Solar home systems reduce Co2 emissions

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/08/14/news0636.htm

Solar home systems reduce Co2 emissions

Staff Reporter

Solar Home System (SHS) has reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by 75,000 tonnes a year in the country, a senior official of the Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (IDCOL) said.

This was stated by IDCOL director Farmanul Islam while presenting a paper on solar energy at a seminar on “Opportunities in Solar Energy Application: Rural and Urban Areas in Bangladesh” at the Council Room of the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) yesterday. Electrical Engineering Division of IEB organised the seminar.

State Minister for Power and Energy Brig Gen (Retd) Muhammed Enamul Huq was present in the seminar as chief guest .IEB President Dr SM Nazrul Islam, Chairman of Electrical Engineering Division of IEB Eng Mohammed Ali, Solar Energy Society General Secretary Dr Saiful Hoq, Deputy Secretary (Retd) Rafique Ahmed, Prof Nuruddin, Eng Md Abdul Alim and Eng Mazbahur Rahman Tutul addressed the function.

Hasna J Khan, Chairman of Energy Systems (BD) Limited, presented the keynote paper.

The IDCOL Director said that a total of 3.34 lakh SHS installed in the rural and urban areas are producing 18MW of electricity everyday.

The SHS covers at least 1.7 million people mainly in remote rural areas across the country, the IDCOL official said.

He said that the government plans to install ten lakh SHS by 2012 to produce 54MW of electricity everyday.

The government is offering loan to interested people to install SHS at 6 to 8 per cent repayable in 6 to 10 years, according to him.

Hasna J Khan in her keynote paper said energising villages is a part of the national strategy for poverty reduction. She called upon the industrialists to set up SHS at their business establishments to reduce the pressure on the national grid.

Saiful Hoq laid emphasis on installing SHS on rooftop of high-rise buildings.

Rafique Ahmed urged the government to support farmers to install SHS for irrigation purpose.

Muhammed Enamul Huq said that the government would extend cooperation for the production of renewable energy to reduce nagging electricity crisis.

Govt mum as BSF kills Bangladeshis: Khaleda

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/aug/14/front.html#18

Govt mum as BSF kills Bangladeshis: Khaleda
Staff Correspondent

The BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Thursday blasted the government for its silence over repeated intrusion into Bangladesh by India’s Border Security Force and incidents of killing of Bangladeshis in frontiers.

‘Who have they [the government] shown their allegiance to? They [BSF] are repeatedly intruding into our territory and killing people. But our government is yet to raise any protest,’ she said as she exchanged greetings with the Hindu community on the occasion of Janmashtami.

She also accused the Awami League of deceiving the Hindu community by treating them only as their ‘vote-bank.’ Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha Kalyan Front members, led by former state minister for water resources Gautam Chakrabarti, met Khaleda in her office at Gulshan.

Solar power plant to be set up in Ctg

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=137764

Solar power plant to be set up in Ctg
STAFF CORRESPONDENT, CHITTAGONG

Aug 12: SolarTIF, a Malaysian-owned solar photovoltaic panel manufacturer, is going to formally enter into the country’s solar based power generation market from early next month with offering 20 to 30 per cent less cost than other providers.

The company will also commission a manufacturing plant of the solar panel here at city’s Kalurghat next year to make available of the solar panels for the country’s people. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director of SolarTIF Bangladesh Dr. Nowshad Amin announced this at a press conference held at a city hotel today.

The press conference was attended, among others, by Chief Executive Officer of SolarTIF Shamsul Ezan, Professor of Physics department of Chittagong University Nurul Amin, Senior Vice-President of National Credit and Commerce Bank Limited Swapan Kumar Das, Engineer JSM Bakteyar, Golam Baki Masud and Shahidul Haq Asad.

Nowshad Amin said that his company is determined to assist the people of Bangladesh to tap sun’s energy for better life. “The company will assist the people of Bangladesh with several products at cheapest cost possible with much after service. From small home system to multi kilowatt systems, to small solar assisted application like mobile or laptop chargers to irrigation pumping system the SolarTIF will provide the services possible,” he added.

He also informed that the country is blessed with a daily average of 4-5KWh/m2 of energy from which can be a potential producer of solar electricity.   Earlier, SolarTIF Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Credit and Commerce Bank Limited for assist the consumers with loans.

Govt to ask non-govt schools, colleges in city to install solar panels

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/08/13/75920.html

Govt to ask non-govt schools, colleges in city to install solar panels

FHM Humayan Kabir

The government would ask the non-government and private schools and colleges in the capital city to install solar panel in an effort to ease pressure on grid power, officials said Tuesday.

A top education ministry official said the ministry would issue an order in this connection by next week.

“We would issue DO (demi official) letters within a week to the Dhaka city’s schools and colleges asking them to install solar panel,” Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman told the FE.

“In parallel, we would undertake a project to light up the government high schools, colleges and madrassas in the country with solar power for the sake of reducing pressure on the grid power,” he said.

The education ministry called an inter-ministerial meeting Wednesday to decide on how they could undertake a project for installing solar panel at government educational institutions.

The move comes as the supply of grid power across the country worsens due to surging demand and inadequate generation capacity, while solar panels are making inroads into thousands of off-grid villages.

The education secretary said they are hopeful that the non-government and private schools and colleges would install solar panel at their institutions after issuance of DO letters by the ministry.

He said three renowned non-government schools and colleges in the city have already taken initiatives to install solar panels that would meet their electricity demand.

Another official of the education ministry said if they could undertake their planned projects, some 35,000 high schools, colleges and madrassas in the country would come under the solar power supply system.

The plan will be implemented under the newly launched public-private partnership (PPP) investment programme and the country’s largest solar energy provider Grameen Shakti has been tasked to conduct feasibility study in this connection.

The official said the government is now analysing how the scheme could be implemented across the country.

“Once the project is implemented, the country’s educational institutions would get uninterrupted power supply. It would significantly reduce pressure on the conventional power supply system,” he said.

According to the renewable energy leader, Grameen Shakti, more than 3,25,000 homes in rural areas now have solar home systems (SHS), lighting up households and markets for at least three million people.

Many educational institutions to be covered under the programme do not have any access to electricity due to absence of distribution lines while many others get supply only for a few hours a day.

Foreigner to get citizenship for $75,000 investment

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/08/13/news0557.htm

Foreigner to get citizenship for $75,000 investment

Shamim Jahangir

Any foreign investor will receive Bangladeshi citizenship if he or she invests $75,000 at the newly constructed hi-tech park at Kaliakoir in Gazipur.

The government is going to take decision to accelerate the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country, sources in the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (SICT) said.

Series of investment friendly proposals will be placed to the Prime Minister Office for approval next week to encourage FDI in the park.

Investors will get five to seven years tax waiver facilities if they would invest in the park, the proposal said.

Investors will also get 15 years energy import facilities, a senior official of the ministry said.

The hi-tech park authority will also withdraw duel tax for 15-years for investment in the park, he further said.

The government will provide repatriation facilities for capital, profit and dividend for investors, he said.

The government will launch country’s lone hi-tech park with an estimated cost of Tk 9.38 crore at Kaliakoir in Gazipur on December next, sources said.

The ministry of SICT has already got several investment proposals from different national and international companies including a USA based ICT firm M/I-3-USA.

The M/I-3-USA has expressed its interest to invest Tk three to four billion in the park. They want to build an ICT based varsity, power plant and other infrastructure facilities in the park if the government permit them to run the park, sources said.

Besides the Samsung Group of Korea also wants to build an ICT based varsity in the park.

India, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam has already established hi-tech park and earned huge profit.

Japan eyes Bangladesh for IT Outsourcing

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/08/12/news0550.htm

Japan eyes Bangladesh for IT Outsourcing

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Bangladesh could acquire a significant share in the global market for IT Outsourcing through public private partnership projects with developed countries like Japan, a visiting IT specialist from Osaka City University.

Bangladesh has potential to build a strong ITO industry, said Professor Keiko Morisawa, of the Graduate School for Creative Cities under Osaka City University, speaking at a workshop on ICT services development by the Embassy of Japan at a Dhaka hotel on August 06.

Morisawa suggested following the recent example of the Philippines and also Vietnam, who since 2005 have rapidly secured significant shares in the highly lucrative global ITO industry.

ITO (IT Outsourcing), BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) include offshore services such as call and contact centres, back office support, transcription, animation, software, website and game development, as well as software engineering.

Morisawa also said Japan is offering to train up overseas students to increase human resources in the global IT industry and aims to welcome 3 million students by around 2020 as a part of a ‘global strategy’

Currently, China leads among Japan’s offshore destinations for ITO, BPO, KPO services, followed by India, Philippines and Vietnam.

Globally, the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are predominant in this offshore service industry. The total value of transactions among these countries (both direct and indirect) in 2008 was $1b.

But BRIC countries faced recent problems, Brazil and China could not utilise their potential and Russia lacks government support, which is where Philippines and Vietnam secured their place, said Morisawa.

She said non-BRIC countries like Philippines were successful as they emphasised IT education and chose cooperation with India over competition. Vietnam ensured success by developing IT education and cooperation with Japan through both private and public partnership.

There is also a scope for Myanmar and Bangladesh to follow their examples, she said.

She suggested Bangladesh should pursue the Philippines’ example in particular for near-shoring with BRIC countries, specifically India.

It should also be keen to get BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), not only ITO (IT Outsourcing) work orders.

Bangladesh could also increase offshore work orders directly from Japan by developing ITEE (IT Engineers Exam) skill standards, which is globally recognised and a must to get into the BPO market, she said.

JS panel’s choice of AHN routes beggars belief, defies logic

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/aug/13/edit.html#1

JS panel’s choice of AHN routes beggars belief, defies logic

THE recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee on the communications ministry that Bangladesh should be connected with the Asian Highway through India defies logic and beggars belief, to say the least. The shock does not end there, though. According to a report published in New Age on Wednesday, the chairman of the committee, while explaining the rationale for the recommendation, told journalists that it would be better to get connected with the Asian Highway through India, because it surrounds Bangladesh on three sides. If the recommendation is followed up, and Bangladesh is indeed connected with the Asian Highway through India, it would most certainly benefit the latter more than the former, and one need not be an expert to understand that. India has always sought a transit route through Bangladesh to facilitate links with its north-eastern states; and the routes that the parliamentary committee has recommended would afford India just that. Of course, Bangladesh, as a good neighbour, may consider providing transit and transhipment facilities to India but such facilities must come under mutually beneficial bilateral agreement, and not within the ambit of the Asian Highway Network.

While what prompted the parliamentary committee to come up with such a recommendation remains in the realm of speculation, what is almost certain is that the recommendation runs counter to the very rationale for Bangladesh to join the Asian Highway Network. The network of 141,000 kilometres that will crisscross 32 Asian countries and link them with Europe was envisaged by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 1959 with a view to developing an international road transport system. It transpires then that Bangladesh stands to gain more from choosing a route from among the three proposed by ESCAP that connects with more countries than one. On the contrary, the two routes that the parliamentary committee has recommended start from, and re-enter, India after going through Bangladesh. As we have written in these columns before, these two routes open up the possibility for India to use them as a transit corridor, and could thus give rise to unwanted and unwarranted complications of serious political undertone, not least so because Dhaka has a long-standing negotiation with New Delhi over transit and transhipment. Opting for any of the two routes could give Delhi an added advantage in the ongoing negotiation over transit and transhipment with Dhaka.

When the decision to link Bangladesh with the Asian Highway Network was taken at a cabinet meeting on June 16, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, reportedly said the link with the highway network could be translated into huge socioeconomic gains for the country and its people. Regrettably, the two routes that the parliamentary committee has recommended do not seem to promise much benefit, in terms of neither trade and commerce nor greater interconnectivity whereas the third proposed route, which starts from India, goes through Bangladesh and enters Myanmar, appears to do so. Hence, keeping the best interests of the country in mind, the parliamentary committee needs to revise its recommendation and opt for the route that links Bangladesh with India and Myanmar.

Remittance drives banks to open exchange houses abroad

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=101148

Remittance drives banks to open exchange houses abroad

Sajjadur Rahman

Private commercial banks (PCBs) are scrambling to open exchange houses abroad to cash in on increasing business driven by inward remittances, officials said.

At least half a dozen banks sought permission from Bangladesh Bank to open nearly 10 exchange houses in remittance destinations, such as Canada, Italy, Singapore and the UK, central bank officials said.

Currently, eight local banks — including the state-owned four — have 28 exchange houses abroad, BB data shows.

“Exchange houses will help rout more remittances through the banking channel,” said Shah Alam Sarwar, managing director of Premier Bank that has sought to open exchange houses in Singapore and the UK.

Bangladesh received $9.67 billion in remittance in fiscal 2008-09 despite the recession that hit many countries. The World Bank has projected that Bangladesh’s inward remittances for the current fiscal year may reach $11 billion.

Bankers and experts believe a huge amount of remittance is flowing through an informal channel popularly known as hundi for its faster and cost-effective services.

The central bank encourages banks to open their own exchange houses in foreign countries to send in more remittances through the banking channel. The BB has also allowed the banks to team up with local nongovernmental organisations to fast-track services to remittance beneficiaries.

“As part of the move, the BB is a bit more flexible than before in allowing banks to open exchange houses,” said a BB official, asking not to be named.

Earlier, state-owned banks had the monopoly in opening exchange houses. The PCBs had to rely on drawing arrangements (DA) with exchange houses abroad.

Currently, 40 banks have over 800 DAs with 280 exchange houses in different countries, but the BB official said DAs alone cannot boost the flow of inward remittances.

“If a bank has its own exchange house it gives remitters a morale boost,” said Shah Alam Sarwar of Premier Bank.

PCBs which have applied to the central bank to open their own exchange houses are: First Security Islamic Bank for Canada and Italy, Prime Bank for the UK, Premier for Singapore and the UK, and EXIM Bank.

EXIM has applied to open a number of exchange houses in different countries, the BB official said without disclosing the numbers and countries.

“Bangladeshi banks have no exchange houses in Korea, Japan, Australia and some East European countries due to strict regulations there,” said the BB official.

sajjad@thedailystar.net

Declaration of milk sector as a thrust one soon, Minister says

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=101026

Declaration of milk sector as a thrust one soon, Minister says
Star Business Report

The government is going to declare milk as the thrust sector in a bid to make it self-sufficient and hasten poverty alleviation in rural Bangladesh, State Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak said yesterday.

“We will decide on the matter prior to consulting with the industries ministry,” he said.

He was speaking at the 32nd annual general meeting of the Bangladesh Milk Producers’ Cooperatives Union Limited (Milk Vita), a cooperative under the LGRD ministry, at the Institution of Diploma Engineers auditorium in Dhaka.

Under a 15-year strategic plan, the government will help Milk Vita with budgetary allocation in setting up milk cooling centres at every upazila in the country, Nanak said.

Milk Vita is the largest milk producer in the country. In 2008-09, it collected over 6.56 crore litres of milk from 1,82,974 members. It produces and markets various dairy products, recording a net profit figure worth Tk 15.75 crore last fiscal year.

Nanak, also the organising secretary of Awami League, said the government will help Milk Vita to set up plants for pasteurisation, producing milk powder, ice creams and baby food in divisional towns and other potential points.

Concerned authorities would also be notified of imposing higher taxes and other strict rules on the import of foreign milk powder and dairy products, to help develop the milk sector, he said.

“We will soon activate the Bangladesh Dairy Development Council to promote the milk sector,” the state minister said.

Many members of Milk Vita present at the meeting placed demands on the government to keep anomalies of the cooperative unions under check and ensure the interests of its primary members.

“In the face of corruption, the parliamentary standing committee will go there and, if necessary, take legal action to combat it,” said Advocate Rahmat Ali, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on LGRD and cooperatives ministry.

Milk Vita’s Acting General Manager Dr MA Barik in his report said it would set up 16 milk factories this year and take initiatives to import developed species of cows from Australia and the US to increase yield.

He proposed that the government provide assistance worth Tk 100 crore under the ‘One Home One Farm’ programme to Milk Vita, to increase milk production in the country.

Rural Development and Cooperatives Division Secretary Samar Chandra Pal and Department of Cooperatives Registrar Surayia Begum also spoke.

Foreign consortium willing to invest $2.5b for oil refinery

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/08/11/75787.html

Foreign consortium willing to invest $2.5b for oil refinery

A Z M Anas

A foreign consortium led by the Czech state-owned export bank is willing to invest US$ 2.5 billion in what will be the country’s largest crude oil refinery at Kutubdia island in view of the robust demand for petroleum products in the region.

The proposed oil refinery will be erected on 400 acres of land in southern Chittagong and have an annual capacity of refining six million tonnes of crude petroleum, officials and the group’s local sponsor said Sunday.

“We will be able to serve the entire Asian market, even challenging Singapore’s long dominance in the refined oil market,” Mahbubur Rahman, local honorary consular of the Czech Republic, told the Financial Express (FE).

The Board of Investment (BoI) said it has received the significant investment proposal and sent it to the Energy Division for its “no objection.”

“We’ll offer a 20 per cent stake to the government in lieu of the required land for the project,” Mr Rahman, who is also the local sponsor, said.

Senior BoI official Abu Reza Khan said the establishment of the refinery would hinge on the finalisation of the policy, now at its draft stage.

The majority foreign-owned oil refinery would far dwarf the state-run Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL), the production of which has stagnated for more than four decades.

Currently, ERL can refine 1.2 million tonnes of crude a year, making up around 30 per cent of the country’s total demand.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), which refines crude oil and markets petroleum products in the local market, procures the remaining mostly from the Gulf countries.

The foreign consortium group includes the state-run export banks of the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.

The foreign investment proposal comes at a time when at least two Bangladeshi business groups are pressing ahead with plans to establish oil refineries also in Chittagong.

“We will start construction work in six months after obtaining the government approval,” Mr Rahman said.

He said the group’s plan is to boost production by six times to 24 million tonnes in the next 10 years.

“Total capital infusion may reach $10 billion,” Mr Rahman said.

He noted that the Czech Republic, partnering with the Indian government and India’s corporate goliath Reliance Group, built an oil refinery in Gujrat state, investing as much as $6.0 billion.

He insisted that the mammoth project would not be hobbled by the capital crunch even as credit markets in the west remain tight under pressure from the global recession.

Mr Khan, of the investment board, said his agency would give its go-ahead for the multi-billion dollar project after Bangladesh approves the Private Oil Refinery Establishment Policy 2009.

Local conglomerate Bashundhara Group is planning to establish an oil refinery in Chittagong investing nearly US$ 700 million with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of crude oil.

The embattled business group’s proposed refinery would be built on 112 acres of land it acquired on the south bank of the river Karnaphuli.

East Coast Group, another business group, has also unveiled a plan to invest $110 million for a refinery in Chittagong to produce octane.

Japan beckons Bangladeshi food cos

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/08/11/75801.html

Japan beckons Bangladeshi food cos

FE Report

Bangladeshi food companies can seize the opportunity of making business connections with Japan, which imports foods worth US$ 44 billion, which is 60 per cent of its total demand for food.

JETRO, the official trade and investment promotion agency of the Japan government, has taken an initiative to promote the food items from Bangladesh in the Japanese market and explore new opportunities there.

Food items such as agricultural products, eggs and poultry birds, frozen foods, fruits and vegetables, herbal and organic products, seafood, coffee and tea, fruit juice, mineral water, soft drinks, etc can have the chance of entering the Japanese market by participating in the FOODEX exhibition in Japan.

FOODEX Japan is the biggest food and beverage exhibition in Asia as well as in Asia Pacific region. This is a global food exhibition. Different companies from across the world attend FOODEX Japan exhibition to showcase their food and beverage products aiming to enter the Japanese market.

The next expo, FOODEX Japan 2010, the largest food and beverage exhibition in Asia, will be held at Makuhari Messe, Chiba-city in Japan during March 2-5, 2010, the release added.JETRO will set up its own pavilion ‘JETRO Zone’ at the FOODEX Japan, which will provide exhibitors with packaged booths at a subsidised rate. The booth fee is subsidised more than 90 per cent by JETRO. The exhibitors only need to pay only US$ 525 including bank transfer charge for each 9 sqm booth, while the normal participation fee is US$ 5,400, added the release.

Interpreters and free consultation services by Japanese experts on Japan’s food industry will also be provided.

Interested food and beverage companies seeking business opportunities in the Japanese market are requested to contact the JETRO Dhaka office by August 31, 2009.

In 2008 this world-class event attracted more than 90,000 registered visitors and 2,400 exhibitors from more than 60 countries and regions comprising wholesalers, importers, retailers and food producers.

Govt serving purpose of India

http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/archive/August%2009/11-8-2009.htm#lead-h

Tipaimukh Dam
Govt serving purpose of India
Intellectuals allege while inaugurating signature collection

DU Correspondent
Intellectuals at a programme in the city on Monday alleged that the present Awami League government is serving the purpose of India on Tipaimukh dam issue to perpetuate its power ignoring the national interest of Bangladesh.

“The government which got huge support of the mass people is unfortunately favouring India instead of forming national unity on this issue,” said Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Chowdhury while inaugurating a signature collection campaign on Tipaimukh dam issue in front of National Museum at Shahbagh.

Ganosanghati Andolon launched the countrywide campaign yesterday aiming to make people aware of the possible effects of the proposed dam.

Prof Chowdhury said it is shocking that some representatives of the government are echoing the Indian voice through declining the possibility of any bad effect on Bangladesh without having any knowledge on the dam. Besides the government is oppressing the people who have raised their voice against the dam, he alleged.

Ahmed Kamal, Chairman of DU History Department, said, while India says that the dam will not harm us, we can not believe them as they used to tell the same thing during the construction of Farakka barrage.

“Now one need not be a specialist to realize the devastation caused by Farakka. This barrage had destroyed the western and northern parts of the country and if the Tipaimukh dam is implemented, the rest of Bangladesh will become a barren place,” he said.

He said the project at the highly earthquake-prone area will put the lives of crores of people in 12 districts in the north-east region of Bangladesh and areas in Indian states of Assam and Manipur under great risk.

Engineer M Inamul Haque said, the project would cause a disastrous situation for the Meghna basin, especially the greater Sylhet region, during the dry season due to large-scale withdrawal of water of the Barak River in the upper stream.

Besides it will cause immense harm to ecology and environment in a large area of both Bangladesh and India, he said.

Coordinator of the organization Zonayed Saki called upon the people to raise their voice against the looming crisis. He said, initially they will collect five lakh signatures from across the country and submit it to foreign ministry and international forums including the United Nations.

Local shipping operators want new law enforced

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/aug/10/busi.html#1

Local shipping operators want new law enforced
EC lobbies govt hard to keep foreign shippers out of new licence rules
Shakhawat Hossain

The government is under mounting pressure from the European Commission to scrap a new licence rule which makes it mandatory for foreign shipping lines to have local partners with 51 per cent stakes for continuing their operation in the country.

In a latter to the finance minister, AMA Muhith last week, the EC director general (trade), David O’Sullivan, urged him to allow operation of the fully foreign-owned companies under the previous rule, said the National Board of Revenue officials.

Before introduction of the new rule on June 11, 2009, by the NBR, foreign shipping operators could operate in the country with 100 per cent stakes.

Referring to a meeting between the EU ministerial troika and prime minister Sheikh Hasina on June 9, the EC director general said assurances were given that the fully foreign-owned companies already operating in the country would not come under the purview of the new rule.

The intense lobbying by the EC has, caused resentment among local shipping agents who termed the pressure ‘unlawful’ and contrary to ‘level playing field’ in the country’s growing export and import business.

They said the NBR had introduced the new rule as per the Customs Agents Licencing Rules 2009 mainly to stop capital flight from the country. They pointed out that the capital generated by the local shipping companies had no such chances.

At present, three fully foreign-owned companies control more than 50 per cent of the country’s export and import trades worth more than $30 billion. The companies are – Danish giant Maersk Line, APL, a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines and the Japan-based Nippon Yusen Kaisha.

There are seven other foreign-owned shipping companies, including PIL and Sea Consortium, which are operating in the country under joint venture.

Lobbying by the foreign shipping operators under the banner of the EC has intensified to have the new rule lifted. They will have to abide by the new directive before seeking renewal of their licences.

‘The intense lobbying means the foreign shippers want to control the country’s growing shipping trade,’ said Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury, chairman of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association.

He told New Age that local shipping agents were really concerned over the move by the foreign shipping companies to control our shipping trade. He observed that the foreign diplomats concerned had violated diplomatic norms by trying to interfere in the matter.

He said they were surprised by the move of the foreign diplomats. He warned that they might go to court to protect the local shipping business if foreign companies were allowed to operate with 100 per cent ownership.

According to the EC director general, the new rule would create a number of problems for foreign shipping lines and could force them to sell major portion of a company’s stakes to their local partners.

The new rule also stipulates that a foreign shipping company operating in the country will have to appoint a local managing director or a chief executive officer.

Besides, the number of foreign employees in such companies will not exceed two. The new rule also said the foreign shipping lines would have to reinvest at least 25 per cent of their net profit each year and the paid-up capital in joint venture will not be less than $1 million.

However, the licence validity period has been extended to four years instead of the existing two years.

Chittagong Customs House (import) commissioner, Syed Golam Kibria said they would act as per new rule and revise the criteria while issuing licences to foreign shippers.

Brick maker targets Middle East market

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=100586

Brick maker targets Middle East market

Kawsar Khan

Local brick manufacturer Mirpur Ceramic Works Ltd (MCWL), which has been exporting the building material to Singapore for over a decade, is getting ready to inscribe its footprint on Middle East markets.

At present the company exports 80,000 to 100,000 pieces of different types of bricks every month, officials said. The cost of each container of bricks having 20,000 pieces hovers around $1,500.

“We mainly export plain hollow and bullnose bricks to Singapore that are used there in road and footpath decoration,” said Mohammad Emran, manager (Marketing and Sales) of MCWL.

Bullnose is a decorative brick used in landscape design works and walkway edges.

The company was awarded national export trophy (bronze) for 1996-97 for exporting such a non-traditional item.

“The real estate sector is experiencing a boom in the ME countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia where there is a huge prospect for our bricks,” said Emran.

As the Gulf states do not have enough clay to make brick to meet their needs, they import it from such countries as India, Sri Lanka and China.

“Now we are receiving export queries from the ME countries and also from the United Kingdom,” he said.

He said the roof tiles made by Khadim Ceramics Limited (KCL), a concern of MCWL, have recently drawn attention of ME countries.

The roof tiles produced by the company are burnt in 1,200 degrees Celsius and coated with silicon that give the item greater durability compared to the traditionally made roof tiles in the country.

“People in the Middle East need roof tiles to keep their houses cool from the sun’s heat and we hope to export around four containers of roof tiles within a very short time as negotiation in this regard is going on,” said Emran.

He said the company could have started exporting roof tiles to the Gulf countries much earlier, but it was not possible due to high freight charges.

“We have taken different measures to cut production costs and become successful in some areas,” he said.

He also sought cash incentive facility against brick export to make local bricks competitive in export market.

Sakif Ariff Tabani, director (Marketing and Administration) of MCWL, said their products have potential in Japan also. But the high freight charge is barring exports.

The combined daily production of MCWL and KCL ranges from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh pieces of bricks that include facing bricks, reinforced bricks, bullnose, three-hole bricks, roof tiles and paving bricks.

kawsar@thedailystar.net

Indian rights activist slams border killings by BSF

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/aug/09/front.html#8

Indian rights activist slams border killings by BSF
Staff Correspondent

A renowned Indian human rights defender has termed the killing of innocent Bangladeshis by the Indian border guards ‘nothing but murders’ and said that such killings should be stopped immediately for the sake of friendly relations between the two countries.

Kirity Roy, secretary of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha, a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Kolkata, also said that the border guard officials of Bangladesh and India should immediately find out a mechanism to stop such indiscriminate killing by the Indian Border Security Force.

Roy made the observations while talking to New Age on Saturday on the sidelines of a regional workshop on women human rights defenders organised by Odhikar at the BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka.

The Indian rights activist has become famous for his relentless campaigns against state repression, including custodial violence, torture and death, illegal detention and enforced disappearance from police custody, BSF torture and extrajudicial killings.

In the first six months of 2009, BSF killed some 60 unarmed Bangladeshi villagers on the borders.

Kirity Roy said, ‘What BSF does along the border is nothing but killing. It [BSF] respects neither international laws nor the Indian constitution.’

‘So far as I know, the Indian constitution does not justify such unlawful killings on the borders…,’ he said.

Kirity Roy said officials of the two countries should immediately take up the issue and find out a mechanism to stop such killings to ensure security of the people living along the borders.