The New Nation - Internet Edition

SBL gets Best Brand Bangladesh award

The Sonali Bank Limited has earned 'Best Brand Bangladesh 2008' award in the financial category. Bangladesh Brand Forum recently distributed the award to the winners at a ceremony held at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, said

a press release.

Hasan Iqbal, deputy general manager of Sonali Bank, received the 'Best Brand award Bangladesh-2008' on behalf of the bank from Syed Ershad Ali, president of the American Chamber of Commerce, at the ceremony.Dhaka University vice chancellor SMA Faiz, commerce secretary Feroz Ahmed and FBCCI president Annisul Huq, among others, were present on the occasion.

HSBC tops the world

BUSINESS REPORT

HSBC has come first in a Banker Magazine survey of the world's top 1,000 banks. HSBC takes the crown following nine years of US domination and jumps two places from its third position last year. It also came top in the Western Europe category.

Following HSBC in the top five were Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland, JP Morgan Chase and last year's winner, Bank of America.

HSBC leads the rankings by virtue of its tier one capital of USD 105 billion, some USD 17 billion ahead of its nearest rival, and its bumper profits.

The survey found that US banks now account for just 14% of aggregate Top 1,000 pre tax profits, down from 24% last year. Asian banks, meanwhile, have risen to 19% from 12% a year ago. European banks stayed steady at 41 %.

This isn't the first time this year HSBC has come top of a prestigious ranking. In April, the Group headed Forbes Magazine's 2000 list of the world's largest companies - the first non-US company to lead the rankings.

Tier One capital is often used to determine the strength of a financial institution.

The current credit crunch has seen falls in the tier one capital of many banks. While HSBC has undoubtedly been affected by global economic conditions, it was one of the first to put measures into place to deal with any fallout, while its diversified business and conservative lending strategy means it has suffered less than many of its peers.

Joint Eid Promotion from Grameenphone and Nokia

BUSINESS REPORT

Grameenphone Ltd. and Nokia Emerging Asia have recently launched a special promotion for the Eid-ul-Fitr. New subscribers of Grameenphone's Business Solutions, Smile & djuice will enjoy attractive promotional offers on purchase of a new a Nokia device bundled with a connection.

Recently-launched Nokia enterprise solutions devices E66 & E71 have been bundled with Grameenphone Business Solutions connections, where both prepaid and postpaid customers can enjoy a special bundled price and usage-based monthly benefits. This package works as a perfect business solution for executives and entrepreneurs on the move and trying to maintain a balance between life and work.

Additionally, all smile, djuice and Business Solutions prepaid customers will also be able to purchase Nokia 1200 handsets and enjoy usage-based monthly benefits. In both cases, existing customers of the respective segments will be able to purchase only the handset by showing their active GP connections.

Grameenphone and Nokia signed an agreement recently to bring these attractive offers for the subscribers. Mr. Laszlo Barta, Director Sales, Grameenphone and Mr. Prem Chand, Managing Director, Nokia EA, signed on behalf of their respective organisations.

"Eid is one of the happiest occasions in Bangladesh and we are glad to offer our consumers one more reason to celebrate," said Mr. Prem Chand. "Consumers are at the forefront of all our endeavors. We have customised the offering for both first time mobile users and experienced enterprise consumers, catering to their different needs and expectations" he added. Mr. Laszlo Barta said, that "Mobile communication has become an elemental part of our lives. It makes it easier to remain connected with our loved ones. A world class service by Grameenphone combined with excellent handsets by Nokia deliver this comfort to those who take advantage of our common Eid promotion. Let's celebrate together and Stay Close!"

Mr. Sarder Showkat AIi, DGM, Mobile Devices, Sales, and Mr. Md. Anowar Hossain, Deputy Manager, Mobile Devices, Sales, of Grameenphone, and Mr. Md. Mesbah Uddin, National Sales Manager for Bangladesh, Nokia EA, were present during the signing ceremony.

Holcim holds mason meet at Noakhali district

BUSINESS REPORT

Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd, the leading cement manufacturer of the country has recently organised a mason meet at country's Noakhali district. In all around the country Holcim is well known for its quality and advance technology. Holcim has a tremendous demand in Noakhali District. Holcim is providing cement to Noakhali district since from the very beginning and the good news is that the people of Noakhali 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 this at 'Central Community Center' in Noakhali District. Around 400 masons were present in this meet and many dealers and retailers joined the meeting from Noakhali and adjacent area.

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 realising 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 programme if any mason (i.e. enlisted under this programme) 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. In this mason meet, Holcim gave 10,000 Tk= as the insurance policy money to the mason, Mr. Abu Taher Mystry. 5 children of masons, each got 2000 Tk/= as scholarship money for their brilliant result also which is another extreme facilities, Holcim Bangladesh Ltd is providing for masons.

In this mason meet, Mr. Jashim Uddin Khandaker, GM - Customer Care of Holcim (Bangladesh) Ltd, welcomed all the masons and said, "Holcim is the first company in Bangladesh, took such a initiative for the betterment of the mason which create huge positive impact on masons living standards." Senior Executive- Customer Support, Mr. Achinto Kumar Roy, senior Executive - Customer Care, Mr. Shaibal Shaha, and Territory Officer - Customer Care, Masudul Hasan Rana and other well-known dealers and retailers 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. Holcim arranged an attractive spot quiz and a raffle draw. One of the masons got an attractive color television for raffle draw. After the program there was a nice cultural show for all of them.

WESTECS introducing women products

Business Reporter

More than 8 years after WESTECS officially introducing women products. "WOMEN Collection" will be available at WESTECS Gulshan, Uttara, Bashundhara & Dhanmondi branch.

Since its initiation in 1990 WESTECS has developed itself into a high street retail brand with an unwavering desire to lead today's corporate fashion world. WESTECS is country's leading corporate wear brand with the mission to grow their business globally by providing their consumers high end products augmented with their premium services.

Winning inspires WESTECS WOMEN collections. In house unique designs are complemented by state of the art production technology. WESTECS WOMEN collections are offered in such a manner that exclusivity through limited production is ensured. WOMEN collections have products like women suits, blazers, over coats, shirts, formal and denim pants, tops, zahra, abaya, leather hand bags, scurfs, ponchos and a lot more.

WESTECS WOMEN products represent a combination of the east and the west, which is loved by all the contemporary modern women. WESTECS is confident in setting up a strong and bold trend for modern day corporate women while opening the trendy and stylish horizon for educated women. Always courteous sales associates and their smiling faces will definitely give you an impression, which will last long after you have left WESTECS.

Bangladesh gift items draw attention of Japanese buyers

BUSINESS REPORT

The country's nine gift items manufacturing firms participated in the Tokyo International Gift Show drew big attention of the Japanese buyers, said a EPB press release.

The Asian Trade Promotion Forum in cooperation of JETRO(Japan External Trade Organization) facilitated the participation of Bangladeshi firms under the auspices of Export Promotion Bureau(EPB).

The fair held on September 2- 5 where the participating companies displayed handicrafts, home textile, jute products, nakshi katha, scarf, bags, belts, wallets, show pieces, wall- mat, candle, cushion cover pottery and such other products.

Bangladesh participants received US$ 20,000 spot orders in addition to 120.000 prospective orders, the EPB said.

Another group of Bangladesh participants to SAARC Trade Fair in Colombo, held from August 28 to 31 was also able to receive spot order worth US$ 490.000, the EPB said.

Pharmaceuticals items, soft drink, jamdani saree, Dhakai Moslin, Silk Scrap, and other products were put on display in the Colombo fair.

Large number of visitors went round the Bangladesh pavilion.

Bangladeshi participants also took part in meetings with Textile Importers Association of Japan and Japanese Shoe

Association and discussed broader prospects of exporting shoes and gift items and RMG products to Japan.

They also discussed the prospect of organizing a single country Bangladeshi trade fair in Japan.

Bangladesh gets $4.9 lakh export order in SAARC trade fair

BUSINESS REPORT

Bangladesh has received a confirmed export order of $ 4,9 lakh in the eighth SAARC Trade Fair held from August 28 to 31 in Colombo.

During the four-day fair, different products including pharmaceuticals, soft drink, Jamdani sharee, Dhakai Muslin, Silk sharee and Silk scarp were displayed, a press release of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) said in Dhaka on Wednesday.

A large number of visitors including entrepreneurs, buyers, producers, officials, policy makers and many others visited the fair and showed their keen interest to the Bangladeshi products.

The SAARC Trade Fair has been a regular feature in the Association's event calendar, being held rotationally in the member countries since 1996 and yielding enormous benefits to the people of the region.

"It is expected that this maiden participation in SAARC Trade fair, 2008 in Colombo would open up a new horizon of cooperation between Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka. The fair would also boost trade ties between the two countries," the press release said.

Visa Inc. appoints TBWA Worldwide as global lead strategic and creative agency

Visa Inc. announced TBWA Worldwide, an Omnicom communications company, has been appointed its global lead strategic and creative agency following a thorough review of Visa's incumbent agencies. The agency consolidation which takes effect January 1, 2009, is expected to deliver creative synergies and other operating and cost efficiencies to Visa Inc.

"As Visa has evolved into a global public company, we challenged our agency partners around the world to provide a unified approach to our marketing initiatives," said Antonio Lucio, chief marketing officer of Visa Inc. "This decision reflects the creative strength and innovation of TBWA Worldwide as well as their ability to deliver against Visa's unique brand vision."

The Visa brand has come to symbolise convenience, flexibility, security and global inclusiveness to hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of millions of merchants worldwide. As one of the world's most recognised consumer brands, Visa takes great care to manage the Visa brand promise through innovative marketing and advertising programmes across the globe.

In Bangladesh TBWA||Benchmark, the local agency of TBWA has successfully handled Visa for the last few years. Mr. Ashraf Kaiser, CEO and Managing Director of TBWA||Benchmark commented on this occasion that it is undoubtedly great news for TBWA family members. This winning symbolises the creative accuracy, strategic success and overall brand building capability of TBWA. Ashraf Kaiser also added, "We are proud to be a part of TBWA Worldwide and we are very much excited to leverage and implement the global strategic plan in Bangladesh market soon".

Garment owners should pay salary and bonus of workers

BUSINESS REPORT

Garment owners should pay the current month's salary and Eid bonus to the workers on time before Eid- ul-Fitr and also immediately resolve the existing problems in the sector through understanding with them.

Besides, the owners of the readymade garments who are not paying salaries to the workers as per the agreement would be identified and forced to pay wages on time.

This was decided at a meeting of the Social Compliance Forum (SCF) on Readymade Garments (RMG) Industries today at the conference room of the Commerce Ministry with Commerce Secretary Firoz Ahmed in the chair, an official handout said.

The forum gave the responsibility to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) to make a standard format to monitor the payment to the garment workers as well as ensuring working atmosphere in the factories.

It was told at the meeting that a team of the SCF visited 15 factories, including 10 in Dhaka, to monitor the working atmosphere and observed that no child labourer is now working in the garment sector.

The meeting said 97 percent factories have implemented the minimum wages and 95 percent factories have issued appointment cards to the workers.

In consideration of the standard, 53.52 percent factories are standard, 28 percent medium and 17.76 percent factories are

Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Dr Mahfuzul Haque, Additional Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Golam Mostakim, General Manager of BEPZA M Khorshed Alam, Executive Director of Karmajibi Nari Rokeya Rafiq and representatives of ILO, Oxfam, BKMEA, BGMEA and different ministries were present, among others.

Kai, Altech, Steeltech distribute Iftar

As part of their corporate social responsibilities, KAI, ALTECH and STEELTECH have been distributing iftar from the fast day of Ramadan. Deploying two pick-up motor-vans they have been carrying out their services each Ramadan day and continue it till Eid. The programme has already got huge response.

As the time of Iftar (breaking of fasting) approaches in every late afternoon during the Ramadan, people of different walks in Dhaka city encounters so much of hassle on their way back home that before they could break the fast just in time, Iftar- along with Maagriber Azaan)- begins. Even if they rush in a nearby restaurant, they find no place to sit, let alone any surety for their Iftar.

The organizer served Iftar at Green Road on 1st Ramadan. Served items included dates and Sharbat (sweet drinks), Cookies. Daily 2000 packet of dates & cookies and 2600-3000 glasses of sharbat are being served; inform sources.

This service will be continued by this three company KAI, ALTECH and STEELTECH in every Ramadan from now at different busy pockets of the Capital until the last day of holy Ramadan.