The New Nation - Internet Edition

Beximco Pharma first Bangladeshi co to get GMP Clearance from TGA Australia

Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (BPL), the leading Bangladeshi pharmaceutical manufacturer and exporter, is pleased to announce that it has received approval (GMP Clearance) from Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia for its new Oral Solid Dosage (Tablet, Capsule), and the Metered Dose Inhaler and Spray manufacturing facilities. BPL is the first Bangladeshi company to receive this regulatory approval from TGA, Australia through a stringent facility audit process.

With an overall pharmaceutical market of around US 10 billion dollars, Australia is one of the richest pharmaceutical markets in the Asia-Pacific region and the 13th largest in the world. Its per capita spending on medicines is equivalent to top ranking European countries. Australia has a highly advanced healthcare system and has a substantial demand for all types of pharmaceuticals.

Australia is also one of the most highly regulated pharmaceutical markets in the world. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), a division of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, is the regulatory body responsible for conducting assessment and monitoring activities to ensure that therapeutic goods (including medicines, medical devices, gene technology, and blood products) available in Australia are of high standard. Under Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRA), TGA's Certificates of GMP Compliance are recognized by over 20 developed countries including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Beximco Pharma CEO Nazmul Hassan said:

"In our long history of more than 25 years, Beximco Pharma has always been the leader and the flagship of the Bangladesh pharmaceutical industry by setting new trends and exploring new horizons of export opportunities. In achieving GMP Clearance from a globally recognised regulatory authority like TGA Australia, BPL has crossed a very important milestone in its journey to become a global pharmaceutical company. This TGA approval puts Beximco Pharma in an elite group of manufacturers world-wide who have passed the rigorous quality standards of the Australian government, enabling the Company to manufacture and export medicines to Australia and numerous other countries in the developed world which recognise the standard."

Pubali Bank officers urged to render services with integrity

FINANCE REPORT

A two-day "Orientation Course" organised for newly recruited 225 officers of Pubali Bank Limited was held at the bank's auditorium in the capital recently.

Hafiz Ahmed Majumder, Chairman, Board of Directors of Pubali Bank Ltd was present as the chief guest while Managing Director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury presided over the inaugural ceremony of the orientation course. It may be mentioned that Pubali Bank is going to recruit 400 officers this year, out of which 175 officers have already been recruited.

Directors Moniruddin Ahmed, Giasuddin Ahmed, Habibur Rahman and Alternative Director Kabiruzzaman Yakub delivered their speeches as special guests.

Welcoming the newly recruited officers, Hafiz Ahmed Majumder, in his speech, advised them to render services to the customers with determination, integrity and professionalism. The Chairman also called upon them to be acquainted with the knowledge of modern technology to provide better services to customers.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury urged everyone to work sincerely and honestly. He advised everyone to equip himself or herself with diversified banking knowledge to cope with the present competitive global market.

He also added that one could become successful banker by exploring skills and talents at the highest level through applying themselves properly.

The Managing Director advised all officers to abide by the rules and regulations of their bank, Bangladesh Bank and other regulatory bodies since Pubali Bank is a very compliant bank.

General Manager of HRD Division AHM Badrul Alam delivered his speech on the occasion. He urged all officers to work with dedication and honestly.

Senior executives of Pubali Bank were also present on the occasion.

EBL arranges Tk 650m syndication loan for GPL

BUSINESS REPORT

Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) arranged an Information Memorandum (IM) launching ceremony for syndicated facility of Tk 650 million medium term loan/investment for General Pharmaceuticals Ltd (GPL), a manufacturer of pharmaceutical products since 1987.

A number of leading banks of the country joined this auspicious occasion of IM launching ceremony held at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on July 3 last. EBL is acting as the arranger for this transaction.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, MD and CEO of EBL expressed his appreciation to all the partners for showing interests on the transaction.

He assured that EBL would continue its efforts to bring quality transactions in the market. Dr Momenul Haq, MD, GPL gave an informative speech on the project and GPL's business prospect. Dr Sarah Momen, Director, GPL, Mir Zaki Azam Chowdhury, Director Marketing, GPL, Syed Rafiqul Haque, EVP and Area Head, Dhaka, EBL and other High Officials of GPL and EBL were present on the occasion.

Md Abdul Wadud, SVP and Head of Structured Finance, EBL presented the project proposal to all the prospective lenders followed by a question-answer session.

Karmasangsthan Bank holds meeting of clients in Jamalpur

A meeting of clients of Karmasangsthan Bank of Jamalpur Branch was held recently at Jamalpur with Md Dilwar Hossain Bhuiyan, General Manager in the chair. Md Sirajul Islam, Secretary to the President and Chairman, Board of Directors, Karmasangsthan Bank attended the meeting as the chief guest. Among others, Abdul Awal Howlader, Press Secretary to the President, Md Humayun Kabir, Managing Director of the bank, Deputy Commissioner, Jamalpur and Upzilla Nirbahi Officer, Jamalpur were present as special guests.

The clients lauded the role of Karmasangsthan Bank for transparent and quick delivery of credit.

In his speech, Md Sirajul Islam mentioned that the bank is delivering collateral free loan on simple terms and conditions.

At the end of the meeting eight cheques of sanctioned loans were handed over to the borrowers.

Co-op societies urged to work for country's development

STAFF REPORTER

Dhaka Central Co-operative Federation held its annual general meting and convocation of the newly elected managing committee at Institute of Diploma Engineers at Kakrail in the city on July 19 last.

On the occasion, ATM Fazlul Karim, Secretary for the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operative Division, was the chief guest.

Speaking on the occasion, he said all co-operative societies should work together for development of the country and government would help to improve all the co-operative societies as much as possible.

General Secretary of the federation and Managing Director of Ideal Co-operative Society Ltd HNM Shafiqur Rahman delivered the address of welcome on the occasion.

Co-operative Register and Additional Secretary Md Masud Elahi presented his speech as special guest.

Professor Dr Tofail Ahmed presented the main speech at the programme. Dhaka Central Co-operative Federation's president and Aziz Cooperative Commerce and Finance Credit Ltd Chairman M Tazul Islam presided over the meting. The newly elected managing committee members and all members of the federation were present.

Top officials of Delta Life Insurance leave for India

Nurul Huda, a Director of the Board, Das Deba Prashad, Managing Director and ABM Saiful Haque, Deputy Managing Director of Delta Life Insurance Company Ltd left for Mumbai, India yesterday. As a guest speaker Mr Das will deliver a speech on "Micro Insurance in Bangladesh: The growing life industry" in the 2nd Asian Conference on Micro Insurance to be held there on July 23-24 under the auspices of 'Asia Insurance Review', a Singapore-based renowned international journal.

Besides, they will also attend a meeting on July 25 with Munich Re India Services (Pvt) Ltd, an affiliated office of company's reinsurer Munich Re on matters of mutual interest.

CSE closes lower yesterday

UNB, Chittagong

Trading at Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed lower yesterday with the losers dominating the gainers.

The CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) decreased by 1.50 percent to close at 8519.89 points.

The CSE-30 Index also shed 1.58 percent to close at 7635.25 points.

A total of 138 issues were traded today. Of them, 47 gained, 86 declined and only five remained unchanged.

Some 3,532,574 shares and debentures worth Tk 38.23 crore changed hands today.

Sanjay Prakash appointed as new CEO of HSBC Bangladesh

FINANCE REPORTER

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Limited has appointed Mr Sanjay Prakash as the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC in Bangladesh. He will replace Mr Steve Banner, who will move shortly to assume a new role as Head of Strategy and Business Transformation in HSBC's Consumer and Mortgage Lending business in the USA.

Mr Prakash brings with him more than 23 years of experience in financial services. He first joined HSBC in 2001 as the COO of HSBC Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd. In 2003, he became the first CEO of HSBC's Asset Management business in India.

Commenting on the move, Paul Leech, HSBC Asia Pacific Head of International, said, "We are keen to see the momentum of our growth in Bangladesh continue under Sanjay Prakash. He is an experienced, capable and ambitious executive and part of the increasing number of our regional talents in Asia undertaking senior roles outside their home countries."

Speaking about his appointment, Mr Prakash said, "I am very happy to be in Bangladesh and I am confident that with the excellent team that we have in place and the opportunities in the market, our business will continue to go from strength to strength."

Currently, HSBC has 10 offices and 27 ATMs in Bangladesh, serving over 100,000 customers in the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

LG Electronics posts 84pc rise in net profit

SEOUL -- LG Electronics Inc on Monday said its second-quarter net profit surged because of strong sales of handsets and flat-screen TVs, as well as hefty gains from its investment in LG Display Co.

South Korea's second-largest electronics maker by revenue after Samsung Electronics Co., however, forecast sales would sequentially decline in the third-quarter as the global economic downturn hurts some of its key businesses.

Bdjobs.com Campus Career Festival to be held at six universities

STAFF REPORTER

Bdjobs.com, the largest job portal in the country, is going to organise the first ever campus career festival in the country. The festival will be held at six leading public and private university campuses over two months (July and August 2008).

It was formally announced by AKM Fahim Mashroor, CEO of Bdjobs.com Ltd at a press conference held at Sonargaon Hotel on Monday.

Representatives from the participating universities also attended the press conference and spoke on the occasion. Ahmad Islam Muqsit, Chairman and Masumul Haque Shiblee, Director of Bdjobs.com Ltd also attended the press conference.

The universities are: North South University, Brac University, United International University, East West University, Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University.

At each of the campuses a two-day long event will take place. The first event of the festival will be held at North South University campus on July 25-26. This will be followed by events at other campuses on August 6-7 at Jahangirnagar University, August 13-14 at Brac University, August 18-19 at United International University, August 27-28 at East West University.

A total of 20 reputed organisations in the country are going to take part at the festival with job offers in different positions. Face-to-face interviews for new and upcoming graduates will be organised during the events. It is expected that 100 new job appointments will be provided by the participating organizations to the fresh graduates during the two-month long event.

Apart from the job announcement and interviews by the employers, seminars & workshops on different career related topics will also be arranged during the event.