Eskayef signs insulin deal with Novo Nordisk

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Eskayef signs insulin deal with Novo Nordisk

Kawsar Khan

The world’s biggest insulin maker Novo Nordisk yesterday signed a major deal with Eskayef to extend its manufacturing base to Bangladesh as the third destination in Asia after China and India.

Eskayef Bangladesh Ltd, a leading pharmaceutical company and exporter, will set up an exclusive formulation, filling, inspection and packaging facility near Dhaka for the Novo Nordisk insulin.

The local company will make insulin from bulk drug (insulin crystals) supplied by Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care based in Denmark, said officials.

The agreement was signed by two top officials of both companies at a ceremony at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, also attended by other dignitaries.

Speaking at the function, Dr Alauddin Ahmed, adviser (education, social development and political affairs) to the prime minister, said the deal was a landmark event for the pharmaceuticals sector.

“It’s a very fortunate thing that such a technologically advanced company would have a manufacturing base here,” he said.

Jan Møller Hansen, deputy head of mission, Danish Embassy in Bangladesh, said: “I hope Novo through its vast experience of more than 85 years of providing high-quality insulin will continue to be an important factor in fighting diabetes in Bangladesh.”

A symposium titled “Diabetes: A Growing Challenge for the Developing Countries” was also held at the ceremony.

Chairman of Eskayef Bangladesh Latifur Rahman said insulin is a sensitive product that requires careful handling.

Rahman also said he was happy over the partnership with the global leader in diabetes care.

The current size of Bangladesh’s insulin market is more than Tk 120 crore, according to officials of Novo Nordisk.

In a keynote speech, Prof Ashok Kumar Das, director and medical superintendent of Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research in India, said diseases such as diabetes are increasing rapidly. Around the world, one person dies from diabetes every 10 seconds while another two develop the disease by the same time, he said.

AM Faruque, managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh, and Melvin Oscar D’souza, head of the Regional Office India of Novo Nordisk, signed yesterday’s agreement.

“We are going to set up a plant in Bangladesh by SKF and by this we will reduce diabetes here,” said Sanjeev Shishoo, vice president of the Regional Office Far East of Novo Nordisk.

Prof AK Azad Khan, president of Bangladesh Endocrine Society and Diabetic Association of Bangladesh, Dr Hajera Mahtab, professor emeritus of Bangladesh Institute of Health Sciences, also spoke.

Novo Nordisk employs more than 25,800 people in 79 countries and markets its products in 179 countries.

Eskayef makes and markets a range of therapeutic drugs, bulk pellets and animal health and nutrition products. It has recently received accreditation from UK MHRA, which assures European-standard medicines from its manufacturing plant.

kawsar@thedailystar.net

Walton eyes int’l market with high production

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/11/08/83704.html

Walton eyes int’l market with high production

Walton Refrigerator. Source: http://www.waltonbd.com/

Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan

Local consumer electronics giant Walton has aimed at more than doubling its daily production of refrigerators by the end of this year as the company is looking to make its mark in the wider international market.

The wholly Bangladeshi owned company- which is a concern of the local R.B. Group, is planning to increase its daily production output of refrigerator to 2,500 from its present level of around 1000, the company authority said Saturday.

“With the Eid ul Azha in the offing, demand for refrigerators, which is our trademark item, is running high in the local market at the moment” a senior marketing official of Walton told FE.

“However, after the end of the Eid season, we would increase our daily production to 2,500 per day as we are eyeing a number of overseas markets for our export”, said Moudud Parvez Mamun, Marketing Manager of Walton.

The conglomerate says that recent years have seen a boom in sales of its locally manufactured refrigerators in the domestic market and currently a total of 11 various brands of Walton refrigerators are available in the local market.

“We already have talked with dealers from a total of 13 countries around the world and by next year we would begin to export refrigerators in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia” Mamun said, adding “Walton has already shipped a range of its refrigerators to Sudan”.

The company says that the lower price of its products would give them a competitive advantage over other international competitors in the overseas market.

In addition, Walton is also looking to gear up its production of locally manufactured motorcycles by more than three fold, which it has identified as another highly potential market both home and abroad.

“Currently we churn out around 300 motorcycles per day from our factory in Gazipur. But by the beginning of the next year, we aiming to increase it to almost a thousand”, Mamun said.

The Bangladeshi company has recently signed an agreement with the Malaysian auto manufacturer Ageth to set up an automobile plant in its factory premise.

“Now we are hoping to commence the establishment of the plant by December which would ultimately see us manufacturing private cars and other automobiles within the country”, Mamun added.

Apart from the manufacturing of refrigerators and motorcycles, the company also assembles television, washing machine, generator, battery and energy saving lights while in the next summer; it is also planning to market its locally manufactured air conditioners.

R.B. Group- to which Walton is a subsidiary, first started its journey in 1977. The company started manufacturing and assembling electronic products back in 1996 and thus has played a pioneering role in electronics manufacturing in the country.

Foreign apparel makers plan relocation to Bangladesh

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Foreign apparel makers plan relocation to Bangladesh
BATEXPO ends amid warm response from buyers

Refayet Ullah Mirdha

Foreign buyers see Bangladesh as a lucrative destination for global apparel outsourcing as the country manufactures quality items at a cheap cost.

Many entrepreneurs now plan either relocation of their factories or venturing into joint business here, they said while narrating their experience as participants in the 20th BATEXPO in Dhaka.

The annual largest apparel exhibition concluded yesterday. Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the three-day fair. A total of 62 companies from home and abroad participated in 86 stalls.

Talking to The Daily Star at his stall, Gao Zhourong, marketing manager of Changzhou Giantsun Textile Company Ltd, a Chinese company, said they will set up a garment unit in Bangladesh soon as this is a good place for cheaper labour cost.

“We have already completed talks with a local partner to set up the garment unit,” Zhourong said.

Currently, this company has been supplying fabrics of woven garment in Bangladesh, he said. He thinks the response from local and international buyers was very high at the BATEXPO.

Bangladesh imports a substantial quantity of such fabrics from China as the local backward integration can only supply 35 percent of the total demand.

However, the local textile millers have been able to supply around 80 percent fabrics for the knitwear sub-sector for setting up of strong backward integration over the last few years, mainly backed by the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences).

Agha Dastageer of Kassim Textiles, a denim manufacturing company from Pakistan, said Bangladesh’s export trends show a huge rise in orders from importers in future.

He said Bangladesh is doing well also in denim manufacturing as many companies have already started exporting fine denim products.

Dastageer said the quality of Bangladesh made apparels is better compared to other competitive countries as the country mainly depends on the European machinery. “European machinery is really good for apparel manufacturing. And Europeans like such quality,” Dastageer said.

But Bangladesh is suffering limited products diversification as the country still mainly manufactures basic items, the foreign apparel businessmen said.

Meanwhile, the local makers said orders from international buyers are on the rise, as the world is coming out of recession with the signs of improvement in the advanced economies.

Golam Ahmed, general manager (product) of Intramex Group, a local firm, also pointed to the upward trend of buying orders saying that foreigners are coming to Bangladesh in large numbers.

He suggested that Bangladesh should focus on product diversification in a bigger way, as buyers always demand some new items.

Meanwhile, a considerable number of foreign investors and buyers flocked to the recently concluded 5th Knitexpo in the capital. A record 156 international buyers and investors attended the show, held at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on November 2-4.

Bangladesh exported $5.918 billion woven garment and $6.429 billion knitwear products in 2008-09 fiscal year, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data said.

reefat@thedailystar.net

Bangladesh seen next hot spot for Japan’s outsourcing

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/04/busi.html#5

Bangladesh seen next hot spot for Japan’s outsourcing
Kazi Azizul Islam

The opening of a direct sourcing office in Dhaka by Japanese apparel giant Fast Retail in September 2008 brightened Bangladesh’s prospects to become a hot spot for investors and importers from the world’s second biggest economy.

‘That was the beginning and many Japanese garment retailers and importers have grown interest in sourcing from Bangladesh,’ Tetsuji Okamoto, president of the Okamoto Corporation, leg-wear market leader in Japan, told New Age on Monday.

Tetsuji is among the top executives of nearly 50 Japanese firms who are attending the three-day Bangladesh Knit Exhibition at Hotel Sheraton making the biggest presence of Japan’s apparel industry players in a single event in Dhaka.

Some 130 million pairs of socks were sold in Japan last year under the Okamoto brands and Tetsuji’s organisation also dominates the market of pantyhose, tights and other kitted wears.

Upmarket apparel brand leaders of Japan are now shifting their focus from traditional low-cost production bases like China and Thailand, and looking for newer locations, and many of them find Bangladesh a good choice, local industry leaders and investment promotion officials said.

Major manufacturing facilities of Okamoto, having $240 million annual turnover, had shifted to China and Thailand to cut back on costs and boost profit. But the company is also looking for a way out amid soaring production costs in other Asian locations.

Tetsuji turned up to knitwear fair in Dhaka to identify Bangladesh’s quality socks suppliers, a search he began six months ago. One has already been selected and search for more is on, Tetsuji said.

‘Japanese garment importers never compromise the quality and timely delivery,’ he pointed out adding that Bangladeshi suppliers must ensure that first.

Asked about the possibility of establishing any manufacturing facility in Bangladesh, Tetsuji said, ‘It will take time.’

In the first phase, Bangladeshi suppliers should attain the capacities for meeting Japanese standards and option of joint ventures would come later, he said.

Tetsuji was of the opinion that the Bangladesh’s government should go for promotional activities and using diplomatic channel to get total duty-free market access to Japan. As an LDC, Bangladesh gets duty-free market access to Japan, but socks and some other categories of knitted wear do not get that due to certain rules of origin criteria.

Although Bangladesh is self-reliant in cotton yarns but dependent on import for some specialty yarns and man-made-fibre yarns, which are used in fancy knitted wears and leg-wears.

Tetsuji said that if Bangladesh government persuades the Japanese government to relax rules of origin, many knitted wears will be relieved from seven per cent duty at Japanese ports.

‘Unconditional duty-free access will boost Bangladesh’s garment export much more,’ he said.

In the 2008-2009 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported $74 million worth garments to Japan and the year-on-year shipment growth was more than double.

But industry people hope for a billion dollar plus share in the $24 billion Japanese market of imported garments. Japan’s strategy of shifting focus from one country [China] to more countries further brightens that prospects, they believe.

Tiles market heats up

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Tiles market heats up

Sajjadur Rahman

More players are joining the ceramic tiles business that has so far pulled in over Tk 1,000 crore investment with around 20 percent annual growth rate.

The latest entrant is Dulal Brothers Ltd (DBL), one of the leading apparel manufacturers and exporters in Bangladesh, while X Ceramics is going into trial production next week.

Several other companies, including Akij Group, Padma Ceramics and Tamanna, are in the pipeline to hit the market in the next two years.

“Civil construction of our company is going on in full swing. We hope to go for production by 2010,” said Fariduddin Akhter, general manager of DBL Ceramics, a project of nearly Tk 200 crore located at Sreepur in Gazipur district.

He said the demand for ceramic tiles both for interior and exterior is rising rapidly in Bangladesh.

“Use of tiles is no more a fashion now. It’s become an essential increasingly being used in urban and semi-urban areas,” said Akhter who has 21 years of experience in the industry.

Bankers also consider the sector as a potential industry for financing.

Touhidul Alam Khan, executive vice president (corporate banking division) of Prime Bank, said the construction industry, including residence, shopping malls and others, is growing so fast that the tiles business is becoming one of the booming and prospective sectors.

“If we look on the local production in the period between 1984 and 2009, we will see tiles production has increased from 300 square metres to around 100,000 square metres per day,” Khan said.

Already 11 companies are now operating in the market with over Tk 1,000 crore annual sales turnover, industry people said.

According to a market study, the existing factories produced nearly 322 million square feet (sft) of tiles in 2007, up from 277 million sft a year ago. Production reached 374 million sft in 2008 and it is estimated to grow at 17 percent in 2009 and 2010.

Of the total production in 2007, RAK Ceramics alone made 74 million sft, followed by China-Bangla, Fu-Wang and Mir each slightly over 30 million sft.

Industry people said the history of tiles production in Bangladesh is not very old. The first factory was set up by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, a state-owned enterprise, in 1982. Private sector established the second one, Modhumoti Tiles, in 1988.

The situation started changing rapidly after 2000 when tiles became too cheap to easily replace mosaics.

RAK Ceramics (Bangladesh) Ltd, a UAE-based company set up in 2003, brought a drastic change in the tiles industry and now grabs one-fourth of the domestic market share.

According to the industry people, sales of the locally produced tiles did not go down even in the past two years, the worst time for the country’s construction industry.

They attributed the growth to the demand and low production cost. Gas and labour account for 23 percent and 16 percent respectively of the total production cost, and so Bangladesh has an edge on these inputs over other countries.

“Bangladesh has an opportunity to export tiles because the major global player, China, is losing advantage to rising production cost,” said Akhter.

sajjad@thedailystar.net

Adidas to invest $100m in country

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/29/82880.html

Adidas to invest $100m in country

Fazlur Rahman

The World’s second largest sports goods maker Adidas will invest US$100 million to set up a footwear manufacturing plant in Bangladesh, exclusively targeting fast-growing local market, officials said Wednesday.

The plant will be the largest footwear manufacturing unit in Bangladesh and the single biggest foreign investment by a German company, said a top official of Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI).

“The company plans to start constructing the factory in January 2010. I know that Adidas will invest $100 million in the state-of-the-art plant. But the location for the project has not been decided yet,” he said, preferring anonymity.

“Adidas and its partners in Bangladesh are still finalising the details of the joint venture,” he said.

The move by Adidas is the latest in a series of investment in the country’s footwear sector, which is quickly emerging as one of the leading export earners and job creators.

In the last three years, more than a dozen Taiwanese investors have bought plots in the country’s export processing zones (EPZs) to set up footwear plants, mainly for exports.

Pouchen, world’s leading footwear maker, is investing over 25 million dollars in its plant at Karnaphuli EPZ.

The company is now looking for a 200-acre land to build one of the world’s largest footwear units that can employ more than 40,000 people.

South Korean Youngone Corporation has also said it would invest more than $100 million in phases to build a footwear plant in its Korean EPZ situated on the other side of the Karnaphuli river.

Experts have said Bangladesh is poised to become a leading nation in global footwear thanks to its cheap labour force and nimble fingers — a crucial component to hand-stitch shoes — of its army of female workers.

In the 2008-9 financial year Bangladeshi companies exported footwear worth $187 million, recording a decent growth of 10 per cent despite the global recession.

The BGCCI official said the global footwear maker would initially make low-cost footwear products exclusively for local Bangladeshi consumers.

“The German brand will think of diversifying their products later,” the official said.

He said the size of Bangladesh’s footwear market is around Tk 30 billion, which is a big market for such a large investment and has been expanding at a double-digit rate.

Adidas is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second biggest sportswear manufacturer in the world after its American rival Nike.

The company also produces bags, shirts, watches, eyewear and other sports and clothing related goods.

It reported 10.799 billion euro revenue last year, up from €10.299 billion, or about $15.6 billion, in 2007.

German investors to set up energy-efficient bulb plant

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/oct/29/busi.html#1

German investors to set up energy-efficient bulb plant
Staff Correspondent

The German investors have almost finalised an investment project jointly with a local company to produce energy efficient bulbs targeting the whole South Asian market.

This was disclosed by visiting Germen business delegation chief Peter Clasen at a press conference in a city hotel.

Clasen is leading more than 20 member team on a week long visit in the capital to explore the business opportunities in the country, which has plenty of cheap labours, but lacked adequate power and transport logistics to attract large scales foreign direct investments.

Despite the disadvantages two other investment projects were in pile line, he added without disclosing the type of projects.

He also did not disclose the amount of foreign direct investment in connection with these three projects.

He, however, hoped that successful implementation of the projects especially the first one, which was targeting to make Bangladesh as energy efficient bulb manufacturing hub in South Asia, would open the floodgate of German investments.

Clasen who has high opinions about the country’s century old ship building tradition and craftsmanship of local carpenters observed that power shortage and transport logistics were bottlenecks in attracting big foreign investments.

He also observed that German energy giants would not feel encourage to invest in power sector in Bangladesh unless the government formulated long term policies on power sector with promise of consistency.

He termed that the existing energy policy was ‘obscure’. On open pit mining in the country’s potential coal reserve in Phulbari, Clasen said it was linked with dislocation of huge population.

German Ambassador Holger Michael who attended the press conference hoped that the present government would be successful to implement the ‘charter of change’ to overcome the bottlenecks of power and transportation.

He pointed out that maintaining ‘secularisms’ and proper function of parliament by participants of ‘all political parties’ representatives would be the other key positive signals to the foreign investors.

He expressed his dissatisfaction with the traffic congestion in Dhaka and major highways saying that it was leading to waste substantial time of every day business hours.

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry arranged the programme making visit of high profile German delegation known as OAV, which looks after the Asia Pacific region.

BGCC president Saiful Islam said that the OAV would make a comparative study on the country’s business opportunity with Vietnam on returning home.

He hoped that many positive things would come up in that study as Bangladesh was to spend $60 million to develop its inlands waterways in the current fiscal year which was only $2 million in the last fiscal year.

Besides, the inland container terminal adjacent to the capital was to be readied in the next year to help addressing transportation problem of export and import containers between Chittagong sea port and Dhaka, he said.

KK organic tea to hit market Nov 1

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/28/82747.html

KK organic tea to hit market Nov 1

FE Report

The country’s first black organic tea producing company will launch two new packages of green and tulsi flavours in the market on November 1.

“Kazi and Kazi (KK) Tea Estate Ltd plans to cultivate organic tea aiming to exploit the growing consumer demand for the new line of products in domestic and global markets,” Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company Kazi Anis Ahmed said at a pre-launching press conference Tuesday.

Claiming KK as the country’s only internationally certified premium blend organic tea brand, he said KK tea was grown without using any chemical fertiliser and pesticides at any stage of the production process.

To ensure organic product neem oil and leaf, basil, marigold, turmeric, garlic and lime are used as natural pesticides, while cattle urine and cow dung as fertiliser in the tea garden.

“It not only ensures consumer’s health but leaves a positive impact on nature,” he said.

Explaining the two new flavours, Mr Anis said KK’s green tea evokes the softness of the Chinese brew of antiquity, with a sweetish aftertaste and grassy undertones containing medicinal substances of disease prevention and anti-aging.

KK’s tulsi tea boasts properties that lower cholesterol and reduces negative effects of stress, he said.

KK’s premium quality tea is bought by Harrods of London and the tea is exported to the USA and Japan at premium price, he claimed.

Demand for organic food is being created in different parts of the world which is sure to rise in the coming days; he said adding that Bangladesh is on the tenth position of the tea exporting nations.

New avenue for RMG exports

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New avenue for RMG exports
Items made of organic cotton in high demand
Refayet Ullah Mirdha

The increasing demand for Bangladesh’s readymade garments (RMG) made of organic cotton fabrics in western countries has opened up new avenues for apparel makers and exporters, according to industry insiders.

Exports of such products are on the rise, they say, as major buyers are ready to pay more because the health-conscious customers in the west find the items environment-friendly.

Meanwhile, cashing in on such high demand, local spinners now lean towards manufacturing organic cotton yarn, finds a survey, recently conducted by a giant international RMG brand working in Bangladesh.

In this context, an official of this international company pointed to the fact that the RMG makers are to import such fabrics from India, China and Pakistan as local organic cotton yarn makers cannot meet the entire demand.

The main feature of organic cotton fabrics is a sustainable farming method that discourages use of heavy chemicals and maintenance of soil fertility.

Talking to The Daily Star, Abdullah Al Mahmud Mahin, managing director of Mahin Group who uses organic cotton fabrics for export-oriented RMG products, expressed his high hope of a better chance for higher prices for the RMG products made of organic cotton fabrics.

“If I use five percent organic cotton fabrics for RMG products, the prices increase at least 25 percent,” Mahin said, pointing to a value addition to Bangladesh made apparels through the use of such fabrics.

The manufacturers using organic cotton fabrics more than five percent in garments, the Mahin Group boss said, are to go by a system that binds them to obtain certification from growers, yarn spinners on such usage. Finally, the manufacturers are required to make such certification to the prospective buyers.

Global Organic Testing System is a world class organisation who certifies such usage of organic cotton fabrics.

Actually, demand for organic cotton yarn marked a rise over the last one year, said an official of a Chitagong textile mill.

“As a result, we are also receiving huge number of orders from local manufacturers and international buying agents,” he added.

reefat@thedailystar.net

6th Dhaka in’l plastic fair kicks off in January

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/oct/16/busi.html#2

Plastic makers closely watch apparel exports
6th Dhaka in’l plastic fair kicks off in January
Staff Correspondent

Country’s plastic manufacturers and exporters are keeping a watchful eye on garment exports, as apparel industries consume huge plastic materials.

However, they are satisfied because most sub-sectors of the plastic industry are still doing well.

‘Most sub-sectors of the plastic industry are still doing well. But we are closely watching garment exports, as the apparel industries consume huge plastic materials,’ Ferdous Wahid, the president of Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told a briefing on Thursday at the office of the association.

At the briefing, the BPGMEA president announced that the sixth Dhaka International Plastic, Packaging and Printing Industrial Fair would be held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre over January 25-28, 2010.

The association leaders demanded that government speeds up development of country’s industrial infrastructures and elimination of hassles in doing business for strengthening the competitiveness of local exporters.

Plastic goods manufacturers and exporters claim that they supply polythene packaging, buttons, hangers and other plastics accessories to garment exporters worth over Tk 2000 crore every year.

The BPGMEA president informed that some two hundred enterprises half of which are from abroad are expected to attend the fair to showcase their products and services at the four-day long fair. Overseas participants will include companies from all over the world.

The fifth plastic fair held in 2008 accommodated 68 local and 68 foreign companies and that the fair was visited by more than 1.1 lakh visitors, the reporters were informed.

The Taiwan-based international event management company, Chan Chao International Company Limited, will manage the fair that will showcase latest technologies for plastics industries, raw-materials and allied products and services.

About the sub-sectors of the plastic industry, the BPGMEA president said that among the sub-sectors, PP Woven bag manufacturing and household plastic ware manufacturing ones that are doing well at the moment.

The country is experiencing increased local consumptions of household plastic appliances and furniture as well as exports of these products to neighboring India, Nepal and Myanmar.

Good times for local shipbuilding

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Good times for local shipbuilding

A labourer works at the Western Marine shipyard in Chittagong. Western Marine, along with the other main firm Ananda Shipbuilders based in Narayanganj, have in the past two years signed deals to build 50 ships worth $600 million. Photo: AFP

Afp, Chittagong

When Bangladeshi labourer Abdul Karim was laid off from his shipbuilding job in Singapore because of the global recession, he did not expect to find the same sort of work at home.

But the 35-year-old, like similarly skilled shipbuilding labourers who have worked abroad, returned six months ago to find the industry booming and his expertise much in demand.

“My salary is about 40 percent lower than it was in Singapore, but overall I’m better off in Bangladesh and I get to stay close to my family,” said Karim, who now earns around 300 dollars each month.

Bangladesh is better known for shipbreaking — dismantling of old vessels — but now, just a few kilometres (miles) north of the shipbreaking yards, men like Karim are creating new ocean-going ships.

And experts say it is a safer, less environmentally damaging industry that can create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“Bangladesh’s garment industry became big because it was cheaper here to make clothes than anywhere else in the world,” said Sakhawat Hossain, chief executive of Western Marine, one of the main shipbuilders.

“The same thing is now happening with shipbuilding. European buyers are flocking here. If more building yards emerge, we can take orders worth a billion dollars a year by 2015.”

Hossain said Bangladesh had become a natural destination for shipbuilding because costs in other countries had become too high.

His firm once built cargo boats and ferries for inland and coastal waters but it graduated into ocean-going shipbuilding three years ago and has enough orders until 2012 from Denmark, Germany and Norway.

He estimates that one in four of his 1,600 employees has recently returned from shipbuilding yards abroad, most after losing jobs through cuts due to contract defaults and delayed orders amid the recession.

He wants to hire another 2,500 welders, fitters and foremen in the next few months.

“The layoffs in other countries are a gain for us,” Hossain said. “It’s win-win, we benefit from their knowledge abroad and they get a decent salary at home.”

Western Marine, along with the other main Bangladeshi firm Ananda Shipbuilders, have in the past two years signed deals to build 50 ships worth 600 million dollars.

All are on the small side of the business, but that is where Bangladesh has an advantage, according to Hossain.

“Top global shipbuilders are not interested in making smaller vessels that weigh less than 20,000 dead weight tonnage because of high labour cost and shrinking profit.”

If this trend continues, Bangladesh, with its experience of building vessels to traverse the delta nation, could emerge as a shipbuilding hub.

“Shipbuilding is in our blood. Our workers have been building boats for centuries and now tens of thousands of them work in shipyards across Asia,” said Khabirul Haque Chowdhury, a naval architecture professor at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Training.

He said that unlike the controversial shipbreaking industry, shipbuilding is environmentally safe, and could help the poor nation of 144 million people become a middle income country.

“Building ships is like building a city. When it grows, dozens of other industrial sectors such as painting, furniture, steel and electrical equipment also grow,” he said.

The programme coordinator of the Danish Embassy’s business-to-business programme, Morten Lynge, said European companies that placed the first orders in 2007 took a huge gamble, but it appeared to have paid off and the industry was showing big potential for the future.

“We have estimated that some 55 percent of the world’s small ships are aged over 20 years, meaning they need to be replaced within the next few years. I think Bangladesh will be the largest beneficiary,” said Lynge, who is hosting 23 Danish vessel makers in Bangladesh next month to explore joint ventures.

Although Bangladesh has so far been largely immune to the effects of the global economic crisis, the shipbuilding business has felt a small slowdown with a German firm cancelling orders for four ships worth 42 million dollars.

“We can win back the orders once the global economy turns around,” said Ananda Shipbuilders owner Abdullahel Bari.

“Western companies will definitely come here. Bangladesh will be a major shipbuilder,” he said, but he warned the government needed to invest in gas and electricity for the potential to be realised.

Subhash Moydey, an engineer who has recently returned to Bangladesh after 30 years working at yards across the globe, is optimistic.

“When I started in Singapore it was a small business. Until the economic crisis it was booming,” the 55-year-old said.

“I predict the same story for my country. We have the workers to power the boom. I can already see it beginning to happen.”

Local fashion designs win heart of the West

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=108916

Local fashion designs win heart of the West
Refayet Ullah Mirdha

International buyers of apparel items now seek innovative designs from the local suppliers and manufacturers as the demand for the fashion design of Indian subcontinent is increasing in the West, industry insiders said.

So traditional Bangladeshi designs are becoming popular in the Western countries, said the businessmen.

The businesspeople and experts said if such demand for innovative designs can be met properly, the country will get a huge advantage in the international apparel business.

Previously, Bangladesh used to produce the apparel items on the basis of designs supplied by the international buyers, which were known as ‘cut and paste’ designs. But, the situation is taking a shift as the taste of the Western people is also changing, the manufacturers said.

Talking to The Daily Star, an international buyer working in Bangladesh said they were adopting the local design at a slower pace. “But, we are now opting for the local designs, which was not possible previously as the customers did not like those much,” the buyer said, requesting anonymity.

KM Rezaul Hasanat, chairman and managing director of Viyellatex Group, a compliant garment maker, said previously Bangladesh was not ready to develop design, but now the local manufacturers are supplying either full or part of the design.

“Now the manufacturers also set up design houses, where a team of designers develop innovative designs for the international buyers,” Hasanat said.

Bangladesh is coming out from the traditional ‘cut and paste’ regime, said Rushmita Alam, head of the Department of Fashion Design and Technology at BGMEA Institute of Fashion & Technology (BIFT).

“Now many Bangladeshi designers are working at top positions in foreign companies. They are designing for the buyers,” Rushmita said.

She said the local fashion designs have had a lot of exposure in the Western countries over the last five to seven years, thanks to the media.

Rushmita also said fashion design is a matter of teamwork as individual ideas flock together to make a design.

New fashion designers are coming up as many educational institutes are now offering courses on fashion- or design-related subjects, she said.

She said Bangladesh has advanced much in apparel manufacturing and exporting, and so the country now should develop its human resources on such sub-sectors to make the garment business more sustainable.

Selim Al-Din, a fourth year student of Design Technology at the BIFT, said the demand for local designs is increasing, but most of the designers are doing the job of developers on the designs supplied by the buyers.

“Many garment owners do not try to improve the efficiency of their designers,” he said. As a result, Bangladesh is being deprived of the benefit of value addition, he added.

reefat@thedailystar.net

Western Marine MD invited to Berlin confce

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/07/80892.html

Western Marine MD invited to Berlin confce

FE Report

Western Marine Shipyard Ltd Managing Director Mr. Sakhawat Hossain has been invited to the Asia-Pacific Weeks, a conference held in Berlin in every two years to discuss about various bilateral relations and business-ties between Germany and the Asia Pacific region.

Mr. Hossain was invited to the 14-day event, starting today (Wednesday), to represent the shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh and the international shipbuilding industry.

He will deliver speech on the current status of Bangladesh’s shipbuilding sector and how the country is emerging in the global market.

Western Marine Shipyard is a pioneer shipbuilder of the country, engaged in shipbuilding activity since 2000.

The company has made 54 vessels for the domestic market, and currently building 18 vessels which are to be exported in the European market.

20 Danish shipbuilders to explore jt venture

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/03/80560.html

20 Danish shipbuilders to explore jt venture

Fazlur Rahman

A delegation of more then 20 Danish companies will visit Bangladesh next month to explore possibilities for setting up joint-ventures in shipbuilding.

“The aim of the visit, which takes place from November 8 to 13, is to set-up joint ventures in shipbuilding between Danish and Bangladeshi companies, said Morten Siem Lynge, Business-to-Business coordinator of Danish Embassy in Dhaka Thursday.

The visit is taking place at a time when the country’s ocean-going shipbuilding industry has been hit by global recession as orders worth hundreds of millions of dollars have either been cancelled or put on hold.

“At the moment, more than 20 Danish companies have shown their interests to visit Bangladesh and look for local partners,” Morten told the FE in an interview.

“It is true that buyers are now taking less, cancelling orders or putting them on hold due to global recession. But things will change when the recession is over and Bangladesh has to be ready for that.”

He said ships have to be built in recession times, and Bangladesh can actually benefit from this.

“Bangladesh has done exceptionally well amid recession. It is still building new ships and the number of orders will certainly go up once the global economy recovers.”

Experts said the country has become a new destination for companies seeking to build small ocean-going vessels as traditional shipbuilding nations such as South Korea and China now focus on building large ships.

Even Vietnam, which is relatively new in shipbuilding, is no longer interested to build small ships weighing 4,000-25,000 tonnes, Morten said.

Denmark, which has long tradition in shipbuilding, is now less active in this area due to high production cost. However, a very large number of high quality component and service suppliers for shipbuilders are still very active in Denmark, Mr Morten said.

He said low labour cost, which is one of the cheapest in the world, has also made Bangladesh a new destination for companies seeking construction of small ocean-going vessels.

Danish companies are interested to build ships here because it is at least 15 per cent cheaper compared with other countries, he said adding Bangladesh is the cheapest place in the world for building new ships.

He said 55 per cent of the world’s ships below 20,000 dead weight tonne (DWT) are at least 20 years old and they have to be replaced sooner or later.

Morten said Bangladesh imports 90 per cent of the components needed to build ships. But the local companies can cut cost further and secure a more timely delivery of components if they manufacture components locally through joint venture with overseas companies.

“Many Danish companies, which manufacture components, are willing to go for joint venture in Bangladesh,” Morten said.

The shipbuilding sector, which is hailed as the next industry leader after garments with potentials to earn billions of dollars, will create jobs for thousands and help grow many other allied industries, he added.

Local shipbuilders have termed the upcoming visit of the Danish manufacturers as a positive news for the country’s nascent industry.

“This visit will broaden our business prospect,” said Sakhawat Hossain, managing director of Western Marine Shipyard, the country’s one of the largest shipbuilders.

He told the FE: “I think we have overcome the crisis, as it is evident from the interest shown by the global shipbuilders.”

“The demand for small sea-vessels has also increased due to the economic crisis, and we are ready to take this opportunity,” he added.

Exploring full potentials of shipbuilding industry

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/10/01/80372.html

Exploring full potentials of shipbuilding industry

Shahiduzzaman Khan

The developments are otherwise encouraging in the country’s new and promising shipbuilding sector. Some ocean-going cargo vessels have already been exported by it and more export orders are in the pipeline. As the trend suggests, contribution by the sector would comprise 3.0 to 4.0 per cent of Gross domestic product (GDP) by 2015. The optimistic projection puts the export earning by the export at about $2.0 billion in the near future.

According to a report published in the FE this week, the country’s shipbuilding industry is expected to emerge as the third largest foreign exchange earner in less than 10 years. For that to become a reality, the government would require to support services of issues relating to bank guarantees, access through green channels and declaring export-oriented shipyards as export processing zones (EPZs).

A study on shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh conducted by the Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute (BFTI), said the government should not take so much time in making it a thrust sector as India and Indonesia are increasing their own ocean-faring vessel capacities. It noted that the ship building industry in India had grown from Rs 10.17 billion in 2002 to Rs 36.57 billion in 2007 as a result of government support over those five years, with sales increasing to Rs 52.83 billion in 2008. This would otherwise indicate what an important role the government can play in setting up an, what the study pointed out, enabling environment for the Bangladeshi shipbuilding industry.

The government has already granted the industry a partial green channel status. In terms of the current provisions, no customs duties are payable on imports of raw materials and components for use in shipbuilding. However, granting full green channel status to export-oriented shipbuilders will not place any additional burden on the government. It will, however, save the industry 0.9 per cent of the contract value. There is a need to declare the shipbuilding yards as export processing zones. It would imply that all sales made to such shipyards would be considered deemed exports.

Following the global economic recession, traditional shipbuilding countries are becoming reluctant to build small ships (weighing less than 2,500 dead-weight tonne). This has had consequently opened a new window of export opportunity for Bangladesh. Given this encouraging signals, the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs were incentivised to enter the lucrative shipbuilding industry.

The shipbuilding sector is endowed with a certain level of technical edge that allows it to participate in higher value addition in terms of production. Taking this cue, it could be assumed that while it took around 25 years for the country’s garment industry to flourish and play a key role in foreign earnings, shipbuilding could do the same but in less time (in about 10 years) with higher local value addition, assuming proper facilities and policies are provided towards the development of its backward linkage industries.

Entrepreneurs see Bangladesh’s good prospects of flourishing shipbuilding industry. The country’s economy could witness a big progress if it catches the global shipbuilding market and finds its modest room in the international shipbuilding country club. Establishment of deep-draft ports, duty exemption for import of capital machinery, bonded warehouse facilities, special financial subsidy and providing green channel for importing raw materials to ensure healthy growth of the sector are, thus, advocated by the concerned circles. Their forecast is that ‘the sector has promising chances of contributing to the economy after garments sector’.

Bangladesh has advantages like cheap labour, a presence of nearly 1,00,000 skilled and semiskilled workers and industry-related educational and training institutes. A long history of maritime activity and a favourable geographical location also placed the country at a favourable position, with about 200 shipyards and workshops to cater to the domestic needs for water vessels.

The country has the skilled manpower required to vitalise the ship building industry. Some of this workforce is now displaced in some parts of the world but time has come to bring them back to utilise their capability in flourishing the sector. The government needs to patronise the much prospective sector by providing them with all logistic supports. India is providing 30 per cent financial subsidy on ship building industry while Vietnam is providing 40 per cent. Bangladesh can easily turn itself into a ship exporting country from present ship breaking one by giving due attention to the industry.

The Bangladesh economy is at present dependent on a few export items. It badly needs export diversification for its sustainable growth. The shipbuilding sector has the potential to expand the country’s export basket, fetching much-needed foreign currency as well as generating employment opportunities. With an aggressive marketing plan, the new breed of entrepreneurs is expected to obtain a notable slice of the 400 billion dollar global shipbuilding business. In order to meet buyers’ requirements in conformity with international standards, skill development is one of the pertinent issues that both entrepreneurs and the government do need to look into, concertedly.

Shipbuilding is predominantly a technology-driven sector. In this sector, constant improvement of engineering skill keeps one ahead of the others in competition. On its part, the government is pledge-bound to extend full support to the sector through reforming or enacting new policies. This pledge has to be translated into action in order to enable the shipbuilding sector to help lift the country’s image, besides earning precious foreign exchange.

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szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com