The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sonali Bank signs deal with Global Exchange Italia Srl, Italy

Sonali Bank Limited signed an agreement for remittance arrangements with Global Exchange Italia Srl., Italy on September 4 last at the conference room of its Head Office in the capital.

This agreement is made to facilitate the homebound remittance of earnings of Bangladeshi expatriates working in Italy by way of Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) system in Bangladeshi Taka. The agreement was signed by Tahmina Islam and Md Abdul Hakim on behalf of Sonali Bank Limited and Global Exchange Italia Srl, Italy respectively. S A Chowdhury, CEO and Managing Director of the bank along with other high officials of the bank and exchange company were present on the occasion.

Aman paddy production cost to go up significantly

BUSINESS REPORT

The production cost of the Aman paddy is likely to increase significantly this year in the country's 16 northern districts due to higher prices of fertilizers and other farm inputs, according to a government survey.

The production cost of Aman, which was Tk 14.20 per kg last season, might go up by 38 percent per kg this season, the survey finds.

Meanwhile, the production cost of Aman rice this season has been estimated at Tk 28.80 per kg on an average, marking a 38.5 percent rise, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) field level survey.

Farmers will have to bear an additional expenditure of about Tk 35 billion taka this season to achieve the targeted production of Aman rice, said the survey.

Price rise of fertilizers, fuel, pesticide, seeds and other inputs and higher wages of farm workers account for the increased cost of Aman cultivation, it said.

The production target of Aman rice has been fixed at about 4.3 million tons with 1.72 million hectares of land under Aman cultivation in the northern districts this season.

Crude oil price drops below $106

Oil prices have dipped below $106 as traders predicted that rising US unemployment would lead to consumers cutting back on petrol use.

US light, sweet crude fell as low as $105.16 a barrel before recovering to settle down $1.66 at $106.23. Brent crude dropped $2.21 to $104.09.

Prices have fallen from their record of more than $147 a barrel amid evidence of a looming recession in the US.

At the same time, a number of political and currency risks have also subsided.

And the failure of Hurricane Gustav to cause any major production disruption in the Gulf of Mexico also ensured the price stayed well below recent highs.

'Growing concern'

With economic growth slowing, and many people worried about their job prospects, observers say there is a good chance that consumer spending will slow, limiting demand for crude oil.

The outlook for the US economy became more grim as Labor department figures showed the unemployment rate in the US was at its highest level in nearly five years.

It also revised upwards job loss figures for each of the past two months.

"There's been a terrific amount of growing concern about the outlook for demand globally," said John Kilduff, senior vice president of risk management at MF Global LLC.

"Today's employment report emboldened that concern."

Markets still volatile

Next week the oil producer cartel Opec meets in Vienna with investors waiting to see whether it will indicate plans to cut production - something which would be likely to stem the price drop. The organisation has said it may act to defend the $100-a-barrel level for crude.

The dollar's recent resurgence has also helped speed up the decline in the price of oil.

Many investors bought commodities to hedge against inflation and weakness greenback.

But the dollar rebounded, investment funds rid themselves of the hedges, pushing commodities prices lower.

However, while the price of oil may be falling, analysts are keen to point out that markets remain volatile. ||

Earlier this year a number of well respected Wall Street firms and analysts predicted that oil could climb as high as $250 a barrel.

In the meantime, however, the drop in oil prices will bring some relief to consumers and governments who have been faced with accelerating price growth and more expensive fuel.

Prime Bank opens 65th branch in Dinajpur

BUSINESS REPORT

Prime Bank Limited opened its 65th branch at Dinajpur on August 28, 2008.

Saheda Pervin Trisha, Director of the bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest.

Md Shahadat Hossain, former Director of the bank was also present as special guest.

Mahbubur Rahman, Acting Managing Director presided over the opening ceremony.

Inaugurating the branch, Saheda Pervin Trisha stated that Prime Bank as a trustee of public money considers it as an obligation on its part to utilise them properly. In this regard, the bank has so far successfully played its due role.

Acting Managing Director, Mahbubul Alam, in his speech, said that Prime Bank believes in the economic emancipation of general mass of the country and to this end in view has introduced several customized solutions for their welfare. People of all tiers of the society can avail those products and services particularly the small investors under SME category. He requested the august gathering present to avail the banking services from the branch to improve their own lot and in the process the society. He recalled that continuous support of the stakeholders has encouraged the Board and the Management of the bank to take prudent decisions which has tremendously contributed towards its present envious position in the banking industry. The bank is based on 'sound fundamentals' and this has helped the bank to earn "AA" rating which is unique among the local banks.

The programme was rounded off with doa-mahfil.

ICB Islamic Bank Ltd branch manager's conference held

BUSINESS REPORT

The 3rd Branch Manager's Conference of ICB Islamic Bank Ltd was held on September 3 in the Board Room of its Head Office in the city.

The conference was presided over by Rajuendran Marrapan, Managing Director (Acting).

It was attended by all Branch Managers and Divisional/Departmental Heads of the Head Office.

Md Habibullah Monju, FCA, Chief Financial Officer, presented the business plan of the bank for 2009, which was elaborately discussed in the meeting.

The Managers of the branches and the Divisional/Departmental Heads of Head Office presented the activities of their branches and divisions respectively in the meeting.

The Managing Director (Acting) exchanged views with all the Managers on overall activities of the bank.

Holcim organises Mason Meet-2008 in Bhola

Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd, a leading cement manufacturer of the country, has recently organised a mason meet at the country's Bhola district. In all around the country 'Holcim' is well known for its quality and advance technology. 'Holcim' has a tremendous demand in Bhola district. 'Holcim' has been providing cement to Bhola district since the very beginning and the good news is that the people of Bhola district are using Holcim with a deep satisfaction and giving high priority to its quality.

'Holcim' always actively perform its corporate social responsibility along with its business activities. Under corporate social responsibilities, 'Holcim' organised a masons' gathering at 'Kabi Mojammel Hoque Town Hall' of Bhola district. Around 400 masons were present in this meet and many dealers and retailers attended the meeting from Bhola and adjacent areas.

Masons are the key workers at construction sites, but they have long been considered as downtrodden section of the society, despite their large contribution towards the development of The country in general and construction in particular and realizing this reality; 'Holcim' has come forward to extend all possible supports towards the improvement of this segment of the society. As part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Holcim had taken an initiative to provide insurance coverage for masons. Under this insurance program if any mason (i.e. enlisted under this program) falls any accident and/or expires during construction work, the insurance holder will receive compensation of Tk 25,000-Tk 50, 000 through fulfilling certain conditions. 'Holcim' also provides scholarship to the masons' children for their brilliant result.

During the Bhola mason meet, Jashim Uddin Khandaker, GM- Customer Care of Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd, welcomed all the masons and said, "Holcim is the first company in Bangladesh that took such an initiative for the betterment of the masons which create huge positive impact on masons' living standards."

Senior Executive Customer Support Achinto Kumar Roy, senior Executive-Customer Care Shaibal Shaha, and Sr Executive- Customer Care Moinul Hasan and other well known dealers and retailers and other respectable guests from Bhola district were also present in the meeting.

All the masons who were present in meet express their gratitude and thanked Holcim for arranging these meet and making their life easy. The program was followed by a nice cultural show for all of them.

Nagasaki Japanese: Restaurant opens in city today

BUSINESS REPORT

A Japanese restaurant is going to be opened at Uttara Model Town in the city today.

Nagasaki Japanese Restaurant will be opened at House No.13, Road No. 6, Sector No. 1, Uttara Model Town in the city at 6:00pm.

It is the first Japanese restaurant in Dhaka which will fully be run by the Japanese chef and management.

According to Chizuru Tanaka and Shinji Mori, the owners of the restaurant, the Nagasaki Japanese Restaurant has the total capacity of 80 seats where delicious Japanese dishes like Sushi, Tempura, Teppanyaki and grilled food are available.

Nokia expects market share loss

Nokia has lowered its predicted market share for the third quarter, sending its shares plummeting.

The statement by world's largest mobile phone maker pushed its shares down 9.6% to 14.20 euros having touched their lowest level since 2005 in trading.

The Finnish company has blamed problems with the production of its new mid-range phones and aggressive pricing by rivals for the downgrade.

But it remains optimistic it can recover its market share over the year.

Third-quarter woes

The company now believes its share of the market will be lower in the the third quarter than it was in the second quarter, when it stood at 40%.

Prior to this, it had anticipated it would maintain its market share quarter-on-quarter.

Nokia has also flagged up the increasingly aggressive pricing strategies of other handset makers as a reason for its revised view.

But chief financial officer, Rick Simonson, said the company did not believe that such a strategy would be "sustainable".

Some analysts said the share price movement was surprising.

"I think the share reaction is a bit much," said Greger Johansson, an analyst at Redeye.

"It seems to be their own decisions to a large extent," he added.

Despite the gloomy warning, Nokia did say it expected the market to grow 10% in terms of shipment, and was aiming to increase its market share over the course of 2008.

Rivals

The mobile device market has not avoided the economic downturn and weaker consumer confidence has buffeted business.

Samsung, Nokia's closest rival, saw a dip in handset sales from the first to the second quarter, but number three Motorola shocked the market by reporting an unexpected increase.

In order to boost its profits, Nokia has made a number of other offerings such as music deals.

It will report third-quarter results on 16 October.

Sony-Rangs opens new showroom at Shewrapara

BUSINESS REPORT

Rangs Electronics Ltd, widely known as 'Sony-Rangs', formally opened a new sales and service centre in the city's Shewrapara Thursday, said a press release.

Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of Rangs Group of Companies Aktar Hussain and Sony Singapore Marketing Company Senior Manager Spencer Low jointly inaugurated the sales and service centre.

Deputy Managing Director of Rangs Electronics Ltd J Ekram Hussain, Sony Singapore Marketing Company Senior Sales Executive Stanley Tan, and Finance Director Raqibul Islam, Accounts and Finance Controller TK Roy of Rangs Group of Companies, other high officials of Rangs Electronics Ltd and the local elite were also present on the occasion.

During the showroom opening period, special discounts were offered on different Rangs items.

IIBL board meeting held

BUSINESS REPORT

The 94th meeting of the Board of Directors of Islami Insurance Bangladesh Limited was held recently in the Head Office of the Company at "BIWTA Bhaban," Motijheel C/A Dhaka.

Alhaj Mohammad Sayeed, Chairman of the company presided over the meeting.

The meeting was attended by other members of the board viz Alhaj M Tajul Islam, Vice Chairman, Alhaj Md Ismail Nawab, Vice Chairman, Tofazzal Hossain, Chairman-Executive Committee, Abdul Halim, Director, Nur Mohammad, Director, Alhaj Md Abdul Hannan, Director, Abul Kalam, Director, as well as, Managing Director of the company Md Zainul Huda and Additional Managing Director Md Mujibur Rahman.

The meeting discussed about the business of the company in the prevailing market position. After evaluation of different programmes and reviewing performance, the meeting made some important decision on promotional activities and for improvement of the business of the company.

Rich launches 'Jumbo Treat' retail pack at Agora

Rich, a leading food brand in the country, has launched a retail product pack specially designed for Ifter. The pack, named Jumbo Treat, contains 16 pieces of four different items excellent to serve four persons.

Niaz Rahim, managing director of Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd, and Nusrat Bari Asha, director of Harvest Rich Agro Industries Ltd, formally launched the product pack at Gulshan Agora on Wednesday. Apart from Jumbo Treat, Rich brand is going to launch fish finger, chicken and beef burger patti during this Ramadan, whose cost will ranges from taka 110 to taka 145 per pack.Bangladesh Supermarkets Owners' Association general secretary Zakir Hossain, Harvest Rich Industries chief operating officer (COO) T D Packir, Agora general manager Kishwar Imdad, head of operation Shams Haider, head of procurement M Nizam Chowdhury, head of marketing MAH Ruhel Abedin, Harvest Rich customer care coordinator Yasmin Akter, other officials of both the companies and customers of Agora were present at the launching ceremony.

Rich brand is strongly driven by its vision and values to be a most innovative halal food-processing brand in the region. Its portfolio includes over 122 types of processed and value added product range in chicken, beef, mutton, fish, vegetables and tube ice. Rich brand products comply with entire process of halal requirement and have acquired NOC from BSTI for all the product range. Harvest Rich Agro Industries is a HACCP certified company.