conclusion that the Tipaimukh Dam/s would wreak an environmental disaster of an unimaginable magnitude and adversely affect millions of people on either side of the Bangladesh-India border who rely on the Meghna river system for their livelihood. Needless to say, their conclusions are based on an ever-growing pile of scientific evidence.

The benefit that the government may be envisaging, i.e. import of electricity generated from the dam, could turn out to be a chimera. In an article published in New Age on May 21, Dr Solbam Ibotombi, who teaches earth sciences at Manipur University and is a staunch critic of the Tipaimukh project, writes that ‘the dam was originally conceived to contain the floodwater in the Cachar plain of Assam but, later on, emphasis has been placed on hydroelectric power generation, having an installation capacity of 1,500MW but only firm generation capacity of 412MW.’ If so is the case, what percentage of the 412MW of electricity the government expects to import from India, which is no less electricity-starved than Bangladesh, and at what cost? As argued by Ibotombi and other Indian experts, the cost involved here is not just the cost of electricity but the irreparable economic and environmental damage that the project is likely to cause.

When there is a growing body of scientific evidence as well as strong opposition within India against the Tipaimukh project, the argument put forth by the commerce minister and some of his colleagues, i.e. there may be benefit in the project for Bangladesh, can hardly be construed as being a product of naivety and inadequate knowledge. In fact, given the Indian government’s perceived predilection for the Awami League, it could very well be construed as the government’s willingness to submit to Delhi’s plans. Here, the credibility of the government is not at stake alone, the livelihood of millions of people in India and Bangladesh is as well. The ministers in question would surely have done a great service to the country and to themselves if they took the pains to gather the details of the dam project and also go through the scientific evidences that point at the potential economic and environmental damage that the Tipaimukh project would cause. If they had, they might have thought twice before suggesting that Bangladesh is likely to benefit from the project and that the critics of the project are ‘talking too much… without knowing anything’.

SMEs empower country’s dev

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/05/25/67579.html

SMEs empower country’s dev

FE Report

From a solar panel assembler to an arsenic-buster, contact lens producer, generator equipment maker, Bangladeshi small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are varied and strong, powering the country’s development at a time of global economic downturn.

The picture was evident in the fourth SME fair now going on at the Bangladesh-China Friendship center, where more than 80 micro- entrepreneurs are displaying the country’s green shoots of industrialisation.

Like the last three years, the SME entrepreneurs from different parts of the country are participating in the SME fair 2009 with an expectation to tap the markets both at home and abroad besides making people aware of the sector’s development.

Product range also varied from power and sun glasses, contact and cornea ulcer lens, automobile filters for world famous brands of Toyota, Corolla, Nissan, CNG and Mehendro vehicles to home products, leather, Ayurvedic food, beauty products and jute rugs.

Abdus Salam, participating in the SME fair for the first time this year, said his entry to SME began in 2003 by producing organic fertiliser. But he gradually expanded his avenues to expand his market for organic fertilisers and products. His product ranges from food and ends to energy efficiency goods including soya milk, soya meat, organic bricks, solar panel and bio fuel.

Under Uttarbanga Fertiliser Ind. Ltd and Northern Agro Products Ltd, Salam is now cropping organic fruits, vegetables and paddy in Panchagarh of North Bengal on more than 300 acres of land. He was also one of the designers to formulate the country’s standard of organic products.

Venture Group to set up nano-tech paint plant

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Venture Group to set up nano-tech paint plant
Star Business Report

Venture Group (VG) is set to establish the first ever nanotechnology-enabled paint manufacturing plant in Bangladesh, an official said on Saturday.

The company will set up the plant in Savar with technical support from the India-based Innovation Centre for Applied Nanotechnology, I-CanNano.

I-CanNano claims to be the world leader in the production of paint using nanotechnology.

“Nano-paints are environment-friendly and highly durable,” said AHM Mahtab Uddin, chairman of VG, at a function in the capital. Industries Minister Dilip Barua was present at the function as chief guest.

“The initial investment to set up a nano paint plant is high, but the price of the final product is not more than the price of traditional forms of paint, although it is more durable,” the VG chairman told The Daily Star.

Arup Kumar Chatterjee, chief executive officer of I-CanNano, said: “Nano-paints are affordable and can greatly contribute to preventing corrosion.”

Chatterjee termed the paint eco-friendly as it changes inorganic nano-materials to non-toxic elements.

“We also use natural materials, like nano-carbon from neem oil, waste oil and also convert agriculture waste into nano-materials,” said Chatterjee.

Nano-paints are high-performance paints that disperse inorganic nano-materials. The inorganic route, instead of organic, makes all the difference in the product.

Earning from bicycle export rises by 58 pc

http://www.newstoday-bd.com/business.asp?newsdate=#9674

Earning from bicycle export rises by 58 pc

Kazi Zahidul Hasan

Despite the on going global recession earnings from the country’s bicycle export rose by more than 58 per cent in the first nine months of current fiscal year.
Bangladesh’s bicycle export is growing fast as European buyers are looking for non-traditional countries like Bangladesh for import of the light engineering item at cheaper prices, said industry insiders.

Local bicycle manufacturers fetched US$ 61.84 million from export of bicycle in the July-March in fiscal 2008-09 over the same period of last fiscal, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

Bangladesh exported $39.01 million worth of bicycles at the same period in 2007-08 and total earning from the sector was 64.28 in that fiscal. The value addition is about 20-25 per cent after spending foreign exchange on imports of raw materials.

Meanwhile, local exporters fetched US$ 52.74 million from export of bicycle in the first eight months (July-February) in the current fiscal year over the same period of last fiscal, said the EPB statistics.

“Demand for local bicycles in the European Union (EU) markets is now on the rise due to mainly price competitiveness,” said Halim Khan, executive director of Meghna Group, The company is the pioneer in bicycle manufacturing.

He said China, the world’s main bicycle exporting country, is now converting its industries into high-end products and this is helping Bangladesh’s bicycles industry.

“At least four thousand bicycle industries in China are on the verge of closure due to price high steel price, creating more opportunities for the local exporters,” he added.

“Besides, the global bicycle manufacturing leader China is not at all encouraging investment in such light engineering venture like bicycles in the country,” Khan added.

He also said the growth rate in the third quarter of the current fiscal could be more as some developed nations are at present passing through in recession.

Khan said the UK is the main potential buyer for local bicycle manufacturers, where Bangladesh has been exporting major quantity of the export.”

“Low cost labour and availability of latest technology helped Bangladesh compete with regional non-traditional countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, by manufacturing fashionable bicycles,” he added.

Industry insiders said Bangladeshi manufacturers have been exporting around 0.5 million of bicycles per annum in the global market, mainly to the EU.

They said Bangladesh has been exporting mid-range bicycles in the global market, average price is ranging between $ 80- $ 85 per unit.

According to industry sources, some 15 local companies, employing over 3000 workers, are manufacturing and assembling sport bicycles for export.

Currently, they said world’s some of the leading companies, including Raleigh, PCM and Motor and Sports of the UK and Aldi of Holland, Bachtenkirch Interbike of Germany, M&F De Scheemaeker and Formula Cycling of Belgium are importing bicycles from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh manufactures mountain bikes, city bikes, free styles, trekking, folding, beach cruiser and kid bikes. Industry insiders said the country can export around 2.0 million pieces of bicycles a year.

According to industry sources, some 15 local companies, employing over 3,000 workers, are manufacturing and assembling bicycles for export.

Bangladesh manufactures mountain bikes, city bikes, free styles, trekking, folding, beach cruiser and kid bikes. Industry insiders said the country can export around 2.0 million pieces of bicycles a year.

Metro Spinning to set up composite textile unit

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Metro Spinning to set up composite textile unit
Sarwar A Chowdhury

Metro Spinning, a sister concern of Maksons Group, plans to set up an export-oriented composite textile unit, a forward linkage for the yarn maker.

The unit will produce finished fabric from yarn in the course of sizing, warping, washing, manufacturing and finishing.

The unit will have 87,21,000 yards of fabric in yearly production capacity, officials said.

“We are going to set up the composite textile unit equipped with modern machinery and technology as part of our business expansion plans. We hope to start commercial operations by September 2010,” Mohd Mohsin Adnan, executive director and company secretary of Metro Spinning.

“We have sourced land to set up the factory premises. We now need machinery and civil construction to set the unit,” he said.

The company is projected to make a net profit of Tk 10.86 crore in the first year, Tk 12.17 crore in the second, Tk 13.59 crore in the third and Tk 14.98 crore in the fourth from the expanded unit.

The company will raise Tk 31.05 crore from its shareholders by issuing rights shares to set up the new unit in Rupganj, Narayanganj.

The shareholders approved the rights shares issue proposal of Tk 2.07 crore ordinary shares of Tk 10 each at an issue price of Tk 15 per share, at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday.

The rights shares issue is however subject to approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Apart from the raised money, the remaining funds required to set up the unit will be borrowed from banking sources,” Adnan said.

At the EGM, chaired by Chairman Abdul Ali, the shareholders also approved increasing the authorised capital from Tk 10 crore to Tk 100 crore. The company’s existing paid-up capital is Tk 6.9 crore.

The shareholders also asked the management to set up a power plant as a subsidiary of Metro Spinning, which was approved.

The funds needed to form a power plant at Ashulia will be raised from the capital market through private placements, repeat public offers, rights share offer, issuance of convertible or non-convertible preference shares or bonds and bank loans or lease finance, whichever seems convenient, subject to approval of the SEC.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, managing director of the company, was also presented at the EGM.

Metro Spinning has two units, one catering to the local market and the other for export markets, where carded and combed knit cotton yarn of various counts is being produced.

sarwar@thedailystar.net

Premier IT Institute starts June next

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/05/23/67363.html

Premier IT Institute starts June next

Our Correspondent

CHITTAGONG, May 22: Premier Information Technology (IT) Institute will start its journey next month.

The institute has been set up under the auspices of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), and management of Premier University (PU). Computer and Electrical Engineering Department of PU will play a vital role in the field of Information Technology (IT) of the country.

This was disclosed in a meeting of the PU Board held Thursday with president of the PU Board of Governors and CCC mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in the chair.

City Mayor said, the IT institute which is capable of contributing a lot in the field of modern technology would provide the facilities on an intern course for the PU students and this organisation would obviously help address the deficiency in skill in the IT sector in Bangladesh. It would also create adequate employment facilities on IT and Electronics affairs.

PU Vice Chancellor Prof Anupam Sen, former VC of Chittagong University (CU) Prof Abdul Mannan, CU VC Prof Abu Yusuf Alam addressed in the meeting, among others.

The speakers in the meeting said, the above project was undertaken with a view to building “Digital Chittagong” and in continuation of that, Premier IT institute would form CCC ‘E-Governance in the city, the CCC Mayor declared.

One more country-made sea vessel handed over to Danish buyer

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One more country-made sea vessel handed over to Danish buyer

FE Report

Industries Minister Dilip Barua said Thursday shipbuilding could be a potential diversification thrust sector to counter the effects of global financial crisis.

“The government will boost shipbuilding and extend all possible facilities and support to the sector players,” he said while speaking at the launching ceremony of Stella Moon, a locally manufactured sea vessel, at Meghnaghat of Sonargaon in Narayanganj.

Stella Moon, a 2900 DWT multipurpose container vessel with overall length of 81.35 metre and breadth of 13.15 metre, is Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Limited’s eighth ship exported.

The company has built the $7.5 million ship for the Danish company Stella Shipping, which last year received the company’s first manufactured ship ‘Stella Maris.’ It also sold six ships to the African nation Mozambique in the same year.

The country’s lone ship exporter has so far secured export orders for 34 ships for a total contract price of $373.5 million, with orders from Denmark, Germany, Norway and Mozambique.

Speaking as chief guest, Dilip Barua said: “Once upon a time, European ships and river vessels had come to our country as a symbol of Western civilisation. But now it is our pride to achieve the ability of building ships and river vessels for the European countries.”

He said with the launching of the ship Bangladesh has stepped into a golden door of opportunities. So the government will provide all possible support to the shipbuilding industry.

“Shipbuilding is a potential sector for our economy and we have enlisted its name at the top of the thrust sectors.”

He hoped that Bangladesh would export a considerable number of ships annually in future.

The minister said shipbuilding industry employs a large workforce and plays a vital role in poverty alleviation.

The allied secondary industries around shipbuilding may create further scope of employment, he added.

“Diversification is a way to counter the effect of global financial crisis. Shipbuilding can be the first industry for a diversification in Bangladesh.”

The minister admitted that the cost of bank guarantees, high interest rate and inadequate cash incentives are still obstacles for the sector.

Capt. Michael Soerensen of Stella Shipping said: “We are highly satisfied with the quality of the product of Ananda Shipyard. So we have already placed ordered for another two ships.”

Managing Director of Ananda Shipyard Afroza Bari said: “Her company aims to earn foreign currency through export and create employment opportunity for thousands of people.”

She requested the government to provide 30 per cent incentive for at least five years, as it is a heavy and risky industry. It, then, will encourage others to come and invest in the potential sector, she said.

“Besides, we should be provided with working capital at 7 per cent bank interest rate. The bank guarantee required during import of raw material should be repealed. We should also be relived of letter of credit confirmation cost.”

Dutch Ambassador to Bangladesh Bea M ten Tusscher: “We are exploring markets in the shipbuilding sector of Bangladesh. We have found ground.”

But the burgeoning sector needs assistance from the government and banks to grow as it is still in its early stage, she added.

Denmark’s Ambassador Einar H Jensen termed the achievement of Ananda Shipyard as a milestone, saying: “Even three years ago, we were not sure whether they will be able to do it.”

“Soon ‘Made in Bangladesh’ will be a global brand.”

Ananda Shipyard Chairman Dr Abdullahel Bari, local MP Abdullah Al Kaisar Hasnat, Iranian Ambassador Hassan Farazandeh, German company Komorowski Maritim GmbH President Ernst P Komorowski, among others, also spoke on the occasion.

Shipbuilders may change Bangladesh economy

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Shipbuilders may change Bangladesh economy
Barua says at Stella Moon handover ceremony

Dilip Barua, industries minister, formally hands over the Stella Moon, a ship built by Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, to Stella Shipping P/S of Denmark in Narayanganj yesterday. Photo: Ananda Shipyard And Slipways

Star Business Report

Industries Minister Dilip Barua said yesterday shipbuilding, which is a very labour-intensive industry, has the potential for generating a huge foreign currency and developing extraordinary skills in the field of engineering.

“The country has skilled and semi-skilled professionals as well as necessary ingredients to be a shipbuilding nation. So the industry holds the potential for transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country in near future,” Barua said.

He was speaking as chief guest at a function organised by Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, one of the leading local shipbuilders, as it formally handed over its eighth ship, Stella Moon, at $7.5 million to a Danish buyer, Stella Shipping P/S.

The function took place at the company’s office at Meghnaghat in Sonargaon under Narayanganj district.

“The company has so far secured export orders for 34 ships at $373.50 million. It has received export proceeds and advance payments of $48.54 million. Denmark, Germany, Norway and Mozambique have placed the orders,” said Ananda Group Chairman Dr Abdullahel Bari at the ceremony.

Earlier Ananda exported its first ship Stella Maris to another Danish company at $6 million on May 5 last year and six others to the Mozambique government at $6.2 million on November 13, said the company officials.

The officials also said they are now building 10 ships of which six have been ordered by Komorowski and four others by Wessell, two German companies.

“We hope to deliver the ships within the next three years as the construction works are going on in full swing,” said a company official.

Stella Moon has 64 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) container carrying capacity with 2,950 deadweight tonnages.

Deadweight tonnage, also known as deadweight (DWT), is a measure of how much mass or weight of cargo or burden a ship can carry safely.

Abdullah-al Kaiser Hasnat, a lawmaker from Narayanganj-3 constituency, Einar H Jensen, Danish ambassador, Bea M ten Tusscher, ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Bangladesh, Hassan Farazandeh, ambassador of Iran, Afruja Bari, managing director of the company, and Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher, chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, among others, were present at the function.

Comprehensive industrial policy soon: 8th sea-going exported ship launched

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/05/22/news0877.htm

Comprehensive industrial policy soon: 8th sea-going exported ship launched

Stella Moon, the sea-going ship of Ananda Shipping Company, was inaugurated at Meghna Ghat, Narayanganj on Thursday. FocusBangla

Staff Reporter

Industries Minister Dilip Barua yesterday said that the government is going to formulate a comprehensive Industrial Policy very soon to patronize the private sector as the main thrust of industrialization.

Stressing on Public-Private Partnership for the sake of better investment and deeper industrialization, he said political stability could enhance proper industrialization in the country.

He delivered his speech at the Launching Programme of the 8th ship, namely Stella Moon, of Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, a co-organization of Ananda Group at Meghnaghat of Sonargoan in Narayangonj as chief guest.

Dr Abdullahel Bari, the Chairman of Ananda Group, presided over the function and said that his company had already exported seven vessels to Denmark and Mozambique.

And 44 vessels are now under construction for exporting in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Mozambique that have placed order, he added.

The Ananda Group Chairman also informed the newsmen that the Islami Bank Ltd have made commitment to give 6 hundred crore taka for ship building.

The Industries Minister assured the business community for providing all possible support to shipbuilding industry, saying ‘we are committed to build up a knowledge-based society as well as knowledge-based economy with a view to establishing an industrialized Bangladesh by 2021′.

He wished that the Bank Interests would be single digit.

Referring the Ananda Shipyard as only ship exporting industry in Bangladesh, Afroza Bari, the Managing Director of the Group, urged the government to patronize the shipbuilding industry introducing the country before the world as shipbuilding nation.

She placed charter of demand which includes 30% Cash Incentive for five years,7% Interest Rate for working capital, removing bank guarantee for importing raw materials and L/C confirmation cost and VIP treatment of the owners at airport.

Among others, the local MP Abdullah Al Kaisar Hasnat, Einar H. Jensen, Ambassador of Denmark, Mrs Bea M. ten Tusscher, Ambassador of Netherlands, Hassan Farazandeh, Ambassador of Iran, Farid Uddin, Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd were present as special guests and spoke on the occasion.

South Korea offers to set up N-power plant in Bangladesh

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/may/22/nat.html#1

South Korea offers to set up N-power plant in Bangladesh
Staff Correspondent

South Korea on Thursday offered to set up a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh to meet the country’s growing demand for power.

The visiting South Korean deputy foreign minister Lee Yong-Joon made the proposal when he called on state minister for foreign affairs Hasan Mahmud at the latter’s office.

‘As we have various proposals [for setting up of a nuclear power plant], we will examine which one suits the country best,’ Hasan Mahmud told reporters after the meeting.

Yong-Joon told reporters that his country wanted to set up a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh as Korean Electric and Power Company had constructed such plants in some 20 countries and six more projects would be implemented overseas.

‘We are very efficient in nuclear energy and so far our technology has proved to be one of the safest in the world,’ he added.

When asked about the latest situation in recruiting Bangladeshi workers in South Korea, Yong-Joon said that the ongoing global recession would make some one million South Korean nationals jobless.

He said in the present situation South Korea would not recruit workers from overseas.

‘We will again recruit foreign workers when the country’s economic condition improves,’ he said.

South Korea in 2007 included Bangladesh in Employment Permit System, its official recruitment system, to employ workers in various sectors.

Though South Korea has recruited hundreds of Bangladeshi workers, the process stalled amid a global recession.

The deputy foreign minister of South Korea arrived here on Thursday on a two-day visit.

Ananda Shipyard exports 8th ship

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/05/22/news0911.htm

Ananda Shipyard exports 8th ship

Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, one of the leading ship manufacturing and exporting companies of Bangladesh, is going to export its eighth vessel.

The managing director of the company, Afroza Bari told that the vessel named ‘Stella Moon’ built in the factory of Ananda Shipyard at Meghna ghat of Sonargaon, would be handed over to Stella Shipping of Denmark in a ceremony on Thursday.

The cargo ship with capacity of 2900 DWT or deadweight tonnages, and capable of sailing on the ice is priced at $ 75 lakh, she said

Ananda Shipyard launched its ship export through the handover of a ship named Stella Maris at $ 62 lakh to Stella Shipping in May last year-the first-ever ship export from Bangladesh.

Later, the company exported six vessels to Mozambique government at $ 60 lakh each.

“The Stella would be formally handed over on Thursday. Commerce minister Faruq Khan and industries minister Dilip Barua are expected to be present,” Bari said.

She said Ananda Shipyard has had work order for 18 more ships worth $ 18 crore. Manufacturing of 10 ships has begun and She expected them to be by two years.

The company, the sister concern of Ananda Group, has been into ship building since 1983. It has sold out 350 vessels of different types in the local market besides exporting seven liners since then.

The vessels include row ferry, tag boat, work boat, hospital boat, coast guard petrol boat, dredger, and dredging barge and salvage crane.