Muhith optimistic about 6.7 percent growth rate

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=7&id=166705&date=2011-03-14

Muhith optimistic about 6.7 percent growth rate

SANGSAD BHABAN, Mar 14 (BSS)- Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith today expressed his firm optimism that the country would achieve 6.7 percent growth rate this financial year against the backdrop of progressive indication in major economic areas.

The minister said this while presenting a report in the House on this year’s budget implementation, income and expenditure scenario and a macro economic analysis in the first two quarters of the current fiscal.

The minister said some quarters had termed the target of achieving 6.7 percent economic growth as ‘ambitious’. But, I firmly believe that the present government has the ability to achieve the goal.

Referring to a study of Japan International Cooperative Bank (JICB), he said Bangladesh’s position as a destination of foreign investment became 15th in the world from 28th in 2009.

Bangladesh has received foreign investment proposal of Taka 19,000 crore in November 2010 against only 4,300 crore in October 2009, the minister said.

The finance minister said in first two quarters of the current fiscal, the revenue income of the government was Taka 41,432 crore which was 16.5 percent more than the corresponding period of previous year.

Khulna shipyard to build 5 warships for Bangladesh Navy

http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=2&id=165876&date=2011-03-10

Khulna shipyard to build 5 warships for Bangladesh Navy

KHULNA, Mar 10 (BSS)- Khulna Shipyard will build five warships for Bangladesh Navy in the next 42 months at a cost of Taka 300.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 5 inaugurated the construction of the warships and a training school for the Navy.

“Khulna Shipyard will build more vessels for export after completing the five warships”, newly appointed Managing Director of the state-owned shipyard Commodore Riaz Uddin Ahmed told journalists at his office today.

The managing director said the government has already acquired necessary land for the shipyard to build bigger ships for export.

He said the shipyard built 75 river vessels and repaired another 321 boats since 1999 when it contributed Taka 24 crore as revenue to the national exchequer.

Ahmed said the shipyard, which earned a profit of Taka 10 crore last year, would fetch more profit in future by building more vessels and repairing jobs.

He said the shipyard was on the verge of closure, but the Awami League government in 1999 revived the shipyard by handing it over to the Bangladesh Navy.

A total of 750 workers are now working at the shipyard,which has already been turned into as a profitable public property.

BB lifts lending cap

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BB lifts lending cap
Rejaul Karim Byron

Bangladesh Bank yesterday withdrew the 13 percent lending cap except on agricultural and industrial term loans.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the owners of private banks had long been putting pressure on the government to lift the cap.

However, central bank officials said the BB took the decision on its own, not due to any pressure.

Salehuddin Ahmed, the immediate past governor of the central bank, said the move may give a rise to the costs of business. The BB could have taken the decision later, he added.

A BB circular yesterday said the decision to lift the lending cap was taken after reviewing the overall situation. However, the 13 percent lending cap would remain in force for the agricultural sector and industrial term loans.

The circular said all other types of export credit interest rate will be 7 percent; and the interest rate on import finance for rice, lentil, edible oil, gram, onion, date and sugar would remain at 12 percent.

It also said, under the financial sector reform programme, the policy of flexible interest rate was introduced in 1989 which allowed the banks to determine their rate of interest.

In the backdrop of the world economic situation, the central bank set the lending cap on some sectors, said the circular.

In April 2009, the lending cap was put in force.

The IMF last year tagged 10 conditions with its $1 billion credit which include withdrawal of the lending cap by March this year. The IMF said the conditions were aimed at strengthening the monetary transmission mechanism and improving the financial sector performances.

The government and the IMF are continuing talks on the conditions. An IMF mission has already started final discussion with the government from Tuesday and is scheduled to continue until March 18.

On the other hand, the owners of the private banks on March 2 put forward a 14-point recommendation to the prime minister, demanding withdrawal of the lending cap to help overcome financial crisis of the banks.

On March 3 they placed the recommendations to the central bank. The BB is now reviewing those.

The former BB governor said, due to liquidity crisis the banks have already hiked their deposit rates. To cut down costs of fund they have now recommended withdrawal of the lending cap.

Besides, there is a pressure from the IMF, Ahmed said.

In another circular, the BB issued reminder to the banks to hang the interest rates of deposit and credit and all other service charges at their head offices and all branch offices.

Bapex starts drilling well at Fenchuganj today

http://www.daily-sun.com/?view=details&type=daily_sun_news&pub_no=153&cat_id=1&menu_id=3&news_type_id=1&index=2&archiev=yes&arch_date=11-03-2011

Bapex starts drilling well at Fenchuganj today
Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (Bapex) will drill a development well at Baramchal of Fenchuganj-4 well in Sylhet with a prospect of producing 20mmcfd (million cubic feet per day) gas.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inaugurate the drilling activities at a function today.

He will also accord a reception to the exploration engineers and officials of Bapex who have set a world record recently by taking 724 shot during 3-D seismic survey at Rashidpur gas field.

State Minister for Power and Energy Muhammed Enamul Huq, Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Mohammed Mesba-huddin, Petro-bangla Chairman Prof Hossain Monsur, Bapex Mana-ging Director Mortuza Ahmed Faruq will present at the drilling inauguration ceremony.

Bapex has a plan to start drilling of the development well in July, 2010 which was delayed by eight months due to shortage of rig for drilling the well.

Recently, the government has purch-ased the rid named ‘Bijoy’ at a cost of Tk 1.8 billion from China through tender, an official said.

After drilling the well, the Bijoy will install the Mubarakpur-1 well in September this year which has prospect of producing 15mmcfd gas.

PM opens shrimp research centre at Bagerhat today

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=129240&date=2011-03-15

PM opens shrimp research centre at Bagerhat today

KHULNA: The newly-built Bagerhat Shrimp Research Centre will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Tuesday). — FE photo

Our Correspondent

KHULNA, Mar 14: The only shrimp research centre of the country at Bagerhat constructed at a cost of Tk 230 million is going to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Tuesday) noon, official sources said.

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Bagerhat Bar Council building. She will also attend a special Munajat at Bagerhat Khanjahan Ali (Rm.) Major and later at 3 pm she will deliver address a public meeting as chief guest at Khanjahan Ali collage maiden, arranged by Bagerhat district Awami League and its front organisations.

All arrangements have been completed by the district and police administration to hold the programme successfully. Source said that after inauguration of the said research centre the shrimp cultivators of south western region will be highly benefited in this sector. The shrimp farmers expressed satisfaction over the inauguration of this researches centre.

Country’s second highest foreign currency earniner, a total of 80-90 per cent

frozen foods and fisheries are produced in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira and Jessore districts.

In 2005 the then Prime Minister has taken an initiative to remove the problems of the shrimp sector from this area. For this 8 acres of land at a cost of Tk 2.9 million near Daratana bridge of Bhairab river of Bagerhat and a project was undertaken to set up a shrimp research centre at a cost of Tk 226.8 million in 2005-2006 financial year.

Under this project an office building, an auditorium, seminar room, a training centre with one hundred seats, 4 laboratories, 9 research ponds, one hatchery and a staff dormitory and a manpower of 28 are functioning in the project initially. Meanwhile, about 4500 shrimp farmers have been provided training through this project.

Inland water vessels to make a mark

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Inland water vessels to make a mark

An under-construction water vessel is pictured at a plant of Meghna Group.

Sajjadur Rahman

Bulk importers are making their own vessels (lighterage) to carry their goods through inland water in a bid to reduce transportation costs and hassles.

Big business groups such as Abul Khair, Bashundhara, City and Meghna have made nearly 100 such vessels with a capacity of 2,000-3,000 tonnes each, in the last few years.

Making of each vessel costs Tk 8-10 crore depending on the materials used.

Meghna Group of Industries is expanding its fleet to meet its growing demand. The group plans to take its vessels’ tally to 70 from present 25 in the next three to five years.

“We have finished making four vessels and started to make another 12 at a time,” said Mostofa Kamal, chairman and managing director of the group, which imports and markets almost all major essential commodities from soybean oil to sugar, wheat and pulses.

The manufacturing costs of 12 ships would stand at around Tk 100 crore, according to Kamal. The vessels are being made at the group’s dockyard at Meghnaghat in Narayanganj.

Lighterage is used mainly to unload imported goods from the mother vessels that cannot enter a port’s dockside because of its shallow water level. Unavailability of dockside berths also prompted the use of lighterages.

The needs of those vessels are growing rapidly with the expanding economy. Bangladesh annually imports nearly $25 billion worth of goods such as food grain, cement clinker, sugar, salt, fertiliser, iron materials, chemicals, coal and edible oil.

Chittagong Port Authority statistics show the port has handled a total of 30.48 million tonnes of cargos in 2009, of which, 26.71 tonnes were imported and the rest were exported items.

Mahfuz Ahmed, managing director of Gulf Orient Seaways, which provides inland water transportation services, said about 90 percent of these imported cargos were transported through water routes.

“The trend is rising rapidly as big importers are coming into the vessels business more and more,” said Ahmed.

Golam Mohammad Sarwar, deputy traffic manager (operations) of Chittagong Port, was of the same opinion. He said transport of imported goods from the jetty through the river routes in 2010 rose nearly 15 percent from 2009.

Kamal said Meghna Group made its first vessel in 1995 for hassle-free transportation of imported goods. According to him, unavailability of vessels and ‘blackmailing’ by lighterage owners have forced them to make their own carriers.

“It had happened many times that we did not get vessels timely. Lighterage owners had tried to charge high,” said Kamal, supporting his big plan of making another 40 ships within a few years.

Each vessel takes 1-2 years to make. The manufacturers import plates and make the vessels with local technology and experts. Now some businessmen outsource drawings and designs from other countries such as Germany to ensure quality.

“The 12 vessels are being made with German (Lloyds) drawing and design. We have a plan to run these vessels to India, Myanmar and Thailand,” said Kamal.

He demanded a reduction in duties for imported plates to help the industry grow.

sajjad@thedailystar.net

Tata Motors to set up car spare parts plant in country

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=129062&date=2011-03-13

Tata Motors to set up car spare parts plant in country
FE Report

Tata Motors Ltd of India has primarily agreed to establish a spare parts industry of Tata cars in joint-venture with Bangladesh in the country.

This was disclosed Saturday at a press conference and award-giving ceremony at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the city. The event was organised by Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners’ Association (BEIOA).

BEIOA president Abdur Razzaque, its former president Abul Hashem, senior vice- president Abdur Rashid and vice president Ali Akbar, among others, were present on the occasion.

Abdur Razzaque said the delegates from Tata Motors Ltd had primarily agreed to establish a spare parts industry of car in Bangladesh when they visited the second Bangladesh International Industrial and Engineering Technology Tradeshow (BIET-2011) that concluded on March 5.

“Besides, the light engineering industries association of Jharkhand in India invited us to visit their industries,” said the Association leader.

He said the potentiality of the country’s light engineering sector has been boosted up through the fair.

The BEIOA was the organiser of the fair and it had achieved the goal of this fair. The participation of foreign and local investors were more satisfactory compared to the last year, said the president.

He said the visions of BIET-2011 were to reduce the gap between the entrepreneurs and the consumers and to attract foreign investment.

Around 103 engineering companies participated in the fair. Of them, 34 were foreign companies and the rest were local ones.

BEIOA awarded six light engineering industries for attractive stall decoration and best products in the BIET fair.

Korean co to invests $10m in Karnaphuli EPZ

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Korean co to invests $10m in Karnaphuli EPZ
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka

Glenview (BD) Limited, a Korean company, will set up a tent bag and camping accessories manufacturing industry in the Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone.

The company will invest $10 million in setting up their unit and produce tents, canopy, sleeping bags, bag, back pack, camping furniture and camping items. The company will also create employment opportunity for 4,090 Bangladeshi nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and Glenview (BD) Limited in BEPZA Complex in Dhaka on Friday.

Md Moyjuddin Ahmed, member (investment promotion) of the BEPZA and Hoy Jin Lim, managing director of Glenview (BD) Limited, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Major General ATM Shahidul Islam, executive chairman of the BEPZA, Abu Reza Khan, member (engineering), AKM Mahbubur Rahman, member (finance) Md Shawkat Nabi, AZM Azizur Rahman, general manager (investment promotion) and other officials of the BEPZA were present at the signing ceremony.

More power plants to be awarded to private cos

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More power plants to be awarded to private cos
M Azizur Rahman

The power ministry intends to involve private sponsors in more power plants through unsolicited deals and bypassing the normal process of tender.

However, most of the previous such plants awarded to private sponsors are likely to miss the deadline to come online.

The ministry recently sought Prime Minister’s approval for awarding several more power plants to the interested sponsors, following negotiations with them.

It said awarding the plants would help augment generation capacity for electricity supply to the national grid within a short period of time, aiming at easing the mounting electricity shortage across the country.

As the safeguard measure, the new Speedy Supply of Power and Energy (Special Provision) Bill 2010 has a provision to give immunity to the personnel involved in implementing projects in power and energy sector.

The government has enacted the law to protect the government officials and all associated stakeholders from any subsequent legal challenge in the court over awarding unsolicited plants to sponsors.

Besides, the government will have the authority to bypass any existing law, including Public Procurement Act 2006, which has been, according to official sources, impeding the execution of new power and energy projects.

Officials said the government has already awarded 15 high-cost diesel and furnace oil-run ‘quick’ rental power plants, having an aggregate capacity for additional 1,435 megawatts (mw) of electricity generation, through unsolicited deals.

A couple of the quick rental power plants, generating around 250 mw of electricity, have already come online within the “stipulated” time. However, a good number of the remaining plants are behind their work schedule.

Officials said the government’s desperate move to resolve the country’s nagging electricity problem by opting for high-cost oil-based power plants but without ensuring proper fuel supply, is the main reason for delay in execution of the plants.

Lack of coordination among the state-owned enterprises, especially Power Development Board (PDB), Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), Bangladesh Railway (BR) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), has already created a difficult situation for the government.

Besides, the country’s existing fuel storage capacity has compounded the problem for meeting sufficiently the need for the quantities of fuel, required to run the new diesel and furnace oil-based power plants.

The government now runs the risk of paying a large sum of money as compensation to the sponsors for its failure to arrange necessary fuel supply to the plant sites.

Mongla Port getting a big facelift

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Mongla Port getting a big facelift

KHULNA: Mongla port is being upgrated with all the modern facilities. — FE photo Our Correspondent

Our Correspondent

KHULNA, Mar 12: Mongla Port has under taken 8 projects at a cost of Tk. 3.07 billion to make the port dynamic. Of them one project has already been implemented and the remaining projects are under process for implementation.

On an average only 4/5 ships anchored in the port per month but now a days 8/10 ships are arriving in this port per day due to direct initiative of the present government.

Source said that for the first time car carrying ships have started arriving in the port. Moreover, according to decision of the government 40% imported foodgrain have been unloaded from this port. At the same time arrival of fertiliser carrying ships have also been increased significantly. Meanwhile, the project of rail line from Khulna to Mongla has been approved in the ECNEC. Besides, the process of the shifting of Mongla customs house from Khulna has started in response to the demand of the port users.

Mongla port sources said some projects have been taken for the development of the port. Meanwhile, modern equipment have been procured worth about Tk. 229.7 million for smooth handling of containers and general goods. A tender has been called recently in the name of “Navigation Aid to Mongla Port” for the construction of light tower for the easy movement of ships at night. Another project has been taken at a cost of Tk 70 million for construction of infrastructure development for those affected by the SIDR and other calamities.

A dredging project for the Poshur channel was under taken at a cost of Tk. 584.6 million for easy movement of 9 metre draft ship at Mongla Port. A tender will be called within a short time. Procuring a cutter suction dredger is under way at a cost of Tk. 582.3 million for maintaining dredging at port channel and the project is a waiting approval.

Moreover, various development programmes that have been taken included construction of multipurpose jetty, capital dredging, computerisation and management information system, surface water treatment plant and infrastructure development work.

Director (Traffic) of MPA Mahabubullah said that the Mongla Port will be turned into a modern port for various steps taken by the present government. Meanwhile, decisions have been taken over the service of Roro ferry at Dhaka-Mawa ferry ghat, shifting of customs head office at Mongla, construction oil depot of BPC, weigh bridge, set up new industries at MEPZ and a port thana, he added.

European investors willing to bet on Bangladesh

http://www.daily-sun.com/?view=details&type=daily_sun_news&pub_no=154&cat_id=1&menu_id=3&news_type_id=1&index=6&archiev=yes&arch_date=12-03-2011

European investors willing to bet on Bangladesh
Swiss fund focuses on Bangladesh stock market
Raad Hossain

Equity funds focused on geographic locations is common in the advanced markets all over the world and there are country-focused funds for all emerging markets in different stock exchanges worldwide.

However, when Bangladesh comes into perspective, it is rare to find western investors willing to bet on our imbalanced market. But it was difficult to overlook the impressive growth that our stock market produced in the last two years, leaving out the last few months.

Many European investors locked onto that growth and their willingness led to the creation of “Bangladesh & EM Equity Fund” in Switzerland. The fund is registered as an investment fund under Swiss law for the “other funds for traditional investments” and is directed exclusively towards qualified investors.

Thus it is a private fund rather than a publicly traded one. The fund started off last year’s November with an investment of ten million Euros, putting the money exclusively in our country’s capital market.

The “Bangladesh & EM Equity Fund” is not only registered in Switzerland, but it is also managed by well reputed Swiss financial organisations. The administration of the fund is handled by SoluFunds SA, a Swiss fund management company, while the investment decisions have been delegated to Banque Morval’s Geneva head office.

Recently, Roberto Pusterla, a member of the management of Banque Morval and Aleš Glavan, an advisor of the fund and also a director of Murka d.d, a Slovenian investment management company, came to Dhaka to meet professionals of different fields to discuss the potential future of our market.

I managed to meet them and was frankly surprised, when they informed me that they have more opportunities of funding and are looking on how to change their portfolio structure to gain more value in the future. They showed me that despite a large fall, the fund has still outperformed the DSE General Index. Currently, the fund has maximum investment in the banking, fuel and power and pharmaceutical sector.

The managers wanted to determine what direction to head to now in the delicate situation but as Mr. Glavan stated, “Bangladesh has a huge potential, something a lot of western investors haven’t realised yet. With the right push the markets will hopefully pick up again.” However, he also stated his surprise in the drastic fall of prices of companies with good fundamentals. But from the overall discussions it was certainly clear that if things move to a better direction in our capital market, we might very well expect a new source of FDI in the form of capital market investment.

No power, no complaint: mobile connects all

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No power, no complaint: mobile connects all

A man uses a mobile phone. In 2012, Bangladesh, one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world with more than seven crore active subscribers now, will have 1.67 lakh mobile users with no access to electricity to charge the device. Photo: Rashed Shumon

Md Fazlur Rahman

The country’s power situation may have plagued industrial production and forced many factories to run below capacity in the last few years, but it failed to rein in the ever-explosive growth of mobile phones.

Even with a need to charge a cell phone battery with electricity, a basic requisite in mobile communications, the industry has continued to grow rapidly.

Moreover, an international research organisation said the sector will grow seven-fold in rural areas by 2015 despite a lack of an electricity network to feed the technology device.

In 2012, Bangladesh, one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world with over 7 crore active subscribers, will have 167,765 mobile users who do not have electricity to charge the device. The number will reach grow 75 times to 12,543,435 by 2015, according to Cisco® Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Cisco Systems is a US-based multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services.

Its Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update is part of the comprehensive Cisco VNI Forecast, an ongoing initiative to track and forecast the impact of visual networking applications on global networks. This paper presents some of Cisco’s major global mobile data traffic projections and growth trends.

About 40 percent of Bangladesh’s 16 crore population has an access to power, leaving the rest to rely on fossil fuel, solar power systems or complete darkness at night, while mobile subscriber penetration stands at over 44 percent.

With 99 percent of the population and more than 90 percent of geographic area of Bangladesh under the coverage of mobile operators, the subscriber base continues to grow, with more and more people in rural areas being connected to the technology.

One of the most astonishing developments of the past few years has been the extension of mobile services even beyond the boundaries of the power grid. Mobile phones are reaching every corner of earth, said the Cisco update.

Globally, there are 32 countries already where mobile data has broken the electricity barrier. By the end of 2011, this effect will be visible at the regional level, when the total number of mobile users in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia exceeds the total on-grid population in those regions.

By the end of 2013, the number of mobile users in the Middle East will exceed the Middle Eastern on-grid population, and by 2015, the number of mobile users in South Asia (India and surrounding countries) will exceed the South Asian on-grid population.

Individuals, even those below the poverty line, are finding that mobile access increases their financial prospects, and are willing to go to great lengths to maintain access.

Operators and governments also have incentives to encourage off-grid access to mobile services. Operators are developing new, highly profitable business models that are attractive and affordable to the base of the global economic pyramid.

Governments and communities are finding that gross domestic product (GDP) and local economic growth appear to be correlated with mobile growth.

The end result is that the off-grid, on-net population will reach 13.8 crore by 2015. The mobile network will break the electricity barrier in 4 major regions and more than 40 countries (including India, Indonesia, and Nigeria) by 2015.

“Breaking the electricity barrier” may be a short-lived phenomenon, since electricity access is likely to catch up to mobile access in the long term (perhaps even in response to the demand for mobile services), but it is nevertheless a testament to the socio-economic impact of network access that mobile has extended beyond the reach of the power grid.

According to the International Finance Corporation, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, the number of African mobile users is expected to overtake the number of households connected to the electrical grid in 2011.

Siddiqul Islam, owner of a shop selling tubewells, pipes and other sanitary products in Ashashuni of Satkhira, is one of the country’s growing mobile users who do not have access to power to light houses, let alone charge mobile phones.

For the last seven years, the 30-year-old businessman has been relying on solar power systems to charge his mobile phone, as his village Manpur does not have grid network.

“Almost every house in my village has a mobile phone, but they do not have access to electricity. We rely on solar solutions,” he told The Daily Star via telephone.

Arifuzzaman Babu, also a businessman of Bodaipur village under the same upazila, had to unwillingly visit his wealthy neighbours to charge his mobile phone for a couple of years.

“When I bought a mobile phone six years ago, I did not have a solar power system in my house. So, I had to go to the houses of my fellow villagers, but they did not always receive me warmly, as the number of mobile phone owners without solar power systems was high.”

The industry has also brought about a market of opportunity for off-grid charging solutions.

Abul Khair, manager of Rural Services Foundation (RSF), a non-governmental organisation that sells solar power solutions, said: “These rural villages in the upazila do not have an access to electricity. So, they heavily rely on solar solutions.”

fazlur.rahman@thedailystar.net

Remittance flashes 17pc growth in Feb

http://www.daily-sun.com/?view=details&type=daily_sun_news&pub_no=148&cat_id=1&menu_id=3&news_type_id=1&index=2

Remittance flashes 17pc growth in Feb
Anayetur Rahaman

Bangladesh received US $ 974.46 million remittance in February compared to US $ 827.46 million in the same period a year ago, recording a 17.69 percent growth.

The total remittance received in first eight months of the current fiscal year stood at US $ 7.5 billion against $ 7.31 billion in the same period a year earlier, marking a rather stability and slight growth in remittance inflow into the country.

An official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) said the remittance sent by the migrant workers were channeled through four state-owned commercial banks (SCBs), two specialised banks, 30 private commercial banks and nine foreign commercial banks.

Islami Bank Ltd channeled the highest amount of remittance worth $ 238.49 million among the participating banks.

State-owned Sonali Bank secured the second position in channeling wage earners’ remittance of US $ 100.73 million in February.

Four state-owned commercial banks – Sonali, Rupali, Agrani and Janata Bank handled US $ 268.33 million remittance in the same period while 30 private commercial banks channeled another US $ 681.62 million.

Two specialised banks- Bangladesh Krishi Bank and BASIC Bank Ltd, assisted US $ 14.94 million remittance to come home while the foreign commercial banks helped to channel US $ 9.57 million.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), ,Kuwait, United States and the United Kingdom were the largest remittance sending nations to Bangladesh.

Beside these top five sources, Malaysia, a new destination for Bangladeshi workers, is contributing a handsome amount to the remittance flow to the country to hold the sixth position in respect of remittance sending.

In fiscal 2009-2010, the country’s economy received around US $ 11 billion from wage earners working abroad, posing a 13.4 percent growth compared to the previous fiscal.

The top six remittance sending countries contributed 83.76 percent of the total remittance to Bangladesh in the fiscal.

Over 6 million Bangladeshi migrants are currently working in different countries, mostly in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore and Libya.

Bangladesh maintained a steady growth in remittance inflow with the growing number of Bangladeshis workers going abroad over the last three decades.

58km gas pipeline under process

http://www.daily-sun.com/?view=details&type=daily_sun_news&pub_no=148&cat_id=1&menu_id=3&news_type_id=1&index=12

58km gas pipeline under process
The Asuganj-Bakrabad transmission pipeline will cost Tk 6.39 billion

Shamim Jahangir

The Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) is preparing to install a 58 kilometer gas transmission pipeline from Asuganj to Bakrabad to improve the gas flow pressure in different consumers’ points including power plants.

The project will be implemented from our own fund instead of foreign aid, GTCL Managing Director Aminur Rahman yesterday said.

The 30-inch wide transmission pipeline project will be implemented in next fiscal year at a cost of Tk 6.39 billion, he added.

But most of the subsidised companies under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division are reluctant to draw the projects cost from their own fund despite having huge amount deposited in banks, a high official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, told daily sun.

“They have been enjoying three or more wage increment and bonus every year from the interest raised from the deposited fund”, the official informed.

Korea-based EXIM Bank earlier offered to provide Tk 3.34 billion for the pipeline project with huge interest margin, another official said seeking anonymity.

“We have decided to implement the project from our own fund,” the official said, adding that the implementation of the project is likely to be delayed as the GTCL failed to submit development proposal regarding the project.

The government however planned to start implementing the project this year, he said.

Last week, a review meeting to implement the energy sector projects expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress in implementing the around 15 to16 proposed gas transmission pipelines.

Wheat production highly satisfactory in Rangpur

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Wheat production highly satisfactory in Rangpur

RANGPUR: A wheat field at Darsona area in Rangpur Sadar Upazila signals a bumper production of the crop this season. — FE photo

Our Correspondent

RANGPUR, Mar 5: As a congenial climatic condition has been prevailing in the region, the farmers of Rangpur division are expecting a bumper production of wheat in this current season.

According to the Department of Agriculture extension (DAE) sources, a total of 82,307 hectares of land have been brought under wheat cultivation this year in 8 districts under Rangpur division with a production target of 2,30,460 metric tonnes.

Of the total some 4,541 hectares of land have been brought under wheat cultivation in Rangpur district, 13,478 hectares in Kurigram, 6,096 hectares in Nilphamari, 1310 hectares in Lalmonirhat, 2,326 hectares in Gaibandha, 26,011 hectares in Dinajpur, 12, 271 hectares in Thakurgaon , 16,274 hectares in Panchagarh district.

Shahjahan Ali (55), A farmer at Shantoshpur village under Mithapuker Upazila in Rangpur district told the FE that he cultivated wheat on 3 bighas of land and the condition of its growth is satisfactory. Adequate water supply, agri-inputs and conducive weather favoured wheat production this year, he also said.

Additional director of DAE Rangpur Mohsin Ali said smooth supply of water and agri-inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides boosted wheat cultivation in the region which made the farmers optimistic about achieving a bumper production of this crop during the current season, he added.