The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bangladesh Single Country Trade Fair in S'pore, KL in May BUSINESS REPORT Bangladesh Single Country Trade Fair will be held in Singapore from May 23 to 25 and in M

BUSINESS REPORT

A training workshop on 'Managerial Skills Development for Women Entrepreneurs' (WE) was organised at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly with BRAC Bank Ltd with a view to enhancing managerial skills of women entrepreneurs in commemoration of the International Women's Day-2008.

The objectives of the workshop are to enhance capacities of women entrepreneurs so that they can be successful both at home and abroad with competitive products.

General Manager of Bangladesh Bank Dasgupta Ashim Kumar was present in the inaugural session to inform the women entrepreneurs about the willingness of Bangladesh Bank to help them in getting finance.

He informed that Bangladesh Bank has a refinancing scheme in operation of Tk 1.0 billion (Tk 100 crore) to be disbursed to women entrepreneurs at a lower interest rate.

The decisions of Bangladesh Bank in that respect is that if a scheduled bank provides loan to SME women entrepreneurs at 5.0 per cent interest rate, the BB will refinance them at the bank rate of 5.0 per cent.

He informed that though BRAC Bank had been successful in disbursing SME loan to women entrepreneurs, they were not taking the benefits of refinancing provided by the Bangladesh Bank.

He said the Bangladesh Bank is ready to extend any sort of advisory services to the SME entrepreneurs and specifically women entrepreneurs.

Safina Rahman, a successful women entrepreneur and coordinating director of Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED) and Product Diversification Standing Committee (S/C), while elaborating the role of the SMEs informed DCCI's activities in collaborating and counseling women entrepreneurs to build their capacities. She informed that women are born managers and have inherent qualities to be a successful manager.

Omar Faruque, former director and convener WED and Product Diversification S/C of DCCI spelt out the objectives of the Women's Day and said if we are not organised and unified it is not possible to advocate and lobby at the highest level of the bureaucracy to acknowledge the role of women entrepreneurs

The programme was moderated by Ms Ferdaus Ara Begum, additional secretary of DCCI who spoke about the historical perspectives of the observation of International Women's Day (IWD). She further informed that in some developed and developing countries, IWD was declared a holiday.

"We may also advocate declaring the day as a holiday with an objective of recognizing the role of women in the economic development," she added.

International Jute Study Group Conference held in Hanoi

BUSINESS REPORT

A four member delegation headed by Md. Rezaul Karim, Chairman, Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA), went to Hanoi, Vietnam to attend the 8th meeting of the Private Sector Consultative Board (PSCB) of International Jute Study Group (IJSG) held on 17-18 March.The other delegates were SK. Farook Hossain, Sr. Vice-Chairman, Arzu Rahman Bhuiyan, Vice-Chairman and Mahfuzul. Hoque, Advisor BJA. The delegates attended the meeting ahead of schedule. The meeting started and ended successfully with the participation of invited participants.

The Chairman BJA presented delivery giving emphasis to declare raw jute as agricultural product. It may be mentioned here that during the meeting of the PSCB of IJSG held in Kolkata on 06-07 August 2007, it was noted in the proceeding that on request of the jute producing countries, the Board decided to request the respective Governments to declare Jute as Agricultural Product.

The same idea was produced in the meeting of Hanoi Vietnam where the Jute producing countries came under one opinion. The Chairman of the PSCB informed the meeting that steps have been taken to request the respective Governments for implementation of the recommendation. At the end of the meeting the new Board of PSCB for the year 2008 and 2009 was formed with K.R. Hassan as Chairman and Md. Rezaul Karim as one of the Vice-Chairmen and the other Vice-Chairman from India. The rest Vice-Chairman will be either from Pakistan or from Switzerland.

The BJA delegates had a meeting with the Vietnam Jute production Import Export Association (VIJUAS) and successfully concluded discussion with the office bearers of that Organisation regarding more export of Raw Jute from Bangladesh.

The delegates returned to Dhaka on 23- March.

Premier Bank launches new savings product

BUSINESS REPORT

The Premier Bank Ltd has launched a new savings product styled 'Premier 50 Plus' in honour of the senior citizens whose high profile contribution to the nation brightens the country's pride on the occasion of the Independence Day.

The marketing innovation is a smart introduction of a new member in the evergreen avenue of its deposit products. 'Premier 50 Plus' offers a higher interest rate on the account with no service fees, according to a press release. The launching ceremony of the new savings product was held at Iqbal Centre at Banani in the city on Monday.

Vice Chairman of the bank BH Haroon inaugurated the new savings product, 'Premier 50 Plus'. Director of the bank Abdus Salam Murshedy was also present on the occasion.

Speaking at the ceremony as the chief guest, the vice-chairman expressed his satisfaction at the progress of the bank.

Managing Director of the Bank Khondker Fazle Rashid also spoke on the occasion.

Additional Managing Director of the bank Md Mokhlesur Rahman and other high officials from different branches and the head office of the bank were also present on the occasion.

Sudan keen to recruit Bangladeshi manpower

BUSINESS REPORT

Sudan is keen to recruit Bangladeshi manpower as the Sudanese economy has reached the take-off stage, reports BSS.

Visiting Sudanese Ambassador Daffa Alla Elhag Ali Osman said this when he called on Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at the latter's office Thursday morning, according to a press release.

The ambassador, who is residing in Islamabad of Pakistan, has also handed over the draft of an agreement on 'political understanding', which is expected to be signed between the two countries shortly.

The envoy lauded the Bangladeshi peacekeepers in southern Sudan and said more peacekeepers from the 'hybrid' force in Darfur would be welcome.

Iftekhar recalled his discussion with Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Elsamani Elwasila Elsamani in Dakar on the sidelines of the 11th OIC Summit and congratulated the ambassador on the Sudan-Chad peace accord that was signed in Dakar recently.

Certificate giving of skills dev of Women Entrepreneur's held

The role of SME Women Entrepreneur's to the economic development was highlighted at the closing ceremony of the International Women's Day (IWD) - 2008 observed jointly by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) & BRAC Bank Limited (BBL) on March 2. Khandaker Shahidul Islam, Vice-President, DCCI awarded certificates to the women entrepreneurs In his speech he said that women are the 50% of the total population and their role cannot be neglected in the economic development of the country. He said DCCI has enough respect on the observation of IWD and that's why DCCI organised the training workshop on "Managerial Skills Development for ,Women Entrepreneurs" In commemoration of IWD - 2008.

While explaining the role of BBL for SME women entrepreneurs development, he said, the bank can consider extending loans to an entrepreneur at the same time when an individual entrepreneur is having loans of similar types from other banks.

Farzana Chowdhury, Head of SME, BBL informed about their willingness to develop more and more new SME entrepreneurs.

She said, giving loan to entrepreneurship development is not the only objectives of the Bank, they are also willing to organise need-based training instead of general training. Ms. Safina Rahman, Director and Coordinating Director of Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED) Development & Product Diversification (PD) Standing Committee. DCCI Omar Faruque, Convenor, and Luna Shamsuddoha, Co-convenor, WED & PD SIC, 2008, also spoke on the occasion.

A small question - answer session was held where women entrepreneurs raised several points in regard to getting finance & marketing their products & requirement of other necessary consultancy & advisory services from bank and trade supporting organising like DCCI.

Ferdaus Ara Begum, Addl. Secretary (R&P), DCCI moderated the session & requested women entrepreneurs to raise their problems so that DCCI & BRAC Bank Ltd. can jointly design programmes which is required by them.

ICB announces NAV of two unit funds

BUSINESS REPORT

ICB Asset Management Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), announced the Net Asset Value (NAV) of ICB AMCL Unit Fund and ICB AMCL Pension Holders' Unit Fund Thursday. It also announced the sale and the re-purchase prices of the two unit funds.

The NAV of ICB AMCL Unit Fund stood at Tk 59,89,40,390.75 on the basis of cost price and Tk 82,79,34,033.11 on the basis of market price at the close of business operation on March 24, 2008.

The NAV per unit stood at Tk 136.02 on the basis of cost price and Tk 188.02 on the basis of current market price on the same day against the face value of Tk 100.00 per unit after taking into consideration all assets and liabilities of the fund.

On the other hand, the sale and the re-purchase prices of the ICB AMCL Unit certificate have been re-fixed at Tk 191.00 and Tk 188.00 per unit respectively with effect from March 30, 2008.

The NAV of ICB AMCL Pension Holders' Unit Fund stood at Tk 7,23,95,589.52 on the basis of cost price and Tk 10,30,51,485.27 on the basis of market price at the close of business operation on the day.

The NAV per unit stood at Tk 118.24 on the basis of cost price and Tk 168.31 on the basis of current market price on the same day against the face value of Tk 100.00 per unit after taking into consideration all assets and liabilities of the fund.

The sale and the re-purchase prices of the 1CB AMCL Pension Holders' Unit certificate have been re-fixed at Tk 171.00 and Tk 168.00 per unit respectively with effect from March 30, 2008.

Manila keen to expand bilateral trade with Dhaka

BUSINESS REPORT

The newly appointed ambassador of the Philippines Ms Zenaida Tacorda-Rabago, made a courtesy call on Adviser for Foreign Affairs Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at his office in the city Thursday morning.

The adviser welcomed the envoy to her new assignment and assured her of the ministry's fullest support.

Chowdhury recalled his visit to Manila in connection with the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and thanked the Philippines government for the support in obtaining Bangladesh's membership of the body.

They discussed the prospects of more trade between the two countries. There is ample scope for the Philippines to import Pharmaceuti-cals from Bangladesh, the ambassador told the foreign adviser.

Fund Raising Ball by PTA, International School Dhaka

The Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of International School Dhaka hosted their annual Fund Raising Ball at the Radisson Hotel recently. The ISD PTA is a voluntary organisation of teachers and parents, that in addition to assisting the school authority in various ways, also engage in charitable work. Speaking on the occasion, Stephen Murray, the CEO of ISD felicitated ISD PTA for their hard work and reiterated lSD's policy to ensure students participation in helping the local community. Richard Tangye, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Council of International School (CIS), was also present and enumerated the IB (International Baccalaureate) philosophy of education which ISD is imparting. He stated that it is compulsory for students of ISD undertaking an IB diploma course to earn CAS hours (Community Action & Service) prior to getting their diploma.

Ms Lubna Hussain, President of ISD PTA, affirmed helping school children as one of the important agenda of the PTA and joined the guests of honor in handing over a cheque of Tk.2 (two) lakh to save the Children UK towards reconstruction of Sidr devastated community schools in Shoronkhola, Bagerhat. The cheque was received by Mr. Suman Sengupta, Country Director of Save the Children UK.