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The Dhaka Stock Exchange has turned down the Asian Development Bank’s proposal of merger and demutualization with the Chittagong Stock Exchange.
   The DSE chief executive officer, Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, conveyed the clear-cut stand of the bourse at a workshop in Dhaka on Thursday.
   ‘DSE members are not inclined to initiate any discussion on any proposal of merger with any other exchange and or demutualisation,’ he said.
   The CSE chief executive officer Waliul Maroof Matin informed that the bourse has formed a committee to look into the issue.
   ‘We will take the decision on the basis of recommendations of the committee,’ he said.
   The Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Mirza Azizul Islam, said, ‘We are not forcing anyone for merger. It is like a marriage…If both the exchanges mutually agree upon, as a third party SEC can facilitate the settlement.’
   The SEC and the ADB jointly organised the workshop to discuss the proposals for merger and demutualization of the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.
   The Manila-based lending agency made the proposal in a mid-term report on the proposed Capital Market Development Programme of Bangladesh.
   Former commerce minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, who pioneered the port city bourse, said, ‘Here nobody is forcing to anyone [for merger and demutualization]. This is just the beginning of a dialogue.’
   Given the changing nature of the capital market globally, he said that stakeholders need to understand first whether there is a need for merger and demutualization, suggesting that things should be worked out properly and carefully.
   ‘The process should not be stopped. As the regulator, the SEC should keep the ball rolling on,’ he said.
   ‘When I initiated the automated trading system, there was also a strong opposition. But at the end it worked out well,’ the ruling party lawmaker said, citing some other initiatives like introduction of central depository system and establishment of South Asia Federation for Exchanges, which initially faced opposition from stakeholders.
   The ADB consultant Andy Wilson made a presentation highlighting the needs and benefits of the merger and demutualization of the two stock exchanges.
   Merger of the two stock exchanges could form a National Stock Exchange of Bangladesh, which, he believed, would get an image of a stronger and unified stock exchange.
   He suggested that separation of ownership and brokers of the stock exchanges through demutualization would bring more transparency in the capital market and curtail the scopes for foul play.
   At present, the members are the owners of the stock exchanges and at the same time, they enjoy the facility of stock broking.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Beximco Pharma’s bid to raise capital through the London Stock Exchange to finance its expansion plan, officials said.
   The commission also gave its consent to the Beximco Group’s planned acquisition of Shinepukur Ceramic Ltd with an issuance of a further capital of Tk 22.02 crore, the regulatory body’s executive director, Mansur Alam, told reporters on Thursday.
   The approval was given at a board meeting presided over by the commission chairman, Mirza Azizul Islam.
   Beximco Pharma, a sister concern of the Beximco Group, at its annual general meeting on June 2 announced that it would raise £27 million or about Tk 315 crore from the London bourse for future expansion of operations.
   The drug maker would raise the fund through an instrument called global depository receipt (GDR) and would join alternative investment market of the London Stock Exchange by July, 2005.
   In this regard, the company will hold an extraordinary general meeting on July 9 to endorse its plan to double the paid-up capital of the company to Tk 200 crore.
   On April 28, the Beximco Ltd approved acquisition of 100 per cent shares of Shinepukur Ceramics Ltd that has a paid-up capital of Tk 66.06 crore.
   It also decided to raise the authorised capital of the Beximco Ltd from Tk 10 crore to Tk 100 crore in view of its strategy of merger and acquisition.
   The acquisition will be made by exchanging one Beximco Limited share for three Shinepukur Ceramics shares.

The first ever Global Micro-entrepreneurship Awards-2005 has been launched to recognise outstanding contributions of organisations and individuals
   in microcredit operation in Bangladesh.
   The awards for the year will be in four categories: best micro-financing institution, most innovative business, best woman micro-entrepreneur and best micro-entrepreneur.
   Winner of the best MFI award will receive $ 2,000 in prize money while the recipient of the three other awards will each get $1,000.
   Citigroup Foundation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund in Bangladesh will jointly offer the awards, organisers said while launching the GMA programme at a press conference at a city hotel Thursday.
   The award has been introduced in observance of the International Year of Microcredit 2005, prescribed by the United Nations.
   The objectives of the GMA programme are to acknowledge and honour the best practices of micro-enterprises in Bangladesh.
   Earlier, a 13-member advisory council was constituted with Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation managing director and immediate past Bangladesh Bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed as chairperson to evaluate the performance of microcredit operators and microentrepreneurs.
   Members of the advisory council told the press conference that advertisement would be published in various newspapers seeking applications and nominations from the interested organisations and individuals.
   The advisory council will finally decide the winner, they said.
   Addressing the press conference, advisory council chairperson Fakhruddin
   Ahmed said microcredit and microfinance play important roles in poverty eradication and empowerment of vulnerable groups particularly of women.
   ‘Microcredit has proven to be an effective anti-poverty tool. This certainly is one of the effective means to reach the Millenium Development Goal,’ he said.

Entrepreneurs of Bangladesh, Japan and Korea have teamed up for a joint venture to produce natural fabrics from bamboo pulp.
   The newly formed company, BNT Co Limited, plans to set up seven pulp plants, each having an investment up to $1 million, in the regions where bamboo grows abundantly.
   The company executives said their venture would ensure industrial use of bamboo and create thousands of jobs apart from encouraging commercial cultivation of bamboo.
   In the first phase, the company concentrates on the northern region to tap the potentials of available bamboo resources.
   ‘Our project will help create jobs in the country’s northern region, which is really economic backwater,’ said Selim Prodhan, chairman of Japan-Bangla Group which is a partner of BNT Co.
   Briefly explaining the project, he said they look to produce yarn from bamboo pulp for the woven factory.
   He hoped that there would be no dearth of raw materials for their plant(s) as bamboos are plentiful in the region.
   The minister for textiles and jute, Shajahan Siraj, accompanied by the company’s top executives, visited Lalmonirhat on June 11 and looked convinced about the prospects of the bamboo-based pulp industry as envisioned by the company.
   ‘This venture will create at least 10 thousand new jobs in the region,’ Siraj told New Age during the visit. He hoped that the industry will help protect environment as growers will then be encouraged to plant more bamboo.
   Growers and traders of bamboo are also upbeat about the project, which, they believed, would offer better price of bamboo, now shipped mainly to major cities including the capital for usage in construction works.
   Habibar Mia, a local bamboo producer and supplier, hoped that they would get fair price if the pulp factory is set up.
   Currently, people are less encouraged to grow bamboo commercially due to low price. Bamboos, grown without any extra care, are collected from bush and sold at Tk 40-50 per piece, which goes up to Tk 120 or more in the city, he said.. ‘People will grow more bamboo if they get good price,’
   he said.
   Nurunnabi Khan, Lalmonirhat district information officer told New Age that according to a 2004 study, bamboo bushes cover about 15 per cent of the total land of the district.

The National Board of Revenue has selected four pre-shipment inspection companies for price verification and customs classification of goods to enter the country from across the globe in next three years.
   The companies are—SGS, Cotecna, Bureau Veritas and Intertake Testing Services, revenue officials told New Age.
   The Board of Thursday sent the names to the finance ministry, which will seek approval from the cabinet committee on purchase for appointing them as PSI agents.
   The current contact with two PSI companies—Bureau Veritas and Intertake Testing Services will expire on June 30, 2005.
   The government has increased number of blocks to five from existing three, responding to demand of major chambers, sources said.
   According to the recommendations, SGS has been selected for block A, Cotecna for blocks B and D, Bureau Veritas for C and Intertake Testing Services for E.
   India alone represents block A, while five countries including China and Korea constitute block B. Block C consists of 29 countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, block D groups 18 countries including Japan and Australia and block stands for 35 countries including Europe and the USA.
   A five-member recruiting committee, headed by ATM Sarwar Hossain, member, customs of the Board recommended the names of the PSI companies.
   The committee included representatives from commerce ministry, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
   Earlier, the same committee declared NMCI, Control Union, Baltic Control and OMIC as technically disqualified, sources said.

The Bangladesh Bank has tightened the process of buying savings certificate to check forgery and illegal means, sources said.
   The certificates buyers will be required to submit their photos and specimen signatures to buy the instrument from now on.
   The similar rules will also be applicable for the nominees or guarantors of buyers.
   A central bank official said that the government had taken the measure to check forgery in the buying process of savings certificates.
   ‘This will help us to identify the persons who are engaged in purchasing and selling process of savings certificates,’ he said adding, ‘bankers will be able to find out whether any one is crossing the present ceiling or not.’
   The present ceiling for individual purchase of savings certificates is Tk 2.5 million while a joint purchase is also permitted up to Tk 5 million.

Software and information service providers have urged the government to withdraw 10 per cent income tax proposed for the software industry in the 2005-06 budget to help this sector flourish.
   The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services made the demand saying that the software industry will be hard hit if the proposed tax on the sector is not lifted.
   The association described the budget proposal for this sector as contrary to government policy of using ICT as an important tool for national development.
   The government has slapped corporate tax on this prospective sector at a time when the software industry, which is still in an infant stage, started seeing a steady growth, it pointed out.
   The association also regretted that the government instead of giving required supports to software industry has kept it outside the purview of tax holiday facility.
    'We strongly feel that this budget proposal is contradictory to the declared government policy of using CT as an important tool for national development.
   Various countries like India, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Pakistan provide special tax incentive to attract foreign investors.
   Under the existing tax exemption and tax holiday facility for software business, the sector has been able to attract some foreign direct investment and some joint venture projects have already been set up. The sudden imposition of 10 per cent income tax will discourage investment in this potential sector.
   Currently, there is no funding opportunity from any traditional financial institutions in the country for software companies, it mentioned.

Singapore is expecting a big rise in tourist arrival from Bangladesh in the upcoming days as the number of Bangladeshi tourists visiting the counrtry rose 50 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
   This was disclosed by the regional director of the Singapore Tourism Board, Dayne Lim, while talking to newsmen on June 9 at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
   Lim said tourist arrivals in 2004 was also 50 per cent more than that of 2003 and it clearly shows Singapore is good place Bangladeshi tourists.
   He said about 40 per cent of the Bangladeshi tourists spent leisure time in Singapore while 35 per cent are business tourists.
   In reply to a question, he said Bangladeshi nationals visiting Singapore for medical and education purposes have been growing for the last couple of years.
   He also hoped that with an added drive from STB’s side, Bangladesh could soon be among the Top Ten tourist generating countries for Singapore.
   Lim said Singapore Airlines is offering several lucrative packages to travelers from Bangladesh not only to Singapore but also its other destinations. In reply to another question, he said the tourism board will try to simplify visa procedures for the tourists. In this regard, they will discuss with the authority concerned, he further said.
   Dayne Lim was accompanied by Manager (Tourism Business) of the board Kenneth Lim. Pubic relation consultant Kazi Wahidul Alam was also present.
   During his first visit to Dhaka, Dayne Lim has met officials of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cheang Kok Ming, General Manager Bangladesh, Singapore Airlines, Representatives of Raffles Hospital in Bangladesh, Parkway Group in Bangladesh as well as top travel agents and tour operators of the country.

Eastern Bank Ltd and Diagold Jewellery recently signed a memorandum of understanding in Dhaka recently, says a press release.
   Mashrur Arefin, head (consumer banking) of Eastern Bank and ATM Saidul Alam, proprietor of Diagold — a jewellery outlet in Dhaka, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective companies.
   Kazi Mahmood Sattar, managing director, Ali Reza Iftekhar, deputy managing director and other high officials of the bank were also present in the signing ceremony.
   According to the MoU, Diagold is jointly sponsoring EBL—Locker campaign, which started on Wednesday.
   Under this arrangement, EBL’s existing and new locker customers will enjoy 15 per cent discount on diamond purchas and 15 per cent on gold items by showing locker ID card.
   The offer is valid for one year, till June 15, 2006. Ten winners of the campaign will also receive Diagold diamond jewelleries.

China’s urban fixed asset investment grew 26.4 per cent in the first five months of the year, hitting 1.97 trillion yuan (237 billion dollars) as the property market sizzled, official data showed Thursday.
   The growth rate was 0.7 per centage points higher than in the first four months of this year but 8.4 per centage points lower than in the same period of 2004, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
   Urban fixed-asset investment increased 28.2 per cent year-on-year in May alone, the bureau said. No numbers were given for total fixed asset investment for the first five months of the year or for May.
   Investment in the property development market grew 24.3 per cent to 464.4 billion yuan over the January-May period.

More than 1,000 vital UK government departments and businesses have been given fresh advice about the security threats posed by malicious hackers.
   The UK National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre’s (NISCC) report into Trojan horses in e-mails says they are getting increasingly sophisticated.
   Organised gangs are using distribution e-mail lists to cleverly engineer mails that look legitimate and relevant.
   The Home Office said many of the attacks seemed to originate from Asia.
   The warning is aimed at government departments and businesses that are part of the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

A board meeting of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd was held at the bank’s board room on Thursday, says a press release.
   Presided over by Nazir Ahmed, chairman of the bank, the meeting was attended by local and foreign directors including Engr. Mohammad Fouad Al-Khateeb, and Dr Ali M S Algharndy of KSA.
   The meeting evaluated the performance of the bank. It also expressed satisfaction at the bank’s success and progress achieved so far.

Former rail and real-estate magnate Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who was considered the world’s richest man at the height of Japan’s economic miracle in the late 1980s, pleaded guilty Thursday to lying and insider trading in his fallen empire.
   ‘Facts are as stated,’ Tsutsumi, 71, told the Tokyo District Court during his first court hearing in the case that could land him in prison.
   ‘I feel seriously responsible as the man who led the Seibu group. I am sorry,’ Tsutsumi, wearing a dark suit, said with little emotion.
   Tsutsumi has been charged with falsifying financial statements to conceal that his family-run Kokudo Corp had control over Seibu Railway and with insider trading for orchestrating the sale of shares in the now delisted train company.
   The man who took over the family business in 1965 at age 31 and helped bring the 1998 Winter Olympics to Nagano resigned in October as head of all of the group’s companies as the scandal came to light.
   He was arrested at one of his own hotels on March 3 and was taken away in a van although he was released three weeks later on 100 million yen ($940,000) bail.
   Lying on financial statements is punishable by up to five years imprisonment or a fine of up to five million yen ($48,000). Insider trading could give Tsutsumi three years in prison, a fine of three million yen or both.
   Tsutsumi’s father, Yasujiro, bought up property as Japan rebuilt from the ruins of World War II. Yoshiaki, his dour illegitimate son, was named the world’s richest man by Forbes magazine for four years until 1990, when his fortune was put at $16 billion.
   By 2004, he had fallen to 159th with just three billion dollars to his name as Japan’s ‘bubble economy’ of the 1980s and his empire crumbled.
   According to prosecutors, Tsutsumi conspired with a former president of Seibu Railway to tell authorities that Kokudo’s shareholding in Seibu Railway was 43.16 per cent although Kokudo actually held a 64.83 per cent stake.
   As a result, the group was able to hide the fact that the top 10 major shareholders held more than 80 per cent of the group—which breached Tokyo Stock Exchange rules.
   Kokudo massively sold Kokudo’s shareholdings in Seibu before Tsutsumi admitted to the falsification in October and quit.
   At the court, Seibu as a firm also admitted to the falsification charge and Kokudo as a company pleaded guilty to insider trading in connection with Tsutsumi’s case.
   Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was favoured by his father despite being the illegitimate third son in a culture where eldest sons generally lead the family businesses.
   He spoke later of being haunted by the pressure to live up to his father, a playboy who served as speaker of parliament and had seven children with five women.
   While more moderate in his tastes, Yoshiaki like his father was able to expand by feeling the pulse of Japan, expanding railways between suburbs and downtown Tokyo department stores while building golf courses and ski slopes for workers who began to enjoy expense accounts.

A rift opened in the US labour movement as five big unions created a new coalition seeking to boost organising efforts, in a move that could end up splintering the powerful AFL-CIO federation.
   The move by the five unions representing some five million US workers suggested a rift in the labour movement, which is seen at a low point since the formation of the AFL-CIO 50 years ago.
   ‘This crisis calls for a labour movement that is bigger and stronger and able to stand up to corporate interests,’ said Bruce Raynor, president of UNITE-HERE, formerly known as the needle trade workers union.
   The unions created the ‘Change to Win Coalition’ and said they would present an aggressive agenda to the AFL-CIO convention meeting July 25-28 in Chicago.
   But at least three of the five unions said they had authorised their executive committees to withdraw from the 13-million strong AFL-CIO, and some of the leaders said this was a likely result without a radical change by the federation.
   ‘We’re going to fight like hell for our principles,’ said Joseph Hansen, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. ‘But we’re not going to let the status quo stand.’
   Asked if the UFCW planned to leave the AFL-CIO, Hansen said this was authorised by its members and added, ‘we will take appropriate action.’
   The others unions in the coalition are the Service Employees International Union, Labourers International Union of North America and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
   ‘We are frustrated with the AFL-CIO,’ said Teamsters president James Hoffa. ‘We believe the difference between us and the AFL-CIO is organising.’
   The coalition members blame AFL-CIO president John Sweeney for failing to devote enough resources to organising in the face of dwindling union membership.
   Some 12.5 per cent of US workers were union members in 2004, government statistics show, down from about one-third a half-century ago. In the private sector, the percentage is even lower, about eight per cent.
   Hoffa said of the AFL-CIO leadership, ‘Their idea is to spend more money on politics ... We believe in organising.’
   The coalition members said they are endorsing a plan for the AFL-CIO to spend $47 million on organising efforts, compared to $15 million proposed by the federation leadership.
   But Andrew Stern of SEIU said the adoption of the coalition agenda was ‘very unlikely’ since its members have only about nine per cent of the vote at the convention, even though they represent nearly 40 per cent of AFL-CIO members.
   The five unions approved a constitution and by-laws for further action, although it remained unclear if they would pursue the strategy within the AFL-CIO or separately.
   ‘Our goal is to empower the tens of millions of American workers who face the daily challenge of making ends meet and whose voice has
   been silenced by the overwhelming power of large global corporations and their representatives in Washington,’ the five presidents said in a joint statement.
   Reacting to the announcement, the AFL-CIO’s Sweeney appealed for unity.
   ‘The clearest path to growing the union movement and helping more workers form unions is by exercising our greatest strength—solidarity,’ he said in a statement.
   ‘Disunity only plays into the hands of workers’ worst enemies at a time when working families are already under attack.’

The EU’s presidency maintained plans to freeze Britain’s long-cherished budget rebate, but offered a compromise ahead of a crunch summit by dropping a reference to then cutting the refund.
   The Luxembourg presidency, in proposals aimed at avoiding deadlock at the summit starting Thursday, also suggested linking the rebate’s evolution to agricultural aid after 2013, according to the draft text obtained by AFP.
   There was no immediate British reaction to the complex proposed new rebate formula, with a diplomat in Brussels saying it was being studied.
   The current rebate system should be replaced ‘by a system whereby the minimal amount of correction to be budgeted as from 2007 shall correspond to the nominal average over the seven-year period’ before 2004, the text said.
   In addition ‘any change to the level of the UK budgetary correction after 2013 will depend in particular on the evolution of market-related expenditure and direct payments in agriculture post 2013,’ it said.
   Under the previous draft of the EU proposals on the British rebate—famously secured by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 — the rebate would be ‘fixed’ in 2007 and ‘set on a downward path from the following year.’
   That formula was rejected as ‘unacceptable’ by the British government ahead of the opening Thursday of a summit facing deadlock over the budget row, as well as clouded by a crisis over the future of the EU’s new constitution.
   The latest draft meanwhile kept the same overall figure for proposed spending levels at 1.06 per cent of gross national income.

Japan and France are to work together to develop a successor to the retired supersonic jet aircraft Concorde.
   Companies from the countries will split an investment of $1.84m-a-year for research over the next three years, Japan’s trade ministry said.
   The agreement to develop the new passenger plane was signed at the Paris Air Show, Japan added.
   The new plane will have 300 seats and cut the flight time between New York and Tokyo to six hours, reports said.
   Japan’s trade ministry also said the two sides would work at solving the problems that plagued Concorde, such as noise and high-fuel consumption.
    ‘This is truly significant industrial co-operation,’ Japan’s trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa said in a statement.
   ‘Bringing their respective advantages together... should lead to the ability to offer highly advanced aircraft and services in the future.’
   The ministry added that Japan had successfully tested an engine that could theoretically reach speeds up to five times the speed of sound.
   Concorde flew at mach 2 - twice the speed of sound. It never recouped the huge amounts invested in it by the time it was taken out of service, after 34 years, in 2003.
   However, French airline Air France was one half of the Concorde team, and the country will bring its own technological knowledge of the supersonic jet to the table.
   The deal also represents a break with Japan’s habit of working with US groups in the industry.
   ‘To research closely in this area with the Europeans does represent something new,’ said Yoshio Watanabe, an official with the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies which is heading the new initiative in Japan.
   However, while Europe’s Airbus is currently the world’s biggest commercial airliner maker, US group Boeing said it was placed to beat its rival.
   Scott Carson, Boeing head of sales, predicted it would overtake Airbus’s four-year lead during the year.

The union cabinet on Thursday eased its grip on news publications by allowing in foreign portfolio funds, but only within an overall ceiling of 26 per cent on foreign investors.
   Shares of listed newspaper companies rose on the cabinet decision, which also allowed foreign newspapers to print copies in India by sending facsimiles as long as they do not alter the content or advertisements to focus on the local market.
   The news came as three of India’s most influential media companies geared for a newspaper war in Bombay, the nation’s financial capital, in a changing industry long dominated by local fiefdoms in tight family ownership.
   The government said in a statement that expatriate Indians, companies owned by them and foreign institutional investors will now be allowed among foreign investors.
   It said foreign newspapers would need prior permission of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to print locally, in addition to regulatory approval in the country of their origin.
   ‘The existing policy of disallowing publication of Indian editions of foreign newspapers may be continued,’ the government said in a reiteration of a policy that dates back to the 1950s.
   Shares in publisher Sandesh Ltd rose more than 10 per cent to 1,340.30 rupees, while Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd jumped 16.2 per cent to 215 rupees, and tabloid publisher Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd raced 15 per cent to 72.5 rupees.
   ‘It is good news (for the industry),’ said Apurva Shah, analyst at brokerage ASK-Raymond James.
   ‘It allows a new class of investors and gives flexibility to companies if they want to raise fresh capital.’
   In a sign of industry moving fast on the subject, Deccan Chronicle Holdings told the stock exchange that its board would meet on June 22 to consider an issue of Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) or American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).
   India lifted a half-century-old ban on foreign investment in the print industry in 2002 and allowed foreign firms to buy up to 26 per cent in news publications and 74 per cent in non-news titles.
   Earlier this month, India removed the cap on non-news publications.
   Advertising revenues from print media are seen growing despite the rise of television in India, where an increasing number of its more than a billion people is growing in literacy, education and purchasing power.
   Henderson Private Capital’s Asia Fund, which manages $210 million, has invested $26 million in the ‘Hindustan Times’, partly to fund its foray into radio, and now owns more than 15 per cent.
   The paper is set to launch a Bombay edition and also go public this year, as it takes on the entrenched might of Bennett, Coleman & Co, publishers of the ‘Times of India’, which is now the world’s top-selling English language broadsheet newspaper.
   Meanwhile, Zee Telefilms, a cable TV broadcaster, is venturing in as a partner to publish an English daily in Bombay.

German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said before a crucial European Union summit starting Thursday that Britain’s EU budget rebate was no longer justified.
   ‘There is absolutely no justification any longer for the British rebate,’ Schroeder told the German parliament in a debate on EU policy ahead of the two-day summit. ‘Britain is the sixth biggest per capita beneficiary of the EU budget but ranks far below that as a contributor.’
   He said if the British annual rebate were maintained as it is, it would soon reach more than seven billion euros ($8.5 billion) versus 4.5 billion euros currently.
   Schroeder described the controversy over the rebate as the ‘key point’ in the debate over the EU’s 2007-2013 budget. Germany is the biggest EU contributor nation.
   Under a compromise plan unveiled Wednesday, the EU presidency maintained plans to freeze the long-cherished rebate but would drop a reference to then cutting the refund.
   The bid to avoid deadlock at the summit also suggested linking the rebate’s evolution to agricultural aid after 2013.
   Under the previous draft of the EU proposals on the British rebate—secured by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 — the rebate would be ‘fixed’ in 2007 and ‘set on a downward path from the following year.’
   That formula was rejected as ‘unacceptable’ by the British government, which has called for a new look at the EU farm subsidies program—of which France is the biggest beneficiary—if its rebate is called into question.
   German conservative leader Angela Merkel, set to challenge Schroeder in a early national election likely be held this September, criticized the chancellor’s steadfast defense of the agricultural subsidies scheme.

China expects to account for a quarter of global shipbuilding by 2010 as it works to overtake Japan and South Korea as the world’s largest producer, a government commission said Thursday.
   The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence gave the estimate in a report, saying China was expected to make 10 million deadweight tons or 18 per cent of the world’s total this year.
   Last year, the figure was 8.8 million deadweight tonnes, or a 14 per cent market share, and it will rise to 25 per cent within five years, said the report.
   China is already the third biggest shipbuilder in the world behind South Korea and Japan.
   ‘By the year 2020, shipbuilding technology in China will come up to the world level and China will then become a strong shipbuilding nation,’ the report said. China offers preferential tax and financial support for its shipbuilders which commission vice minister Zhang Guangqin insisted did not breach its obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The founder of South Korea’s now-defunct Daewoo Group, Kim Woo-Choong, was Thursday ordered detained until July 5 to allow prosecutors time to prepare an indictment, court officials said.
   Citing a risk that the 68-year-old Kim could try to flee or tamper with witmesses or evidence, a Seoul Central District Court judge issued the order for his continued detention.
   ‘Considering the severe damage inflicted on the national economy and his status and roles in this case, the accused is expected to receive a heavier punishment than others,’ senior judge Kim Jae-Hyup said in the warrant.
   Kim, who gave himself up to prosecutors on Tuesday after returning to South Korea following six years on the run abroad, did not contest the ruling.
   He had been a fugitive since 1999 when his group collapsed under debt estimated at 80 billion dollars, an amount that dwarfs more recent corporate collapses at US giants WorldCom and Enron.
   Kim is expected to be placed in a detention centre in southern Seoul from where he will be taken daily to the downtown Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
   Kim allegedly ordered his executives to inflate the group’s assets by 27 trillion won
   ($26.7 billion) between 1997 and 1998, according to prosecutors.
   He also borrowed 5.7 trillion won from financial institutions by presenting fraudulent account books and letters of credit and smuggling $1 billion overseas, they said.

Growth in outsourcing of service jobs from rich countries is likely to be constrained because only one in seven workers in low-wage nations has the skills needed to work for multinationals, according to a McKinsey study published on Thursday.
   ‘Offshore employment [in services] will grow gradually, making no sudden impact on labour markets overall in developed countries,’ says the report by the McKinsey Global Institute, a research arm of the strategy consultancy.
   It says the trend will have ‘little effect’ on wages in rich countries, scotching the idea that offshoring could help hold down inflation in those nations.
   The McKinsey report is the first to come up with authoritative estimates of how many service jobs could move from rich countries to poor ones. McKinsey estimates this figure could reach 160m by 2008, or 11 per cent of the world’s projected 1.46bn service jobs.
   But the study says only a fraction of this potential will be realised. In 2008, there will be 4.1m service jobs offshore, or 1.2 per cent of service jobs in rich countries.
   One reason for this is multinationals’ attitudes to recruitment, McKinsey says. The consultancy conducted 83 interviews with human resources managers working for multinationals and found that, presented with workers from emerging economies with appropriate academic qualifications, they were likely to reject 87 per cent on other grounds.
   The main reasons for the low likely take-up were poor language skills, ‘the low quality of significant portions of the educational system [in developing nations]’ and cultural differences. Diana Farrell, director of the institute, said multinationals often failed to take up offshoring because of initial costs and other hurdles.

SEC issues show-cause notices
   SEC has issued show-cause notice on the Tulip Dairy and Food, its directors, managing director and company secretary in connection with non-holding of annual general meting in the year 2004. The regulatory authority has also issued show-cause notice on the Metalex Corporation, its directors, managing director and company secretary in connection with the matters of non-submission of the audited financial statements for the last 7 years and also non-holding of annual general meeting in the year 2004.
   
   Mercantile Bank director buys shares
   ASM. Feroz Alam, one of the sponsor directors of the Mercantile Bank Ltd, has reported that he has completed his purchase of 7,600 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier.
   
   Square Textile director buys share
   Samsuel S Chowdhury, one of the directors of the Square Textiles Limited, has reported that he has completed his purchase of 50,000 shares of the co at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier.
   
   Social Investment Bank profit down
   As per audited accounts on December 31, 2004, the Social Investment Bank has reported net profit of Tk 83.86 million with EPS of Tk 143.00 as against Tk 193.68 million and Tk. 331.00 respectively as on December 31, 2003.
   
   Gainers outnumber losers
   The gainers outnumbered the losers at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday. A total of 163 issues traded on the day. Out of the issues, 71 advanced (A-52, B-5 & Z-14), 67 declined (A-38, B-7, G-1 & Z-21) and 25 remained unchanged (A-10, B-3 & Z-12).
   
   Standard Bank director buys shares
   Mohammed Abdul Aziz, one of the sponsor directors of the Standard Bank Limited, has reported that he has completed his purchase of 5,000 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier.
   Usmania Glass  requests
   shareholders to collect bonus shares
   The Usmania Glass  has requested the concerned shareholders to collect their bonus share certificate for the year 2003-04 from June 22 to June 30, 2005 during office hours from the company affairs division of BCIC, BCIC Bhaban (12th Floor), 30-31 Dilkusha C/A, Dhaka.
   
   Beximco to deliver dividends
   The Beximco has informed that the dividend warrants of the company for the year 2004 are being delivered from the share department of the company at 17,Dhanmondi R/A, Road No1 Dhaka from Sunday to Thursday 8:30am to 3:00pm.
   
   Modern Cement signs agreement with Seven Circle
   The Modern Cement has informed that it made an agreement with Seven Circle (BD) Ltd, a cement manufacturing company, to produce cement jointly. The agreement executed from Wednesday for one year.
   Sources : DSE, CSE

BKMEA delegation to leave for Brussels
A delegation of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association will leave Dhaka for Brussels Saturday to discuss the new generalised system of preference (GSP) rules with the high officials of European Commission. The BKMEA president Fazlul Hoque will lead the delegation, said a pres release. The leaders will discuss with EC trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and other EC officials on the issue. The BKMEA will also meet with the buyers and trade bodies of Belgium as well as with Bangladesh ambassador Syed Maudud Ali, the release added.
—BDNews

Rakub earns Tk 36cr profit
The Rashahi Krishi Unnayan Bank earned Tk 36 crore net profit in the last five years. The bank made a cumulative loss of Tk 175 crore up to 1998, sources said. In 1999-2000 fiscal year the bank earned over Tk two crore, in 2000-01 over Tk 2.5 crore, in 2001-02 over Tk 15 crore, in 2002-03 over Tk 11.5 crore and in 2003-04 Tk five crore, the sources said. The bank disbursed Tk 574 crore and Tk 676.70 crore loans in 2002-03 and 2003-04 fiscal years respectively. The bank recovered Tk 543 crore and Tk 626 in 2002-03 and 2003-04 respectively. The loan distribution till March 2005 was Tk 605 crore and recovery was Tk 438 crore in agro based sectors, the sources said.
— New Age

Govt plans to set up IT park
The government is planning to set up a high-tech information technology park in Kaliakoir upazila of Gazipur district, the parliament was told Thursday. The government also has a plan to use the information technology on commercial basis, said Dr A Moyeen Khan, the science, information and communication technology minister, during the question hour session. He said that a project has already been sent to the planning ministry for reaching the information technology at the grassroots level in the country. The minister said necessary steps had been taken to establish digital communication for expanding information and communication technology at district and upazila level.
— UNB

Reverse repo auction held
The reverse repo auction for commercial banks and financial institutions was held at Bangladesh Bank Thursday. Two bids of 2-day tenor amounting to Tk 65 crore were received and accepted, said a Bangladesh Bank release. The rate of interest against the accepted bids was 4.50 per cent per annum.
— UNB

DSE ends up
Trading at Dhaka Stock Exchange closed higher Thursday with gainers outnumbered losers. The DSE all share price index increased by 2.40 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 1325.45 points from 1323.05 points on Wednesday. The DSE-20 Index, however, down marginally by 0.58 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 1864.18 points from 1864.77 points on the previous trading day. A total of 163 issues traded Thursday. Of them, 71 gained, 67 declined and 25 remained unchanged. Some 2.36 million shares and debentures worth Tk 190.68 million changed hands on the day. The market capitalisation stood at Tk 222.15 billion on the day.
— UNB

CSE closes lower
Trading at Chittagong Stock Exchange closed lower Thursday though the gainers and losers were equal in numbers. The CSE All Share Price Index shed 0.16 point or 0.005 per cent to close at 3360.31 points from Wednesday's 3360.47 points. The CSE-30 Index also decreased by 9.20 points or 0.29 per cent to close at 3158.30 points from 3167.50 points on the previous trading day. A total of 63 issues were traded Thursday. Of them, 29 gained, 29 declined and five remained unchanged. Some 3,035,769 shares and debentures worth Tk 3.89 crore changed hands against 515,438 shares valued at Tk 3.13 crore on the previous trading day.
— UNB

Singapore introduce new visa system
Intending visitors to Singapore should now submit the application for visa to the designated travel agency instead of its consulate office in Dhaka. Ten travel agencies designated to receive the visa application are Maas Travels and Tours limited, VFS Bangladesh Private Ltd, Regency Travels Ltd, Platinum Tour and Travels, Logistic Travel and Tours, Versatile Travels & Tours Ltd, Heritage Air Express, Valencia Air Travels & Tours, Innova Services and Victory Travels Ltd. A press release of the Singapore Consulate said the new system effective from Sunday (June 19) is introduced to improve the visa services to Bangladeshi visitors.
— UNB

Profit at Swiss banks soars 21.3pc
The combined profit of Swiss banks last year rose 21.3 per cent to 15.6 billion Swiss francs (10 billion euros, $12.3 billion) from a year earlier, according to a study by the Swiss National Bank published Thursday. The study found that 316 out of 338 banks were profitable. Twenty-two banks reported losses totalling 116.4 million Swiss francs, which was 7.5 per cent higher than the year before. The BNS said the strong increase in profit was due to improved assets and repayments in comparision with previous years. The total balance of all the banks climbed 11.3 per cent to 2.491 billion Swiss francs. Last year Swiss banks managed 3.546 billion Swiss francs, up 7.7 per cent from a year ago.
— AFP

S Korean bank sells stake for $1.24b
Kookmin, South Korea's largest bank, said Thursday it had raised won 1,260 billion ($1.24b) by selling 8 per cent of its outstanding shares, a move aimed at boosting its capital ratios. Analysts said it would heighten expectations that Kookmin might increase its dividend payouts or conduct a share buy-back.
— FT.com

Pfizer to buy Vicuron for $1.9 billion
Pfizer Inc, the world's biggest drugmaker, on Thursday agreed to buy Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc, a development-stage biotechnology company, for $1.9 billion in cash to broaden its lineup of anti-infectives. New York-based Pfizer will pay $29.10 in cash for each share of Vicuron, which represents an 84 per cent premium to Vicuron's closing stock price of $15.80 on Wednesday on Nasdaq. Shares of Vicuron rose 77 per cent to $27.99 in pre-market trade on the Inet electronic brokerage.
— Reuters