The New Nation - Internet Edition

Bangladesh produces electronic components for Mercedez, BMW: German Trade Show 2008 inaugurated

BUSINESS REPORTER

Bangladesh has entered the global automobile industry through the manufacturing of highly sophisticated electronic components of globally renowned brands of automobiles like Mercedes Benz, BMW, Bugatti, Porche and Maybach.

Draxelmaier, a renowned German company which manufactures electronic components of car interiors and wiring harnesses for the premium brands of cars has already set up a company, called 'Draxelmaier Bangladesh.' This company will outsource computer-aided designs and eventually they will move into forming a wiring harness manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.

This was disclosed by Saiful Islam, President of Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) yesterday at the inaugural ceremony of 'German Trade Show-08' at Bangladesh China Friendship Convention Centre.

Bangladesh has exported 955.96 million Euro to while imported 155.36 million Euro from Germany in the first seven months of this year. Bangladesh mainly export readymade garments, frozen foods, and jute products to Germany.

Among others, Hossain Zillur Rahman, Commerce Adviser, Frank Meyke, Ambassador of Germany, Kamaluddin Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Board of Investment, Bangladesh, Annisul Haq, President of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), and Saria Sadique, Convener of the exhibition were also present at the programme.

Hossain Zillur said the prospect of Bangladesh is bright in business and drawing foreign investment in the country.

Mentioning seminars and trade shows that are going on in the country in recent as advent of change the commerce adviser hoped the next elected government would welcome and tune with the change.

Zillur opined Bangladesh would turn into middle-income country if the next elected government could retain the changes now going on. The trade show would increase foreign investment in the country.

Frank Meyeke said "This is first ever German trade fair in Bangladesh.It is not only a big milestone for BGCCI, but it also shows that business relations between Germany and Bangladesh have considerably strengthened over the previous years and are significant indeed."

As member country of the European Union Germany is an open market with free access for Bangladesh goods without any import tarrifs. Bangladesh enjoys a trade surplus worth 1.3 billion euro with Germany. Over the last five years Bangladesh's exports to Germany have annually increased by between 20 to 30 per cent.

Stocks slide, Toyota warns of 'unprecedented' crisis

AFP, Tokyo

Toyota Motor slashed its profit forecast yesterday, warning the global auto industry faces an "unprecedented" crisis as Asian stocks tumbled on fears the US is sinking deeper towards recession.

The Japanese giant became the latest automaker to reveal plunging profits due to the financial crisis, following on the heels of BMW, Nissan and Honda.

Toyota, vying with General Motors for the title of the world's top automaker, cut its annual profit forecast by more than half after a terrible year so far.

It now expects a 68 percent plunge in net profit to 550 billion yen (5.6 billion dollars) -- the first drop in nine years.

"The financial crisis is negatively impacting the real economy worldwide, and the automotive markets, especially in developed countries, are contracting rapidly," Toyota executive vice president Mitsuo Kinoshita said.

"This is an unprecedented situation."

Elsewhere in the transport sector, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus warned it expects a sharp reduction in new orders in 2009 as the global economy slows.

Amid the gloomy news, Asian stock markets fell heavily. Japan's Nikkei stock index plunged 6.53 percent even before the Toyota warning, which came after the close of trade.

The drop wiped out gains seen a day earlier on hopes that US president- elect Barack Obama will get to work on fixing the world's largest economy in the face of the worst financial crisis in decades.

"Now that the event is over, investors are sobering up and looking at the economic gloom," said Mizuho Investors Securities broker Masatoshi Sato.

Seoul ended with a loss of 7.6 percent while Sydney shed 4.3 percent. Hong Kong shares were down 6.4 percent at midday.

The sharp falls came after the Dow Jones index slid 5.05 percent on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors braced for a gloomy economic ride after the euphoria of Obama's election victory faded.

"Dismal macroeconomic data and poor corporate results reminded investors that we are only at the start of a deep recession," Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at CFC Seymour in Hong Kong, wrote in a note.

The euro dropped to 1.2854 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from 1.2962 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 97.70 yen from 98.33.

Investors were anticipating further cuts to interest rates on Thursday by both the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank amid fears of recessions in Europe's biggest economies.

Some economists are even forecasting the BoE would follow up last month's emergency half-point reduction to 4.50 percent with a cut of 100 basis points.

In Japan, the lower house of parliament approved a plan to inject capital into ailing banks if needed to contain the fallout from the financial crisis.

Markets were also looking ahead to crisis talks on the global financial turmoil in Washington on November 15 between leaders of the Group of 20 rich countries and major developing economies.

Leaders will likely agree on an "action plan" including near- term steps to help fix the global economy, a senior US official said Wednesday.

As efforts to contain the financial crisis continued, the International Monetary Fund approved a 16.4 billion dollar loan aimed at rescuing Ukraine.

Europe's biggest economy, Germany, approved a stimulus package costing 23 billion euros (30 billion dollars) to pump up the ailing economy.

In the US, fresh data added to the gloom over the economic outlook.

A report by the Institute for Supply Management showed activity in the services sector shrank more sharply than anticipated in October.

A survey showing the US private sector shed 157,000 jobs in October added to worries ahead of official figures due Friday that are expected to show a rise in the jobless rate from a five- year high of 6.1 percent in September.

StanChart named 'Commodity/Energy Derivatives House of the Year 2008'

BUSINESS REPORTER

Standard Chartered announces that AsiaRisk magazine for their 2008 awards recently named Standard Chartered Bank as the Commodity/Energy Derivatives House of the Year.

The award came two years after entering the business and recognizes the bank's progress in countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in terms of volume of business and capabilities it has put in place.

AsiaRisk highlighted Standard Chartered Bangladesh as the counterparty for the country's first commodity derivatives deal. The bank did a zero-cost collar cotton hedge for a local textiles business - a landmark deal that involved extensive talks with regulatory bodies such as Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association.

A senior official of Bangladesh Bank also told AsiaRisk that Standard Chartered was the first foreign bank it spoke to on the issue of commodity derivatives.

And, as a result, the central bank has allowed commodity derivatives to be used for hedging purposes and issued guidelines to that end in May this year.

Morshed strongly recommended these tools for select commodities but suggested that businesses should be careful before deciding to use these products.

He said "Customers can get a lot of benefit by managing price risk of commodities like base metal and cotton but they should evaluate their bank's expertise and experience before taking a decision".

However, was also keen to pursue an industry-wide development of such products, he said "there is increasing interest in commodity derivatives in the market and Standard Chartered is working together with a number of Banks to develop commodity derivatives for their respective customers.

Automation's seminar on launching of Fuji electric components held

A technical seminar on the occasion of launching some new Fuji electric components, increasing their capacity, perfect usage and electrical short circuit and industrial safety due to defective usage of equipments was held on Monday.

Automation Engineering and Fuji Electric of Japan jointly organised the seminar at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center (BCFCC) in the city.

Managing Director of Automation Engineering and Controls Ltd Md Abu Taher presided over the seminar.

Sales Manager, Overseas Division, Fuji Japan, William Soh, Technical Expert and Engineer David Tan, and K. S. Tan made technical presentations respectively on newly marketed high-tech MCCB, ACB, Inverter and PLC and showed various technical sides of them through projectors.

Owners and engineers of different industries and factories from Dhaka and other parts of the country participated in the seminar.

Managing Director Md Taher while addressing the seminar said, We have been trying our best to render best possible services towards our clients."

Abu Taher also asserted that he was committed to supply high tech components of Japan to all the clients so that safety and security can be more assured at the industrial activities in the country.

Managing Director Md Abu Taher and Fuji Overseas Sales Manager, William Soh also distributed awards and mementos among the best customers of Fuji components in 2008 in the seminar.

Meghna Group, Squire Toiletries, Pran Group, Purbani Group, Noman Group, Jalal Ahmed Spinning Mills Ltd, Naheed Cotton, Nasir Group, Jamuna Group and Vieyllatex Group were the award winners.

DCCI training on 'Leadership and Management concludes

Director, DCCI Data Magfur laid emphasis on the role of DCCI Business Institute DBI, as a part of DCCI to disseminate knowledge and service to the business community, mainly through training. In this regard having proper knowledge on leadership and management for leading the business organizations in the face of fierce competition is required, he said while delivering his speech at the Certificate A warding Ceremony of the training course on 'Leadership and Management' organized by the DCCI Business Institute (DBI) on October 27, 2008 at DBI premises. He said that considering the competitiveness in the global as well as local market, we need different type of leadership to lead our people, organization and nation. He added that DBI through its activities is trying to meet the need for skilled, efficient, knowledgeable and trained manpower. He urged the participants to disseminate ideas and knowledge they gained through training course among their colleagues, and particularly managements.

Participants opined about the course positively and urged more similar courses to be organized, by DBI. Joint Secretary (Training), DBI Mr. Md. Jawadur Rahman Choudhury and Course Coordinator responded to the participants' queries and recommendations.

He stressed on the need for gaining appropriate knowledge for our leaders for moving forward in a LDC country like Bangladesh. Resource Person Mr. Qazi Mahmud Ahmed was present on the occasion. He appreciated the level and quality of participants and their very active participation. Deputy Secretary(MIS), Mr. Shamsuddin Azad was also present.

The course was aimed at familiarizing the following topics: Role of leaders, team work, Effective Communications, Delegation and decision making, motivation and developing people was covered during the three half day training.

A total of 21 participants from different organization participated in the training.

Social Investment Bank and Remit Master sign EFT deal

BUSINESS REPORTER

Social Investment Bank Limited (SIBL) and Remit Master SND, BHD, Malaysia have entered into an Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) deal.

SIBL Managing Director KM Ashaduzzaman and Remit Master Chairman ABD A Hamid signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations at a simple ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur recently.

SIBL Executive Vice President AMM Farhad, Remit Master Managing Director Ms Razia Banu and General Manager Syed Kamil were present on the occasion.

Habib Rehman, new Executive Asstt Manager of The Westin Dhaka

The Westin Dhaka is pleased to welcome Mr. Habib Rehman on the board, who assumes the job of Executive Assistant Manager for the hotel. Prior to joining The Westin Dhaka Mr. Rehman was the Director of Food & Beverage at Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort in Sabah and also been working in the same capacity at the Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen, Shangri-La Putrajaya, Malaysia and has done the opening of Shangri-La China World Hotel Beijing in 1990 and Shangri-La Hotel Guangzhou in 2007 and most recently came from the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort Sabaha, East Malaysia before joining Westin Dhaka.

Mainly worked with 5 star hotel and brands, Habib started his career in 1982 with Hilton International Lahore and possess a wealth of culinary and hospitality experiences. For honing in culinary his passion took him to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. He also worked in Bahrain, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Yangon.

Habib got his Business Administration degree from University of Washington and Food & Beverage Certification from the Cornel University New York, USA. Culinary artist Habib won 1 gold award, 2 silver awards and 1 Bronze award at prestigious Asia Food competition in Singapore between 1987 and 1994.

Ihsanul Aziz new DMD of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd

Ihsanul Aziz has joined Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd as Deputy Managing Director on November 4, 2008.

Prior to his new assignment he was the Executive Vice President of National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd.

Ihsanul Aziz hails from a prominent Muslim family of Ramganj, Laxmipur district. He did his BA (Hons) and MA in Economics from Dhaka University in 1972 and 1973 respectively.

He started his banking career as Probationary Officer in Agrani Bank under the BRC in January 1978. During his long tenure of service, Mr Aziz held the charge (Manager) of Corporate Branch and important branches in Chittagong and Dhaka City. He worked as Head of International Division as Deputy General Manager. He also worked in Discipline and Appeal Division in Head Office. In May 2005, he joined National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd as Senior Vice President and lastly worked as the Head of International Division.

Mr. Aziz passed Banking Diploma Part I & II and perticipated a good number of professional training courses and workshops home and abroad. He visited many countries including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, UAE, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Pakistan for professional & training purposes.

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka signs deal with Coats Bangladesh

BUSINESS REPORT

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka has recently signed a corporate agreement with Coats Bangladesh to provide medical services and special corporate benefits to their staff.

Mir Delwar Hossain, Corporate Affairs and Admn Manager of Coats Bangladesh and Ms Tasnim Hussain, Corporate Manager-Business Development Department of Apollo Hospitals Dhaka signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. Other senior executives were also present from both the organizations on the occasion.

China aims at higher nuclear power capacity

Xinhua, Chengdu

China may raise its total installed nuclear power generating capacity to 70 million kilowatts by 2020, 75 percent higher than government target set in 2006, says a senior energy official.

The government was considering revising the 40-million-kw goal in the 2006 national nuclear power development plan, said Huang Li, head of energy conservation and equipment at the National Energy Administration (NEA).

"The severe winter weather earlier this year in southern China that paralyzed electricity supplies and coal transportation exposed risks and vulnerability in the traditional power supply system," said Huang.

The global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions had prompted China, which relied heavily on coal, to revise its energy strategy and increase the proportion of clean energy, she told a Sino-U.S. symposium on nuclear equipment in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

The move reflected China's determination to develop sustainable energy to fuel its fast expanding economy and fulfill its commitment to environmental protection, said Huang Xueqing, vice president of the Nuclear Power Institute of China.

The installed capacity of thermal power stations already accounted for 76 percent of China's total installed generating capacity.

Contributing about 84 percent of the overall power supply, coal-based power has become a major source of carbon dioxide emissions.

The current installed capacity of nuclear power is only about 9 million kw, or 1.3 percent of the total installed electricity generating capacity. It provides 2.3 percent of China's power.

Nuclear power reactors with a total installed capacity of 12.1 million kw are under construction across China.

Zhang Guobao, head of NEA, said in March that China would try to raise the proportion of nuclear power to 5 percent of the total installed generating capacity by 2020, up 1 percent from the goal set in 2006.

China has 11 nuclear power reactors in operation, all employing second-generation nuclear power technologies.

The establishment of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation could speed up the research and application of modern third-generation technologies, said Zhang.

Nuclear power should take priority in China's energy plan, and was an ideal option for boosting clean energy, said Huang Xueqing.