The New Nation - Internet Edition

Citigroup plunges on uncertainty

Shares in Citigroup, one of the biggest banks in the US, plunged on Friday amid uncertainty about the firm's future.

The firm's stock rose in early trading but later tumbled to end the day 20% lower at $3.77 as investors awaited the outcome of a meeting of board members.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup was considering selling parts of the firm. There are also rumours it might merge with another firm.

Earlier in the week the firm announced 52,000 job losses worldwide.

These cuts came on top of previously announced reductions of 23,000 positions.

The total of 75,000 job cuts represent a loss of about 20% of the firm's staff, leaving it with 300,000 jobs worldwide "in the near term".

Raising capital

Chief executive Vikram Pundit told employees on Friday that the firm did not want to change its business model, Reuters reported, citing two employees.

Shares in the firm have fallen sharply since the start of the year and are trading more than 80% down since January.

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal's decision to buy about $350m (£236m) of its shares on Thursday did not calm investors' nerves.

The firm insisted on Thursday that it had "very strong capital and liquidity position and a unique global franchise".

But Mr Pandit has come under increasing pressure from critics who doubt his ability to turn around the company and survive the financial crisis.

There are fears that Citigroup will not be able to access much-needed funds unless it sells part of the business or combines with another company.

With shares severely down, raising money on the open market is "pretty much off the table" said equity analyst William Fitzpatrick of Optique Capital Management.

Investor confidence

Citigroup has lost more than $20bn in the past year because of the global financial crisis.

The bank has reported four straight quarterly losses and some analysts believe the bank will not return to profitability until 2010.

Investors are worried that further losses could threaten the bank's future.

"Its fear and panic at this point, " said Gerard Cassidy, a banking analyst at RBC Capital.

Despite the sweeping job losses, the bank has maintained that its underlying business "remains strong and revenues have been stable".

But Jason Goldberg, a Barclays Capital analyst said: "We worry if the lack of investor confidence leads to a lack of customer confidence". Citigroup is one of nine financial institutions receiving funds from the US government's bail-out programme.

Emirates Airline Foundation opens floating hospital in Dhaka : Charity venture with NGO to serve poverty-stricken people of northern chars

Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday inaugurated the Emirates Friendship Hospital Ship, a charity venture run by registered NGO Friendship and sponsored by the Emirates Airline Foundation, in Savar.

Among others, Al Khaja, Vice Chairman of the Emirates Airline Foundation, Keith Longstaff, Emirates Airline Divisional Senior Vice President Commercial Operations Worldwide and Runa Khan, Executive Director of Friendship also attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the hospital.

Iftekhar Ahmed welcomed Emirates and Friendship's venture. "This shows generosity of emirates", he said.

He further said that government was committed to aid such charity NGOs like Friendship.

The Emirates Airline Foundation, Emirates" onboard charity initiative that funds projects around the world in aid of underprivileged children, financed the twin-hulled vessel, granting in excess ofUS$705,000 to Friendship. Emirates have also signed a management contract for the ship with Friendship. The ship will ply approximately 250 km along the River Bhramaputra north of the country and serve over three million people living on more than 400 small islands and on the river banks.

Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said, "Emirates is pleased to be able to reach out to the people of Bangladesh with this project. This is the Emirates Airline Foundation's flagship project in Bangladesh and we hope to be able to do a lot more in the years to come with the kind support of our customers who donate generously on-board. We also have a bank of donated Skywards Miles which we use to sponsor tickets for doctors who visit this project and other humanitarian causes around the world.

"At Emirates, we take our corporate social responsibility very seriously and we find reaching out through the Foundation is a very rewarding way of showing we care. The Foundation sponsors charities in a number of other destinations including India, Africa, Sri Lanka and Jordan."

The well-appointed mobile hospital ship is equipped with chambers for doctors, primary health care facilities, two operating theatres, two eight-bed wards, pediatric and gynecology units, a dental room, a pathological laboratory, an X-ray room and an ophthalmic room. A dispensary onboard will distribute free medicine and the registration room can accommodate up to 24 staff and eight visiting doctors. The deck of the ship can house 30 to 40 patients in an emergency.

This is the second such ship that is coming into operation in the northern chars of Bangladesh. The other existing project, the Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital Ship, also receives volunteer doctors from all over the world sponsored by the Emirates Airline Foundation. These doctors donate their free time and holidays to work on the ship in addition to providing health education to the masses. It has been a very successful operation with thousands of rural poor benefiting from the service. Emirates will continue to sponsor doctors for the new ship as well.

Runa Khan, Executive Director of Friendship said, "This new ship will help us in our task of reaching out to the poorest of the poor in this region with the best of health facilities.

Friendship is thankful to Emirates for taking this project under its wing. We cannot do enough for these people who are struggling to stay alive in the worst conditions possible and need all the help we can get. We expect to treat up to 60,000 patients a year on the Emirates Friendship Hospital Ship - 85 per cent of the beneficiaries are women and children."

Bangladeshi co to invest $5.132m in Adamjee EPZ

M/s. Sun YadKnit Wears limited, Bangladeshi company, will set up a Garments Manufacturing Industry in the Adamjee Export Processing Zone.

The local company will invest US Dollar 5.132 million to set up their plant and will produce Garments items. The company will also create employment opportunity for 1995 Bangladeshi nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the M/s Sun Yad Knit Wears limited in BEPZA Complex, Dhaka today (20-112008). Md. Farhad Uddin, Member (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and Monir Ahmed, Managing Director of M/s. Sun Yad Knit Wears limited signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organization.

Brig General Jamil Ahmed Khan, Executive Chairman of BEPZA and other officials from respective organizations were present on the occasion.

DBBL opens its 1st SME Service Centre at Dhaka Dashkin, Golapganj, Sylhet

NATION BUSINESS REPORT

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited has opened its 1st SME Service Centre at Dhaka Dashkin, Golapganj, Sylhet on November 20 last. The opening ceremony started with a Milad-Mahfil seeking blessings of the Almighty Allah for successful operation of the SME Service Centre. Like the branch network, this SME Service Centre also provides Truly On-line Banking facilities to the clients from the very beginning of the day.

Md. Yeasin Ali, Managing Director of the Bank inaugurated the SME Service Centre from which the customers of the rural area will be able to get the services of ATM, Kiosk (to deposit money), SME loans and remittance services.

In a brief resume, Ali said that DBBL has been extending financial supports to the honorable businessmen and industrialists to expedite the business and commerce and to develop industry since its inception. The Bank is always giving emphasis on providing financial services to the potential small and medium entrepreneurs. He categorically mentioned that DBBL has been giving priority to deliver the remittances very carefully and efficiently to the beneficiaries of the Bangladeshi expatriates living aboard within very short time.

The local elites, business personalities, bankers, educationists and local journalists were present in the inaugural ceremony. The respected guests opined that Dutch-Bangla Bank is not only rendering present-day customers need banking services but also the Bank spends a significant portion of its annual profit for carrying out a wide range of philanthropic and social activities from which the society is at large benefited.

Singapore skids into recession first time

AFP, Singapore

Singapore's economy has skidded into a recession for the first time since 2001, the government said Friday, warning that it could contract by up to 1 per cent next year as a global slowdown saps export demand.

The city-state's economy shrank 6.8 per cent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, more than the 6.3 per cent contraction estimated last month, the trade and industry ministry said in a statement.'Singapore's economy is expected to face a broad-based slowdown in 2009,' the ministry said. 'Considerable uncertainty remains as to how deep and long this downturn will last.'In the second quarter, gross domestic product declined 5.3 per cent.

Two straight quarters of economic contraction is the traditional definition of a recession.

Compared to a year ago, the economy shrank 0.6 per cent in the third quarter, the ministry said.

The government expects economic activity of between negative 1 per cent and growth of 2 per cent in 2009, and it cut the city-state's 2008 growth forecast to 2.5 per cent from 3 per cent.

The global economic downturn has dried up demand for Singapore's exports and hurt the financial sector. Manufacturing slid 10 per cent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, while construction fell 11 per cent and financial services plunged 22 per cent, the ministry said.

SIBL board meeting held

The 181st meeting of the Board of Directors of Social Investment Bank Limited was held in the Board Room of the bank on November 17 last.

Abdul Awal Patwary, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank presided over the meeting. Vice-Chairmen, Directors, Managing Director KM Ashaduzzaman, Additional Managing Director Abu Sadek Md Sohel, SIBL Chief Financial Officer and Board Secretary were present in the meeting. Important decisions on various activities of the bank were taken.

Action Aid Bangladesh holds workshop on draft of mass causality management

Bangladesh lies in one of the most-earthquake zones which may occur due to friction of tectonic plate of the earth. The capital city Dhaka wins turn into wreckage if a six scale earthquake occurs.

But a mere preparation does not exist to face the post disaster nursing facilities in the nursing institutions including the government hospitals. Action Aid Bangladesh is working to increase the awareness among the people during flood, cyclone and earth quake for more than two decades under the assistance of European Commission.

Health Directorate and Action Aid Bangladesh are jointly preparing the mass causality management training manual for the role nursing institutes and the hospitals through diplco-4 Project.

A Workshop was arranged in the hotel civic Inn Brigadier General Shahidur Rahman was Present as the chief guest.

The director of Chittagong medical college hospital Brigadier General Abedur Rahman, the Project officer of Action Aid Bangladesh Sanjib Biswas Sonjoy and other representatives of various hospitals were present as the special guests.

Matters regarding earthquake or fire disaster were discussed in the workshop. Training of doctors and nurses will be stunted soon as per the training manual, was decided in the ceremony.

First int'l CNG expo begins in Dhaka

NATION BUSINESS REPORT

The first international CNG exhibition began yesterday in Dhaka which has een participated by 50 companies from 16 countries including the host, Bangladesh. M Tamim, special assistant to the chief adviser, inaugurated the four-day exposition at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the afternoon.

Around 130 stalls of the participants from home and abroad have been housed at the centre to showcase products like CNG cylinders, kits, compressors, dispensers and accessories.

The exhibition remains open from 10:00am to 8:00pm every day.

A workshop on 'safety of cylinder' will be held today and a seminar on 'CNG sector in Bangladesh' tomorrow which will be organised with support from the Petrobangla, Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd, and Asia Pacific Natural Gas Vehicle Conference.

The organisers expect the initiative will encourage the CNG sector and help it rectify its problems. The people involved in the sector will also get a chance to gather correct information directly from the suppliers, which will help them a lot, they said.

The participating countries are Canada, China, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Argentina, New Zealand, Italy, Turkey, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Iran, USA, Singapore, and Bangladesh. Besides, more than 100 observers from 20 more countries are also expected to visit the exhibition.