The New Nation - Internet Edition

IBBL handles Tk 72,719m forex in two months

BUSINESS REPORT

Islami bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) handled a foreign exchange business amounting Tk 72,719 million during the two months end as on February 29, 2008, showing a growth rate of 104 per cent against the corresponding period of the previous year.

The amount of import in the period was Tk 37,641 million, registering a growth rate of 155 per cent; export was Tk.14,924 million with a growth rate of 47 per cent and remittance was Tk.20,154 million registering a growth rate 89 per cent against the corresponding period of previous year.

The total deposit stood at Tk 169,904 million and total investment at Tk 179,478 million during the period.

This was disclosed in a review meeting held at the Board Room of the Bank in the city on Saturday.

Chairman of IBBL board of directors Prof Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher inaugurated the meeting as the chief guest, while Executive President M. Fariduddin Ahmad presided over it.

The meeting was attended, among others, by senior executives of its head office, heads of Dhaka central, north and south zones and managers of Dhaka City branches, including Mohd Shamsul Haque, Mohammad Abdul Mannan and Md. Habibur Rahman, deputy executive presidents, of the bank.

Mominul Islam Patwary, chairman of the bank's executive committee, was present as the chief guest in the concluding session.

Prof Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher said in his speech as the chief guest that Islami Bank has tremendous demand in home and abroad as it now reached the position of a global bank.

He called upon the officials to make the bank as a people's bank so that the people of the country may think it as their own bank-"My Bank".

He stressed the decentralisation of the wealth of the society and called upon bankers for diversification of investment.

1.66 lakh hectares brought under Boro cultivation in Netrakona

UNB, Netrakona

Some 1.66 lakh hectares of land have been brought under Boro paddy cultivation in 10 upazilas of the district in the current season exceeding the target of 1.44 hectares. The upazilas are Sadar, Atpara, Madan, Mohonganj, Khaliajuri, Kalmakanda, Durgapur, Barhatta, Kendua and Purbadhala. Sources said farmers have brought more lands under cultivation exceeding the target to recoup the losses caused by three consecutive floods during last year's Aman season. Department of Agricultural Extension sources said steps have been taken to ensure supply of quality seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs at fair prices to make the scheme a success.

Thai food festival begins at Westin Dhaka Hotel

BUSINESS REPORT

Finance and Planning Adviser Dr AB Mirza Md Azizul Islam, inaugurated 'Taste of Thailand,' the Thai Food Festival as the chief guest at The Westin Grand Ballroom Saturday evening.

The festival will be continued at Westin's all day dining restaurant Taste from up to March 18, 2008 for dinner.

Guests can enjoy the sophisticated and authentic taste of Thai food exclusively prepared by a group of imported chefs from Thailand. They can encounter not only the delicious cuisine but also the atmosphere specially created for your pleasure by a cultural troupe from Thailand who will demonstrate the traditional Thai way of life.

What could be the better way to start other than refreshing salads and soups? Salads are fiery, aromatic and crispy, with grilled meat or fish, fresh fruit or vegetables, chili peppers and leafy spices. Dressings often combine sweet, sour and spicy, mixing together ingredients such as tamarind, lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, fresh basil or cilantro leaves and sugar. Guests can enjoy an array of revitalising salads and starters from a range of sweet soy & ginger salmon roll & Red Chilli Nahn Jim, Fish Cake, Fried Tofu, Spicy Minced Chicken Salad, Vegetable Spring Roll. Why not try Thai Seafood Broth or hot and spicy Tom Tam King soup?

Guests can take a new course in dinner, a Thai dinner usually consists of a number of seasoned dishes and condiments served with rice. Rice is the centerpiece of the meal, and all dishes balance each other in flavor and texture. For example, in a green curry, the sharp, piquant chilies and spices and eggplant are tempered by sweet coconut milk and palm sugar. Thai foods have strong, hot flavors. They're marked by a wide range of tastes, textures, temperatures and colors, which are balanced to provide variety and harmony in a meal. An ideal Thai meal balances spicy, sour, salty, sweet, bitter and hot sensations, while also pleasing the palate, nose and eye. Try chef's exquisite Chilli Duck with Holy Basil, Green Curry, Jungle Crab Curry & Coriander.

A Thai meal is usually followed by a variety of fresh-cut fruits. More elaborate sweet desserts such as pumpkin custard, ice cream topped with peanuts, Lychee Sticky Rice with Coconut Milk or Banana/Plum Syrup or Spicy Glutinous Pearl.

The festival will certainly inspire the food lover to elevate their senses of food and culture. Engage in various activities of the "Taste of Thailand" event during 9-18 March 2008 at the Westin Dhaka, including; Thai Food Buffet Dinner daily from 9-18 March 2008 and also win round trip ticket to Thailand.

During the festival the culinary experts will also coach how to prepare authentic Thai Cuisine among around 50 local chefs for 4-day from March 9, as well as how to do live culinary performance The art of cooking Thai food could be as old as the Kingdom itself, which is more than 7 centuries. Such skills have been passed from one generation to another, and have been improved and elaborated from time to time. Ingredient preparation techniques and cutting, shaping and marinating methods are important preliminary stages before frying, grilling, stewing, steaming or roasting.

The Food Festival is jointly brought by The Westin Dhaka and The Royal Thai Embassy. Channel-I the popular TV channel, ICE Today the leading life style magazine are the media partners, where as Rashed Kanchan Corporation is the event partner and GMG and Thai Airways International is the Airline partner.

Citibank opts for GP Business Solutions

BUSINESS REPORT

Grameenphone Ltd has signed an agreement with Citibank N.A. Bangladesh recently to provide complete communication facilities under its Business Solutions package to Citi.

Grameenphone Business Solutions is an integrated telecommunications service specially designed for the business entities of Bangladesh, providing customised telecommunications solutions through a consultative approach, tailored to the needs of individual businesses or organisation.

The agreement was signed by Khondoker Rashed Maqsood, Director and Head of Global Transaction Services of Citibank, N.A. and Laszlo Barta, Director, Sales of Grameenphone, on behalf of their respective organisations.

Abrar A. Anwar, Acting Citi Country Officer, Bangladesh, Arif al Islam, Chief Financial Officer of Grameenphone, Saad M Faizul Karim, Head of Corporate Accounts of Grameenphone along with other senior officials from both the organisations remained present during the occasion.

Grameenphone Business Solutions, comprising modern mobile telecommunications services for any business, needs, provides voice, text messaging and mobile data and internet services. Also an offer is a complete Mobile-Office solution, including mobile email, mobile high-speed data access, internet access, mobile fax and more, providing the freedom to work from anywhere within Grameenphone's wide network coverage.

In addition to these facilities provided by Grameenphone Business Solutions package, Citibank N. A. is also enjoying the state-of-the-art technology of Blackberry Services offered by Grameenphone.

According to the agreement, Citibank is being provided complete communications solutions tailored to the needs of its members, including voice, data and other services. Citi will use the services to further improve communication amongst its different branches, at an affordable cost.

Citi, as a global leader in banking, capital markets, and transaction services, with a presence in more than 100 countries, enables clients to achieve their strategic financial objectives by providing them with cutting-edge ideas, best-inclass products and solutions, and unparalleled access to capital and liquidity. At present Citibank has four branches and two Offshore Banking units in the Export Processing Zones in both Dhaka and Chittagong.

Premier Bank monthly managers' meet held

BUSINESS REPORT

The Monthly Managers' Meeting of the Premier Bank Limited was held at Bank's Executive Floor, Head Office on March 8 last. Managing Director of the bank Khondker Fazle Rashid was present in the meeting as chief guest.

Knondker Fazle Rashid expressed his satisfaction about the progress made by the bank. All participants vowed to work yet harder to bring about improvements in customer services in the coming days.

The Managing Director in his speech urged the branch managers to fulfill the budgetary target for the year 2008 and he also stressed on selection of potential borrowers and recovery of overdue and write-off loan on priority basis.

Among others, Additional Managing Director Md. Mokhlesur Rahman was present on the occasion. All branch managers and divisional heads in Head Office were also present at the meeting.

DBBL holds Smile Brighter programme in Rangpur

BUSINESS REPORT

Under the DBBL Smile-Brighter Programme, Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited organised a four day-long plastic surgery operation camp at the bank's own cost at Prime Specialised Hospital in Rangpur district town.

A plastic surgery team consisting of 10 members headed by the eminent plastic surgeon Dr. Sharif Hasan conducted the operation.

About 250 cleft-lipped boys and girls of the poor parents were enlisted for operation, and out of which, 150 were successfully operated to bring back enduring smile on their faces at this camp and the rest will be operated very soon.

Dr. Mozammel Hossain Khan, Medical Consultant of Dutch-Bangia Bank visited the operation camp and inquired about the operated cleft-lipped boys and girls on March 5 last.

In this connection, a discussion meeting was arranged at Prime Specialised Hospital compound on March 5 where the parents of cleft-lipped boys and girls, journalists, local doctors were present. Eminent physician Prof Dr Azizul Islam, Principal, Rangpur Medical College Hospital presided over the function. Renowned surgeon Dr. Akkas Ali Serkar, project director, Prime Specialized Hospital, Rangpur, Dr Allen, CEO, Jibita, a socio-welfare organisation of John Hopkins University USA, Prof. Dr Nowajesh Sharif, head, Department of Cardiology, RMCH, Prof. Dr. Khalequzzaman, eye specialist, RMCH, Prof. Dr MA Wahed, child specialist, RMCH were spoke on the function.

Citycell, East West University hold seminar on Career Dev

BUSINESS REPORT

Citycell and Business Administration Department of East West University jointly organised a seminar on "Career Development". The seminar was held at the university premises recently.

The Human Resources Director of Citycell, M. Zulfiquar Hussain conducted the session. At the beginning of the session Hussain gave a brief overview on Citycell and also discussed the recent developments of the company. In this lively and interactive presentation, he gave the students a roadmap on career development. He mainly emphasized the various steps of career development and also discussed the competencies and leadership factors that are required for business graduates to become successful in the professional life. Around 250 students from East West University attended the seminar. This seminar was chaired by S.I Nusrat A Chowdhury - Associate Professor, Head of Career Counseling Center and Nahid Hasan Khan - Assistant Professor, Deputy Director of Career Counseling Center from East West University. The other faculties of East West University were also present in the seminar. S.I Nusrat A Chowdhury gave special thanks to Citycell for co-hosting this event.

Beger Paints, Youngone sign MoU

BUSINESS REPORTER

Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited, the absolute market leader in Bangladesh paint industry, and Youngone, one of the leading foreign investors in Bangladesh, signed a MoU in an auspicious moment at Berger House on March 4 last. With this arrangement, Berger Paints will provide special prices, services and solutions to Youngone. Abdul Khalek, Director--Finance and Company Secretary from Berger Paints (BD) Limited and Engr Mohd Ashadullah, Executive Director from Youngone signed the MoU on behalf of their respective companies.

Among others Mohsin Habib Chowdhury, GM Sales and Marketing, A K M Sadeque Nawaj, Marketing Manager and Imranul Kabir, Manager--Industrial & Marine from Berger and Arif M Habib Dllah Khan--Director, Administration, and Abu Nasar Md. Ataullah-Deputy Manager, Commercial from Youngone were also present.

DCCI celebrates 50th founding anniversary

BUSINESS REPORT

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) on Saturday celebrated its 50th founding anniversary and chalked out a year-long programme. On March 8, 1958, the DCCI was founded through unification of Old Dhaka Muslim Chamber and United Chamber under the Companies Act 1913. "We have also taken steps to celebrate the 400 years of Dhaka, which was declared a capital city in 1608," Hossain Khaled, DCCI president said at a press briefing in the city.

"While celebrating our past we cannot forget our uncertain future. Bangladesh business has now reached a crossroad and unless it re-invents itself it will not be able to reap the benefits of globalisation," he said, adding for this purpose, the DCCI is initiating for the first time ever, to brand businesses of Bangladesh.

He said the business community feels that the country would lose out in having access to important markets and adding value to local products unless the business of Bangladesh follows some high standards.

As part of the year-long programmes, Hossain said top events would be holding two economic seminars on trade, commerce and investment in September and October.

He said the UK minister for Trade, Digby Jones, is expected to participate in the seminar leading a delegation of non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in September to discuss future British investment in Bangladesh.

Another international economic seminar that will be held at the end of October will discuss topical issues on trade to draw the attention of government high-ups, politicians and trade bodies both at home and abroad, including countries of Europe, Far East and the USA, Hossain said.

In commemoration of the golden jubilee, he said the DCCI has arranged programmes that will reflect the tradition of Old Dhaka.

The programmes will include kite-flying competition on March 29, competition on Old Dhaka jokes, and a quiz contest on the commercial history of Dhaka and DCCI on TV channels, rickshaw race in the middle of September in a city thoroughfare and food festival.