Local brands go global

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/mar/28/busi.html#1

Local brands go global

Kazi Azizul Islam

Made in Bangladesh battery Volta is now a popular brand name in India and Thailand, and in Djibouti and Ghana, many admire Pran, a Bangladeshi brand for juice and snacks.

Harrods sells Kazi and Kazi, organic tea, and it is being served at Tokyo’s prestigious Sheraton Hotel while furniture designed by Otobi stuns the brand-conscious western shoppers in Kolkata.

The innovative Bangladeshi entrepreneurs and the executives behind the successful brands, who shared their experiences with New Age, point out the reliability and sustainability of brands and express their firm confidence that the brands can boost the country image.

Brand experts echo them as they list confidence, professionalism, strategic efforts of the industry and say the government can turn Bangladesh a high-value brand exporting country.

‘Establishment and operation of brands require long-time and rigorous process but once these are done, business gets sustainability,’ said Niaz Rahim, managing director of Rahimafrooz Group.

Battery manufacturing and marketing is the major source of income of the Tk 1,400-crore plus Rahimafrooz Group. Last year it exported nearly half of its productions or 3 lakh automotive batteries to more than 25 countries.

‘After putting years of efforts on brand development, we are now getting benefits from foreign markets,’ Niaz said adding that his company could not meet even one-thirds of ready demands from overseas markets.

To feed overseas markets, Rahimafrooz’s new plant at Ishwardi EPZ will go into operation by June. This will be the south Asia’s largest export-oriented battery manufacturing plant with an annual production capacity of one million units at the first phase.

‘Confidence is the first thing that is required to building a brand, then determinations and investments,’ said Niaz, who, however, reminds, ‘If quality of the products is not assured persistently the brand will eventually die.’

Sabbir Hasan Nasir, the CEO of Otobi, says consistency in quality have helped them to become the leader in local market and to get the choosy buyers at foreign markets.

With a 35 per cent annual growth, Otobi enjoys more than half of the country’s Tk 500-crore market of brand furniture. Nasir says difference in designs and quality products at affordable and competitive prices keep them ahead of others.

Nasir shares a pleasing experience in opening of an Otobi outlets in Kolkata in mid-2008. ‘The western expatriates started comparing Otobi’s designs and finishing with European products and surprised how Otobi could offer so competitive prices,’ said Nasir, ‘Huge coverage in Indian media then allured choosy Kolkata shoppers to our shop.’

Recently Otobi has established a sophisticated furniture making plant at Ashulia near Dhaka that also uses solar energy as its commitment to environment.

‘Successful branding requires “We” approach,’ said Nasir.‘ For banding success, companies need to work like families.

‘Without having sustainable brands, sales at any business may grow for a time being but hard to sustain,’ said Kamruzzaman Kamal, the executive director of the Agriculture Marketing Company Limited-AMCL.

Juice, pickles, cookies and confectionaries in AMCL’s brand name Pran are now being shipped to more than 50 countries and sold in villages in north-east India to cities in many Middle Eastern and western countries.

Pran’s last year’s exports amounted at around $15 million which was more than half of Bangladesh’s total processed food export earning. The company employs 60 plus Bangladeshis abroad to operate its overseas business. Also it has a plan to set up a plant in India.

‘Pran’s plants in Africa or middle-east are not impossible projects in the future,’ Kamal said.

Kazi Anis Ahmed, CEO of the organic tea brand Kazi and Kazi, says products from Bangladesh have potentials to be premium brands, but building brands requires strategic and professional efforts.

After being approved by all standardisation tests, Kazi and Kazi tea was showcased at Harrods in London as a test case and received overwhelming response from consumers.

By 2008 Kazi and Kazi developed its large capacity to process and market premium segment tea at significant volumes and now shipped regularly to the USA, Japan and Korea.

‘Sri Lanka exports 10 times more tea than Bangladesh but earns 100 times more. It happens not for mere quality, but for branding mainly,’ says Anis.

Citing that India has brand tea produced in her different regions, Anis says tea produced in Sylhet and other regions should have brands.

Anis said his brand sells at $4 to $9 per kilogram in export markets while on average export price of Bangladeshi bulk tea is only $1.65.

‘Within a couple of years we will export more than 50 per cent of our garden outputs or one million kilograms of tea as brand item,’ Anis told New Age.

Shariful Islam, editor of the Bangladesh Brand Forum, traces that realisations on the prospects of branding were growing among local companies.

‘You think how many Indian brands were there in global markets a decade ago and how many are there now,’ says Sharif as he disagrees that Bangladeshis have made late in entering global markets with their own brands.’ The age of branding by Bangladeshi exporters has begun and it will go on.’

Professor Syed Farhat Anwar of the Institute of Business Administration in the University of Dhaka predicts that mission of branding would soon be started in apparel export sector as well.

‘All that needs here are seriousness and professionalism, and skills of peoples in the companies should be enhanced much so they can understand the demands and the behaviours of overseas markets,’ the brand expert suggests.

He stresses that the government and industry should work together for the development of the brands at global markets.

Barren land turned into Mandarin orchards

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/mar/21/busi.html#2

Barren land turned into Mandarin orchards

Like many of his neighbours, Achinta Kumar Karkun, a farmer of Sardarpara village under Boda upazila in Panchagarh district, picks Mandarin oranges from a tree at his orchard recently. — New Age photo

Abdur Rahim . Panchagarh

A large area in the northwestern district of Panchagarh that was almost barren just a few years ago has turned into Mandarin orange orchards.

The district now boasts of high quality Mandarin orange cultivated in around 67.49 hectares of land in Panchagarh Sadar, Tentulia, Boda, and Atwary upazilas, sources in the local horticulture centre said.

At present 11,998 farmers are involved in orange cultivation in the district who have planted 40,132 Mandarin orange trees of Darjeeling variety, said Asim Kumar Paul, orange cultivation development officer at the local horticulture centre.

He said, although at present around 20 metric tons of orange are harvested from those trees a year, the yield will rise to about 500 metric tons when all the trees start to bear fruits in four years time.

The colour, taste and size of the Panchagarh orange is better than that produced in other areas of the country and close to those produced in Shiliguri, North Dinajpur and Darjeeling of India and gets the highest price among all grades of orange put on regular auctions, Asim added.

The sources said, under an initiative of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute, DAE, and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council, agriculturalists and soil scientists tested the soil of Panchagarh in 2003 and found the land suitable for orange cultivation. A number of farmers then began test cultivation of orange at their homesteads and found the yield and quality of the fruit better than anyone’s expectations.

Achinta Kumar Karkun, one of those farmers, said, ‘I planted one orange tree given by the horticulture centre and it started to bear fruits after three years. In the fourth year the tree bore about 200 fruits. Then I brought and planted 15 more saplings in a fallow land. The yield is really good and I am making a good profit.’

At least 68 hectares of land can be brought under Mandarin orange cultivation in the district, according to a survey conducted by the horticulture centre, the sources said.

Asim said, ‘This region is suitable for Mandarin orange plantation. The climate is favourable. If the government lends adequate support in expanding orange cultivation, Panchagarh might be able to meet one-third of the country’s demand for orange, which would save a significant amount of foreign currency for importing the fruit.’

Commercial farming of strawberry starts in Rajshahi

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/feb/06/home.html#1

Commercial farming of strawberry starts in Rajshahi
Newly evolved variety finds way to posh markets
Shoumitra Mazumdar . Rajshahi

Commercial cultivation of strawberry has begun in Rajshahi with a new variety going on sale in posh markets in Dhaka.

Dr Manjur Hossain, a teacher of the Botany Department of Rajshahi University, evolved the variety which is suitable for cultivation in local climate.

He first started growing of the variety on his three bigha land this year.

The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by him is now being supplied to posh markets in the capital Dhaka.

With farmer-level price of around Tk 300 per kg, the commercially potential fruit will have a bigger market locally and benefit farmers enormously, the pioneer said while talking to New Age recently.

The new variety of strawberry can be harvested within two and a half months of its plantation and a farmer can earn around Tk 4 lakh by farming it on one bigha of land with an expenditure of only Tk 20,000, he said.

Besides being taken as a fruit, it has a good use in preparing ice-cream, jam, jelly, pickle, chocolate, biscuit, cake or milkshake.

Dr Manjur had brought home saplings of eight varieties in 1996 while returning from Japan where he completed his PhD.

He evolved some new varieties through tissue culture at the Plant Breeding and Gene Engineering Laboratory under his department.

Dr Manjur carried out a field-level experiment at Akafuji Nursery at Bhadra in Rajshahi city.

In 2003, three varieties yielded encouraging results and were found suitable in local climate.

Out of the three, RU-3 and Modern-3 varieties were found very impressive in size, taste and flavour.

‘We found best results last year in hilly areas at Matiranga Army Zone where the 26 Cavalry Division produced quality strawberries from 200 saplings’, Dr Manjur said.

Strawberry cultivation is as easy as growing potatoes or aborigines. Saplings can be planted in rows in the period between November and December.

The plants start flowering within one month of plantation and fruits can be collected till March.

Each plant bears around 250 to 300 grams of fruit and some 6000 plants can be grown on one bigha of land, Dr Manjur said.

Now traders import strawberry from Thailand and Australia at Tk 900 to Tk 1200 per kg. Strawberry essence is also imported.

The country can earn huge foreign currencies from strawberry export if its commercial farming starts at national level, Dr Manjur hoped.

Plum cultivation gaining popularity

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=71661

They eye changing lot with plum cultivation

Three once unemployed youths at Arappur village on the outskirts of Jhenidah town are now eyeing change of their lot through plum cultivation.

Getting inspiration from advertisements in the television and other media, the three youths — Hazi Abdul Hamid, Atiar Rahman and Pattar Ali undertook a project titled ‘Friends Project’ on two acres of land at nearby Gayashpur village.

Cultivating baukul, apple kul, Thai kul and other hybrid varieties of plum there, the three friends are now a source of inspiration for many others in the area.

Now they look after the orchard by turn, working along with the labourers, with dream of success.

Visiting Gayashpur village, one may see a lively atmosphere as traders from different bazaars flock the orchard to purchase plum while interested farmers from different areas come to see the farm and enquire about the profitable plantation.

“Planting about eight hundred saplings of plum on two acres of land and nurturing them till maturity cost Tk 2 lakh 50 thousand. If the weather remains favourable we will get 25/30 kg per plum tree,” said the three innovative farmers.

The cost this year is relatively high as a good amount has been spent for planting saplings and their nurturing, putting fertiliser etc but the cost will be much lesser the next year, they said.

“If we get good profit this year we will extend our plantation next year. Every plum tree will yield at least 25/30 kg of fruit. We expect to get 25 thousand kg from 800 plum trees and sell it at around Tk 6 lakh. If it so happens, our profit will stand at around Tk 3 lakh 50 thousand,” they told this correspondent.

“Many locals visit the large plum garden out of curiosity. We have already sold 1,100 kg of plum worth around Tk 62 thousand and expect to get around Tk 5 lakh 50 thousand more by selling plum. Saha Nursery of Jhenidah town has helped the friends in planting plum trees,” Atiar Rahman said.

Strawberry flavours export dream

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=71174

Strawberry flavours export dream

The Quantum Foundation authorities in Rajshahi bought over 1,000 strawberry plants for Tk 20,000 a month ago. They spent a further Tk 13,000 cultivating a fallow eight decimal pieces of land in Shitlai Kazipur area. They are now waiting to cash nearly Tk 2 lakh, six times the amount they invested, by selling 250kg of the lip-smacking fruit, in just 10 days.

“Strawberry cultivation is relatively new in the country, but it is not difficult. It spins money,” said Muzahidul Islam Zahid, an official of the foundation.

“For the first time I have cultivated the fruit.”

Major Hafizur Rahman Mollah, deputy inspector general of prisons for the Rajshahi division, cultivated some 2,500 strawberry plants at the Rajshahi Central Jail property, six months ago.

The jail authorities have spent over Tk 50,000 on the cultivation and now sell 1,000 saplings for Tk 70,000. Also, they are set to sell around 600kg of the fruit at an expected Tk 4.20 lakh.

“Attracted by the economic viability of the fruit, I made necessary arrangements on the jail premises, so that jail inmates can learn the tricks of the trade and adopt them later in their lives,” Major Hafiz told The Daily Star.

M Shahidullah, a local agent of Holcim Ltd, has also cultivated strawberries recently. Strawberries are also being farmed by at least 25 other individuals in Rajshahi — for the first time this season.

By cultivating 1.5 tonnes of strawberries on a leased plot at Rajshahi University, botany teacher Dr M Manzur Hossain is expected to sell 10 tonnes of strawberries, worth around Tk 70 lakh, by March.

Strawberry farming is already in motion in 30 districts in the country. With the average price of a kilogram of the fruit standing at Tk 700, the commercially viable fruit presents great export potentials and ushers in economic prospects for those who wish to get high and fast returns from limited land resources, according to pioneers in the field.

Originating in the US, the crop is usually grown in Europe and Australia. It gained popularity in parts of Japan and tropical India. Each year, a global production of about 30 lakh tonnes of strawberries on two lakh hectares of land was recorded in the FAOSTAT Database.

The country has demand for 50 tonnes of strawberries per season, which local traders import from different countries including the US, Thailand and Australia. Strawberries are usually eaten raw or used in preparing ice creams, jams, jellies, pickles, chocolates, biscuits, cakes and milk shakes.

The strawberry, a nutritious and delicious foreign fruit, is now adapted to the Bangladeshi climate. It was registered with the National Seed Board recently, following its successful experimental cultivation at Rajshahi and the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute in Joydevpur, said Dr Shafikul Islam, senior scientific officer of Rajshahi Fruit Research Centre.

The government experiments started in 2006 and three years later, Manzur developed several new varieties adapted to the local climate. Another horticulturist, Quamruzzaman of Natore, experimented with the fruits’ field results and successfully took it to market.

Many visitors from different parts of the country are now thronging to their strawberry fields. Over 150 people from 30 districts started cultivating the fruit. The Bangladesh Strawberry Association (BAS) was formed with Manzur as its chairman, to fuel the growth of the cultivation.

Strawberry cultivation was successful in the hilly Matiranga Army Zone in Cox’s Bazar last year. This year, many fresh initiatives were taken to develop the trade in Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Tangail, Rangpur, Kurigram, Mymensingh, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Jessore, Magura, Faridpur, Madaripur and many areas around Dhaka.

In the early 1990s, Dr Manzur was in Japan, pursuing his PhD, when Quamruzzaman joined him in a one-year training session. They together planned the cultivation of the fruit in the country.

Returning home in 1996, Manzur brought along eight varieties of saplings and Quamruzzaman collected six varieties from Japan and America. But none of them sustained.

A breakthrough occurred when Manzur developed some new varieties through tissue cultures at his Botany department’s Plant Breeding and Gene Engineering Laboratory, while Quamruzzaman did the same in Natore.

In 2003, after five years of research, three varieties yielded encouraging results. Out of the three, the ‘RU-3′ and ‘Modern-3′ variety proved to be very impressive in all aspects of size, taste, and flavour, with each fruit weighing from 20 to 25 grams. At present, the methods are now more developed, following successful cultivation over the last five years.

Strawberry cultivation is no difficult from growing potatoes or brinjals. Saplings are sown into prepared beds of matted rows in November and December. Pioneers also inform that organic fertiliser is best for the fruit.

Strawberry plants begin to flower within a month of plantation and fruits can be collected till March. Saplings can be collected from nurseries run by Dr Manzur and Quamruzzaman in Natore. Different NGOs are also producing strawberry saplings.

Each plant bears around 250 to 300 grams of fruits and some 6000 plants can be grown on a bigha of land, they say. A farmer can spend Tk 20,000 to yield 2000 kg fruit on a bigha of land. “Even if strawberries sell at Tk 100 a kg, a farmer can easily earn Tk 2 lakh,” said Manzur.

“I experimented at first by selling 35 kg of strawberries at Tk 300 a kg in 2006. In 2007, he sold 87 kg at Tk 550 per kg, gradually increasing the business in this manner,” Manzur said. This year he expects 1.5 tonnes of strawberries from some 6000 plants.

With great export potential, the sweet and attractive fruit will open new horizons for farmers, he told The Daily Star.

Local fruit importers and foreigners, who visited Manzur’s strawberry field, comment that the produce was better in size, colour and taste than those found in many other countries.

Quamruzzaman hopes some 8,000 strawberry plants in his nursery will yield more than two tonnes of produce. He even sold good quality strawberries at Tk 2,000 per kg in Dhaka last year.

“I recently planted two new varieties from America Camarosa and Festival. Each fruit of the export quality varieties would weigh about 50 grams,” he says. Other strawberry varieties usually weigh around 25 grams.

However, strawberry cultivation is still lacking government initiatives, which resists expansion, although the trade was registered in the country last year.

“The fruit will no doubt be a profitable crop for farmers. If it is grown on a large scale, the highly nutritious fruit will come within the reach of the common people. There will be no need for imports,” said Manzur.

“Once it is popularised, the fruit can play a role in alleviating poverty and help overcome problems associated with malnourishment,” said Quamruzzaman.

anwar.ali@thedailystar.net

Lobster cultivated commercially for first time in sweet water

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=110894

Lobster cultivated commercially for first time in sweet water
GOLAM MOSTAFA JIBON, Sirajganj

Jan 9: A fisherman has surprised people in the region by cultivating lobster commercially for the first time in sweet water in greater Chalan Beel area of Sirajganj district.

Many fishermen have become inspired and are showing interest in cultivating lobster in their ponds. The fishery officers also foresee bright future in this sector here, as there is huge possibility of economic development by cultivating lobster in the hundreds of sweet water ponds of greater Chalan Beel and its adjoining areas.

The fishery department has honoured the fisherman Saiful Islam who cultivated lobster in his seven-bigha pond with his own effort, with a award.

Saiful Islam, son of late Khandaker Ali Akbar of Tarash upazila, was unemployed and for want of necessary funds, could not be successful in any business. As a result, it became tough for him to meet the expenditures of his family, which increased day by day, as he turned father of two sons.

In course of time, he came to know about fish cultivation. As he had no funds, he started to move door to door for assistance, but nobody came forward to help him.

At last, he was compelled to sell some gold ornaments of his wife. With the money, he took lease a pond nearby his house and started Thai Pangash cultivation in 2005. With the help of local traders, he was able to procure necessary fish feed. He was able to earn a good profit after a few months.

Following this success, his elder brother Khandakar Selim Jahangir, former director of GKS, a local NGO lent him money to go on cultivating fish. Within a short time he earned about Tk 5 lakh as net profit.

Hearing about his success, Jahangir Alam, a fish trader of Barisal district suggested him to cultivate lobster in sweet-water-ponds. With his suggestion and technical assistances, Saiful first took initiative to cultivate lobster in a seven bigha pond nearby his house in late July this year. First time he released about 30,000 shrimp fries in the pond.

During a recent visit to the Saiful’s shrimp firm, he told this correspondent that he used to invest about Tk 5 lakh to cultivate the Shrimp in Seven Bigha’s pond. He is prospecting to earn about Tk 15 lakh from the pond in upcoming December, where net profit would be about Tk 10 lakh, he said.

He further said, he applied some medicine as per instruction of fishery officers and used bamboo sticks, branches of coconut trees and date trees in the pond. To supply feed to the fish, he established a little fish feed plant near his farm.

Many people especially fish cultivators come to visit his farm everyday and express interest to establish such lobster farm, Saiful said.

Deputy Director of Rajshahi Divisional Fishery Office Shawkat Ali and Sirajganj District Fishery Officer Moniruzzaman visited his shrimp firm and expressed their satisfaction. They said, there are about 5,000 ponds in greater Chalan Beel area. If people utilise these small and large ponds to cultivate lobster like Saiful, this region will develop further economically.

Parboiled rice gains popularity

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=70053

Parboiled rice gains popularity

Mohammed Tara Mia, owner of a rice mill at Kaliakoir in Gazipur, has achieved a milestone by increasing his work efficiency and productivity. He now boasts cutting work cycle times by half, decreasing fuel and manpower requirements and being environment-friendly.

He owes his success to the use of the rice parboiling system in his mill.

The traditional boiling system took Tara Mia eight hours to boil 450 maunds of rice, whereas the improved system takes five hours to boil the same amount. Husking of the same amount through the traditional system costs him about Tk 4,000, but the latest adoption cuts the costs to Tk 2,000.

Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. It makes rice easier to process by hand, improves its nutritional profile and changes its texture. Today, it is the preferred rice for many in South Asia.

Polishing rice by hand, that is, removing the bran layer, is easier if the rice has been parboiled. It is, however, somewhat more difficult to process mechanically. The bran of parboiled rice is somewhat oily, and tends to clog machinery. Most parboiled rice is milled in the same way as white rice.

Parboiling rice drives nutrients, especially thiamine, from the bran into the grain, so that parboiled white rice is 80 percent nutritionally similar to brown rice.

The starches in parboiled rice become gelatinised, making it harder and glassier than other rice. Parboiled rice takes less time to cook, and the cooked rice is firmer and less sticky.

Parboiling is a hydrothermal treatment of paddy. Parboiled rice is ‘partially boiled’, that is partially cooked rice. In other words, parboiling means precooking of rice within the husk. Paddy is first hydrated, then heated to cook the rice and finally dried.

The improved system was introduced by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and German Technical Corporation (GTZ) in a combined effort.

Tara Mia, owner of Messer Russell Auto Dryer Rice Mill, said: “The main features of this developed technology are that it requires less fuel, creates less pollution, has inbuilt safety measures with safety bulb, and has pressure gauze and water level glass.”

“Besides comprising indigenous equipment, it is economically viable.”

Tara Mia has been using this improved parboiling system over the past year. It was a pilot project of the Sustainable Energy Development (SED) programme of GTZ.

A GTZ official said: “Although the new system is clearly more expensive (around Tk 3.5 lakh) than his previous system, the payback period of the new system is less than six months.”

“If 50,000 traditional parboiling systems — often risky — can be successfully replaced with the new technology, it will help prevent hundreds of deaths and injuries. It will also lead to a significant increase in energy resources in a country with one of the lowest per capita energy consumption levels in the world,” said Engineer Khursheed-ul-Islam, senior adviser for the SED programme.

Similar to this project, GTZ has been implementing some more SED programmes in Khulna, with financial support of KFW, a German bank, and a few other nongovernmental organisations.

Other GTZ projects

Improved cook stoves (ICS) constitute a major SED programme in Bangladesh. Manob Sheba O Shamajik Unnayan Shangstha (MSSUS) is working with GTZ and has introduced 2,000 especially designed stoves in Khulna.

Shirin Alam, a housewife in Khulna town, uses this new stove, which helps her save cooking time. “Previously I spent four hours cooking but now I can finish cooking with in two hours,” she says. The traditional stove consumed five mounds of fuel, over two months. Now, she now consumes the same amount of fuel over three months, and to top that, it emits no black smoke.

The underlying difference between the two technologies is that the new stove has separate passages for fuel and air to enter. It also utilises coal better, because the coal burns to ashes. The improved technology also has a chimney to emit black smoke out side the home.

Around one lakh ICSs have been dispersed by SED in the last one and a half years. Bangladesh has a huge market, around 2.5 crores, for this improved stoves, said Khursheed-ul-Islam.

Germany has extended a grant of 8.6 million euros to disseminate domestic biogas units in Bangladesh. The Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) will install 60,000 units by 2012, with 30 of their partner organisations, under KFW funding. The cost of one system varies between Tk 20,000 to Tk 38,500, depending on the actual size of the plant.

Morshed Chowdhury uses biogas for cooking, at price tag of Tk 25,000, in the company of four other households in his five-storey building at Hazi Mohsin Road, Khulna. Cow dung from eight cows is used to produce this biogas.

Bricks and cement mortar are used in constructing such an underground biogas unit. This fixed dome biogas unit is less susceptible to change due to weather than the floating dome type. It has low operation and maintenance costs and the quality of gas from the unit is similar to that of natural gas.

Saiful Islam, an alternative energy user, employs a solar energy system at his home near Muksedpur in Gopalganj, to light 11 bulbs and a fan. He spent Tk 72,000 on the solar energy system and has been using this system for the past three months. “I am bearing the investment cost by paying Tk 2,500 a month — in installments.”

The German government has extended a grant of 16.5 million euros to disseminate 3.80 lakh solar systems by 2012. IDCOL is implementing this project with its 15 partner organisations in Bangladesh and 1.20 lakh systems have already been installed.