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Capital market regulators, professionals and experts from across Asia gather in Dhaka for a two-day high-profile regional seminar from today to identify areas of mutual cooperation to develop stock market as a key source of finance.
   Organised by the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC-B), the forum will also look for ways to check any repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, is expected to inaugurate the ‘regional seminar on capital market development: Asian experiences.
   The commerce minister, Altaf Hossain Choudhury, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Mirza Azizul Islam, the ICCB president Mahbubur Rahman and the ICCB vice president, Latifur Rahman, will speak at the inaugural session at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
   Chiefs of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), SEC of Pakistan, SEC of Sri Lanka and capital market regulators from Thailand and Malaysia along with chiefs of Karachi and Singapore stock exchanges are among 200 expected foreign guests.
   In the two-day seminar, four business sessions will be presided over by Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Fakhruddin Ahmed, Mirza Azizul Islam and Debapriya Bhattacharya.

The 16th Bangladesh Apparel and Textile Exposition, BATEXPO -2005, begins in Dhaka on Thursday with an aim to hold back the falling trend in export of woven apparels in the post-MFA competitive era.
   The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, organizer of the three-day annual event since 1988, expects a bigger turnout of overseas buyers this time though the number of participants will be lower than a year back.
   The fair is taking place at a time when the country’s apparel industry is exposed to a tough time with export of major product lines sliding amid stiff competition from low-cost apparels, especially of Asian giant China.
   Though overall apparel export is still growing on the back of rise in knitwear export, sales of woven products marked an alarming fall, industry leaders told a press conference on Monday.
   ‘The rate of fall in woven garments export rings an alarm bell for the industry as a whole,’ said the BGMEA president, Annisul Huq.
   He informed that woven apparel exports dropped by 22 per cent to Europe in July this year compared to July last year.
   ‘In Canada and America too, woven products started showing declining trend recently,’ Huq said, painting a cloudy future of clothing trade in the quota-free regime.
   The EU’s reluctance to use protection clause against Chinese export boom in the external front as well as longer lead-time, poor infrastructure and unmet compliance issues are among the domestic factors that plagued the biggest export earning sector, the industry leader listed.
   Woven products, despite being the main segment of apparel export basket, are gradually losing ground to regional competitors including China and India due to insufficient backward linkages.
   In the fiscal 2004-05, Bangladesh exported about $3.3 billion worth of woven garments while export of knitwear stood at $2.8 billion.
   Asked on proposed duty-free access to US markets, he said, ‘We will continue our efforts to gain duty-free access to the USA.’ He however expressed his doubts whether the TRADE bill, introduced to US House, would at all be passed.
   He hinted that BGMEA will try to seek support from Afghan president Hamid Karzai for the bill as Afghanistan is one of the garment exporting country, grouped in the list of beneficiaries of the proposed bill.
   ‘We are looking for strong political support of the Bangladesh government concerning the passage of the bill,’ Huq added.
   He also called upon the government to approve SAARC and regional cumulation, establish a central bonded warehouse and open up the Benapole port for yarn import.
   This year 65 organisations will participate in the BATEXPO and display their products in 82 stalls against 66 and 84 in the previous year respectively.
   Participants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Japan will be among those who have already confirmed their participation in the exposition.
   The association will set up a reception cell at the Zia International Airport and a corner at the fair ground to attend and assist the overseas buyers, chief coordinator of BATEXPO 2005 Shahidul Haque Mukul told the reporters.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, is expected to inaugurate the show while the leader of the opposition, Sheikh Hasina, is expected at the closing ceremony, he said.

Jute diversification promotion agencies of Bangladesh and India have joined hands to promote rural small entrepreneurship in jute-based industries to expand its usage and create employment opportunities.
   Rural entrepreneurs in sectors like handloom and cottage as well as the NGOs’ micro-credit clients will be brought under the Dutch-aided project.
   They will be encouraged to produce diversified jute products like jute shopping bags, garments from jute fabrics and jute-made paper products, project officials said.
   The three-year project, titled ‘small scale entrepreneurship development in diversified jute products,’ will be financed by the Common Fund for Commodities, Amsterdam.
   Of the total project cost of $3.05 million, the Bangladesh component would amount to $13, 32,725 while Indian portion would be $12, 68,750.
   To this effect, the Jute Diversification Promotion Centre signed an agreement with the project executing agency at the International Jute Study Group auditorium in Dhaka on Monday.
   The minister for textiles and jute, Shajahan Siraj, witnessed the signing.
   Similar agreement was also signed with the National Centre for Jute Diversification in Kolkata on April 9.
   Siraj said that such initiatives and innovative approaches will not only bring changes in the consumption patterns of jute but also widen the market of products made of environment-friendly jute, thus promoting the sector and creating huge jobs.
   Latifa Binte Lutfar, operations officer of International Jute Study Group, said that under the project, three raw material banks, three jute entrepreneur service centres, a chemical treatment plant, a mini-spinning plant, three wet processing plants, six handlooms and a power loom will be set up.
   The existing handlooms and power looms would be encouraged to produce jute blended cloth for mass consumption, she said.
   Moreover, the researcher added, some rural production and processing centres will be set up for bleaching, dyeing and finishing of jute yarns and fabrics.
   Abdur Rashid Sarkar, secretary of textile and jute ministry and Sarwar Kamal, secretary general of the International Jute Study Group were also present at the signing ceremony.

The government is actively considering keeping the Export Promotion Bureau open on Saturdays, in order to help the businesspeople through facilitating their export-related formalities.
   Following a plea made by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association to the government through EPB, the commerce ministry was considering the matter and a decision would likely be given within a couple of weeks, sources said.
   The government, under an austerity measure in the wake of oil-price hike, has declared two-day weekly holiday on Friday and Saturday that drew widespread criticism from the business circles.
   The BGMEA in a written application submitted to the EPB authorities, requested to keep the bureau open on Saturdays for the sake of the export business of Bangladesh.
   The bureau forwarded the application to the commerce ministry for final decision, as it is beyond the EPB’s authority.
   An EPB official said the commerce ministry was actively considering the matter.
   When contacted, the BGMEA president, Annisul Huq, told the news agency that they were now pursuing the commerce ministry to announce Saturday as working day for the EPB.
   ‘I am very optimistic that the government, realising the emergency of the export-oriented sectors, will declare very soon the opening of the EPB office on Saturdays,’ he said.
   He also claimed that Bangladesh fell four days behind the USA following the introduction of two-day weekend.
   Earlier on September 15, Bangladesh Bank in a circular had said that the scheduled banks could keep their branches (authorised dealers) dealing in foreign currencies at important business centres open for a limited period on Saturdays.
   The BB’s step opening branches of the scheduled banks for a limited period on Saturdays gave a little respite to the businesspeople as country’s foreign trade was being affected by the newly introduced two-day weekend closure Friday-Saturday.
   While praising the central bank’s decision, business leaders noted that opening the banks for a limited time could not bring ultimately any result for the country.
   They suggested keeping the customs and EPB offices open on Saturdays for not a limited period but all day long.
   The business leaders also pointed out that without customs and EPB operations, the objective of keeping the banks open would end up in a mismatch.

The entrepreneurs blamed the government for not taking any initiative to remove bottlenecks, hindering the development of the tourism industry and said tourism could earn substantially well enough if it is well developed.
   ‘The government should develop the potential of the sector which remains neglected,’ Faridul Haque, the president of the Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh told the news agency, as the World Tourism Day is officially being observed in the country today.
   He said Bangladesh failed to attract a good number of international tourists, because of the infrastructural bottlenecks like transport, communication, lack of security, poor resort and entertainment facilities, although the number of in-bound tourists were increasing annually.
   ‘However, the government has no integrated planning to reorganise the existing facilities for development of tourism,’ said Faridul, referring to the declaration of tourism as the thrust sector of Bangladesh in the Industrial Policy 2005.
   ‘Such declaration without proper planning is meaningless,’ he said, adding, ‘but the nation can earn nearly Tk 1500 billion annually, if tourism can grow with required facilities.’
   Md Jamiul Ahmed, the chairman of the Tourism Developers Association of Bangladesh, citing the poor facilities at Cox’s Bazar, said in-bound tourists have little attraction to this place. ‘Why will they go to the Cox’s Bazar sea beach, where there are no facilities for tourists,’ he asked.
   He said the Sundarban, Sylhet and various archaeological sights were the main locations that the international tourists world used to visit. ‘But the government is yet to take any step to develop these spots at international standard,’ he said.
   An official of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation said the BPC had taken steps to develop tourism, including transfer of motels to the private sector, building of tourist spots and resorts on Build Operate, Transfer basis.
   ‘However, inter-ministerial coordination is needed as various ministries are related to this multi-dimensional sector,’ the official said.
   According to the Bangladesh Bank, the earnings from tourism rose by 11.09 per cent during the fiscal year 2004-05, compared to the last fiscal year. But the number of tourists declined to 2,45,353 in FY 2004-05, as against 2,65,703 in 2003-04, the sources said.
   During the year 2004, the number of foreigners visiting the country on tourism purpose was 14.69 per cent, for business it was 16.45 per cent and 63.91 per cent for other purposes.
   India, the United Kingdom, the US and Pakistan were the top four countries contributing to tourism in Bangladesh
   UNB adds: The World Tourism Day will be observed in the country today as elsewhere across the globe. The theme of the day this year is: ‘Travel and Transport: From the imaginary of Jules Verne to 21st century reality.’
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed and the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, have given separate messages underscoring the importance of the day. Iajuddin in his message said tourism is a dynamic industry, which has an important role in world economy.
   To observe the day in a befitting manner, the civil aviation and tourism ministry and the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation have chalked out several programmes. The national dailies will bring out special supplements, while radio and television will air special programmes highlighting the importance of the day.

Bangladesh exports of knitwear to the United States have more than doubled in the first six months of the year after a global quota system for textiles ended leading to surprise jobs boom, industry officials said Monday.
   Bangladesh knitwear makers, who account for 42 per cent of the country’s
   garment exports, had been expected to fold in the face of intense competition from rivals such as China and India after the end of the quota system in January.
   Instead, the head of an industry lobby group said the end of the textile quota regime has been a bonus and resulted in member businesses setting up 92 new factories, creating more than 100,000 new jobs.
   ‘The quota withdrawal has proved to be a huge leap forward for the knitwear manufacturers here and we have now targeted one billion dollars in knitwear exports to the United States in 2006,’ Fazlul Haq, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, told AFP.
   ‘Presently, we are simply overwhelmed with orders from American buyers.’
   Haq said that the export of knitwear items to the United States rose 116 per cent in the first six months of 2005 compared to the same period a year earlier.
   Textile exports brought in $6.57 billion in the fiscal year ended June 2005, accounting for three-quarters of impoverished Bangladesh’s entire foreign revenue earnings.
   The country’s 3,800 garment factories provide jobs to more than two million people, mostly women in the delta nation of 140 million people.

All 184 member countries of the World Bank and IMF have now agreed on debt relief for the world's poorest nations, but need to push for a free-trade pact at a Hong Kong meeting in December to accelerate the fight against poverty, development leaders said yesterday.
   International Monetary Fund and World Bank chiefs said they would move quickly to finalize the agreement to wipe out the debts of 18 countries, most of them African, following a breakthrough in talks at the weekend.
   'The path to complete debt relief has now been cleared,' said World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz. 'We will move swiftly to give the bank's board of directors a paper outlining a compensation schedule and a monitoring system-a process that can be completed within weeks.'
   The debt agreement, sealed by the Group of Eight industrial powers in July, was given the nod on Saturday by the rest of the international community after they bridged differences over the financing of the deal.
   Faced with the possible collapse of the agreement, the world's industrial powers promised additional money to cover the costs.
   Wolfowitz urged global trade ministers to follow this example and complete the Doha trade round in Hong Kong, which has been stalled mainly over differences on farm and services issues.
   'The momentum we now have must be maintained heading into the WTO negotiations in Hong Kong,' Wolfowitz told a news conference at the end of the semi-annual World Bank and IMF meetings.
   'We have agreement on more aid, we have consensus on debt relief-now let's complete the picture and deliver a true development round on trade He said the debt deal and a World Bank action plan for Africa were important steps to reducing poverty on the continent, but that a trade agreement would help.
   'A trade agreement in Hong Kong would provide the spur for investment and economic growth that promises a lasting exit from poverty for millions, even billions, of people in developing countries,' Wolfowitz said.
   South African finance minister Trevor Manuel, who chairs the World Bank's policy-setting development committee, said a briefing by WTO chairman Pascal Lamy on Sunday was 'a confirmation of the imperatives of the moment.'
   'Without going into detail, I think he was asking us to return to our capitals and ensure that we can convince our trade minsters that failure to deliver a deal is simply not acceptable,' said Manuel.
   There was no place for failure now, he added.
   'There is no room for error ... we have to ensure the next few weeks are in fact about the intensification of (the trade) agenda,' Manuel said.
   Debt campaigners hailed the agreement on debt forgiveness, but said it should be extended to cover more than just the initial 18 countries. 'It's been a long road and it doesn't end here, but it's worth stopping to acknowledge what this means,' said Irish rock star and U2 lead singer Bono, who campaigned for the deal.
   'This means that the greatest protest movement since anti- apartheid in the 80s and civil rights in the 60s has prevailed with a combination of common sense and relentlessness.'

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries wants 'fair' oil prices and will raise its output ceiling whenever it deems this will promote price stability, the cartel's president said in remarks delivered on his behalf.
   'OPEC wants fair prices. High oil prices don't serve producers, especially OPEC members,' Kuwait's energy minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah said Sunday in a keynote speech delivered at a three-day oil conference.
   In his address, read by Talal al-Khaled al-Sabah, managing director for services at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Sheikh Ahmad said past experience showed that rising prices eventually lead to a price crash.
   'High oil prices which harm economies of the consumer countries do not serve the interests of producers, especially OPEC members. Past experience showed that spiraling oil prices will sooner or later lead to a price crash,' he said.
   'It is in the vital interest of OPEC members to maintain a healthy global demand for oil at fair prices so they do not negatively impact this demand,' the OPEC chief said.
   OPEC 'will raise the ceiling whenever it deems that this serves stability... We assure the market that we will do anything to restore stability to oil prices,' Sheikh Ahmad said.
   'There has been no real shortage in crude supplies.'
   His remarks came five days after OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna said the cartel would provide an extra two million barrels per day (bpd) from October 1 if there is demand while maintaining its official production ceiling at 28 million bpd.
   Sheikh Ahmad said OPEC was currently producing more than 30 million bpd.
   The figure is well above the official ceiling but includes Iraq, which is not part of OPEC's quota system.
   Sheikh Ahmad defended the producers' cartel, brushing aside accusations that they are the cause of soaring oil prices.
   'The current surge in oil prices, contrary to past price shocks, has resulted from high world economic growth that boosted oil consumption and accelerated the demand,' he said.
   The Abu Dhabi conference is taking place under the theme 'Gulf Oil and Gas: Ensuring Economic Security.'

Beacon Pharma, the high-tech lyophilised anticancer drugs manufacturing facility of Bangladesh has taken initiative to export its world class products. The marketing director of Beacon Pharma, Mohammad Akhter Hussain, recently visited six North African nations, as a delegate of Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Marketing Mission.
   The Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries and Export Promotion Bureau, jointly organised the mission, to explore export market opportunities in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Sudan, during September 05 to 20, said a press release.
   As a member of the mission, Akhter met the health ministry officials, the drugs administration and pharmaceuticals importers of those six countries and explained the technical aspects of Beacon Pharma to them.

China is not about to significantly hike its low oil prices despite the perverse results that arise from the current pricing system, a top economic official was quoted as saying Monday.
   'Gasoline just rose to 4.0 yuan (49 cents) a liter, and taxi drivers started protesting,' Li Rongrong, the head of the powerful State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said according to Xinhua news agency.
   'Do you think we dare raise the price even more?'
   Companies such as oil majors Sinopec and PetroChina, which are directly under the control of the central government, have a special responsibility to keep the national economy stable, he argued.
   Li, whose commission is in charge of all the major state-owned enterprises, was speaking to a group of government-appointed managers, Xinhua said.
   Li's remarks came despite growing evidence that the low domestic oil prices are having disastrous economic results, costing refiners huge losses and resulting in massive smuggling especially to Hong Kong.
   In the first half of the year, the two top producers Sinopec and PetroChina suffered a combined 46 billion yuan (5.7 billion dollars) in losses because of low domestic oil prices, Li said.
   The current pricing system has forced China's domestic refining companies to buy on international markets and then sell at up to 40 per cent below cost.
   The disadvantages of the system are apparent at a time when international prices hover around 64 dollars a barrel.

Africa will consider the creation of its own oil exploration and production company at a global petroleum congress to open in Johannesburg.
   'The African petroleum industry is the fastest-growing in the world,' South African Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Lindiwe Hendricks told reporters on Sunday ahead of the opening of the 18th World Petroleum Congress.
   She said the meeting of some 4,000 key players in the oil industry would look at 'how to ensure that our (Africa's) resources are exploited to the benefit of our people.'
   'In the near future, Africa will come to play a pivotal role' in petroleum production, Hendricks said.
   The five-day gathering is a triennial affair bringing together oil executives, governments and concerned groups to take stock of challenges facing the oil and gas industry.
   Hendricks said African leaders at the meeting would 'seriously discuss the possibility of a Pan African exploration and production company. . . to see how we can have some control of the resources' to compete with major international oil companies.
   'The proposal has been put on the agenda,' she said without giving further details.
   African oil-producing countries provide eight per cent of all world oil output, with Nigeria leading the pack as the world's 12th largest oil producer.
   About 85 per cent of African oil is pumped out of Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria with Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe cited as emerging oil players.
   But despite the supposed wealth coming from oil, many African countries continue to grapple with crippling poverty.
   Angola and Nigeria, for instance, rank in the bottom 20 on the United Nations human development index for 177 countries in 2005.
   Angola's oil minister, Desiderio Costa, told reporters through a translator that Angola considered a continental oil exploration company as a 'good idea' but added: 'For now it's just ideas. We support the idea but we need to deeply discuss what this company is going to be.'
   Angola has recently come under scrutiny from the International Monetary Fund which found that 700 million dollars per year had gone missing over several years. Meanwhile Nigeria is trying to account for its oil earnings.
   'The conference offers the continent a chance to seriously look at issues.' including the ' continuous poverty of oil-rich countries,' said Ayanda Mjekula, chairman of the South African National Committee at the congress.
   He said Africa needed to discuss corporate governance, transparency and the impact of HIV and AIDS as the continent tries to break into the international market.
   'For the continent, it (the congress) is a renewed recognition of the leading role that Africa can play in the production of energy resources,' a congress statement said.
   The statement said delegates would debate the oil prices, global warming and climate change, solutions for affordable energy and sustainable alternative fuels.
   'Since the industry is also impacted by the scourge of HIV/AIDS, industry decision-makers and senior government officials will seek ways of improving management of the industry,' it added.
   The 62-nation World Petroleum Congress, founded in 1933 as a forum for international oil and gas issues, is being hosted for the first time on the African continent.

High fuel prices have forced Indonesian cement firm Semen Cibinong Cilacap to close one of its two plants so it can be converted to use cheaper electricity, a company spokesman said Monday.
   ‘We are planning to shut down Unit One for about seven months,’ company spokesman Deni Nuryandain told AFP.
   He said the closure was necessary to convert one of the company’s two plants in Cilacap, Central Java, to use electricity rather than diesel oil.
   The company is a unit of Swiss cement maker Holcim AG, one of the largest in the world.
   ‘The increase in diesel oil prices has made the management decide on a more efficient solution and a more viable operational cost, that is by converting to the use of electricity,’ Nuryandain said.
   In July the government raised fuel prices for most industrial users to full market prices from 75 per cent of the market level. The move was part of government efforts to ease its burden of fuel subsidies in the face of high world oil prices.
   The closure of Unit One, built in 1975, will lead to a reduction in cement production by about 500,000 tonnes (tons), Nuryandain said.

Malaysia said Monday it will build three plants to produce biodiesel from palm oil, as part of efforts to reduce its dependency on petroleum as oil prices continue to soar on the world market.
   'Palm biodiesel is set to become a viable alternative to petroleum diesel,' Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui told an international palm oil congress in Kuala Lumpur.
   The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will 'commence soon the construction of up to three biodiesel plants, each with annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes of biodiesel,' he said.
   The biodiesel plants, to be constructed at a cost of 60 million ringgit (16 million dollars), would also help stabilise palm oil prices by absorbing 500,000 tonnes of the commodity each year, he said.

China is in line to get up to 4.5 billion dollars in loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the next three years to fund poverty reduction projects, the Philippines-based lender said Monday.
   The lending program has been approved by the Manila-based bank's board of directors in its updated country strategy for China, an ADB statement said.
   The funds will be used in projects primarily to reduce the inequality between coastal and interior provinces and the income gap between urban and rural populations, ADB said.
   Grants totalling 11 million dollars every year would complement the loans, it said.
   The projects covered include road and railway infrastructure, rural electrification, and water resource management to combat droughts as well as floods in poor provinces, it said.
   Programs for HIV/AIDS protection as well as financing compulsory education are also included. There would also be projects in renewable energy promotion as well as soil and urban management.
   The ADB said China has made progress in poverty alleviation, reducing the number of rural poor to 26 million in 2004, nearly a 10th of the original 250 million in 1978.
   It is also expected to achieve UN development goals in maternal health and primary education.
   'ADB's proposed projects will target the provinces that contain more than 80 per cent of the country's poor,' said Toru Shibuichi, ADB country director for China.
   'We will continue to focus on poverty-related policy work in such areas as social protection, strengthening the role of non-government organizations, and cooperating with other development partners.'

Boeing Company detailed its 2005 Current Market Outlook (CMO) for China on September 20, forecasting a demand for over 2,600 new airplanes worth 213 billion US dollars in China over the next 20 years. China will remain the largest market outside the United States for new commercial airplanes.
   With the continued high rate of growth for the China air travel and air cargo markets, China's fleet will nearly quadruple to more than 3,200 airplanes by the end of the forecast period. Single-aisle aircraft, such as the Boeing 737 will be the largest category with a total of new airplane deliveries at 1,678 airplanes. Intermediate twin-aisles such as the Boeing 787 and 777s will comprise approximately 568 airplanes, while regional jets will be 293 units and 747 and larger-size airplanes will be 73 units.
   Passengers are the foundation of air travel, and in a competitive market the airlines will continue meeting passenger's demands for more direct nonstop flights to destinations around the world with longer-range, efficient and comfortable airplanes. This requirement will be met by airplanes in the 200-to-400 seat capacity category, with only a few very large ones being needed, said Randy Baseler, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president of marketing.'

South Korea's state-run mining corporation said Monday it would open an office in Pyongyang this year and launch joint mining projects in the communist country.
   Korea Resources Corp (KRC) said it had received approval from North korea to open the office by year-end.
   'We have been allowed to open our office in Pyongyang before the end of this year,' KRC president Park Yang-Soo told South Korean newspapers.
   The company said it was in talks with North Korean officials on joint projects to find gold, iron, copper and other metals.
   The biggest beneficiary from joint mining in North Korea would be South Korea's steel industry, which heavily depends on iron ore from Australia, India and Brazil, KRC officials said.
   North Korea's iron ore deposits are estimated at more than two billion tonnes, they said.
   Still isolated from the outside world, North Korea has been pushing for economic cooperation with South Korea to revive its moribund economy since a summit in 2000 between their leaders.
   But inter-Korean economic projects have been slowing because of a standoff over the communist country's nuclear weapons drive.

Oil prices remained below 64 dollars a barrel in Asian trade Monday as preliminary assesments showed key US oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico had escaped severe damage from Hurricane Rita, dealers said.
   At 12:50 pm (0450 GMT), New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was at 63.27 dollars a barrel after an extraordinary trading session Sunday when it fell 1.01 dollars to 63.18 from Friday's close of 64.19 dollars.
   Reports that oil operations off the Gulf Coast suffered minimal damage from Hurricane Rita over the weekend were greeted with great relief by the market, which had been preparing for the worst.
   'It marks the trend that really started on Friday,' said Victor Shum, an analyst with US energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.
   'The drop on Friday in the market was quite significant ... there were already signs of the hurricane weakening.
   'The hurricane made landfall and there was not as much damage so the market has continued its downturn.'
   Oil prices fell 2.31 dollars to close at 64.19 dollars on Friday as Rita weakened, easing market concerns that vital US oil operations would be hit
   for the second time in four weeks by a hurricane.
   'The reports from the Gulf yet are still spotty ... but it appears that those platforms made it through this in relatively good shape also,' Texas Governor Rick Perry said in a television broadcast Sunday.
   The US Coast Guard reported 'preliminary minimal damage' to the facilities.
   The network of refineries in Texas represents some 25 per cent of US refining capacity. Oil and gas prices had soared four weeks earlier when another storm, Hurricane Katrina, bowled into Lousiana, devastating New Orleans.

The Tokyo stock market's TOPIX index rose more than 2 per cent on Monday in its biggest one-day gain in 15 months after a survey showing confidence growing among big manufacturers spurred buying of Toyota Motor and other blue chips.
   The market was also lifted by a fall in crude oil prices as Hurricane Rita spared the United States' refinery hub in Houston.
   Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) jumped after a newspaper said the telecoms giant was considering a business reorganisation, but Sony Corp. fell as a long-awaited revival plan failed to cheer investors.
   Analysts said the improvement in the business survey index (BSI) of sentiment among big manufacturers raised expectations about preliminary industrial production data this week and the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan business sentiment survey out next week.
   "With this morning's data, we have gotten off to a good start," said Yumi Nishimura, manager of the investment advisory section at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.
   A Reuters poll of 26 economists on the tankan produced a median forecast of 20 for the headline diffusion index (DI) for major manufacturers, up from 18 in June.
   The TOPIX climbed 2.23 per cent or 30.27 points to 1,386.49, its highest close since May 9, 2001, with many stocks on the TOPIX Core 30 actively bought.
   The gain in the TOPIX was its biggest since June 7, 2004, when it climbed 2.37 per cent.

Reverse repo
auction held
The reverse repo auction for commercial banks and financials institutions was held at the Bangladesh Bank on Dhaka on Monday. One bid of 3-day tenor amounting to Tk 35 crore, four bids of 6-day tenor amounting Tk 235 crore and three bids of 7-day tenor amounting to Tk 125 crore were received and accepted. The rate of interest against the accepted bids was 5.25 per cent for 3-day tenor and 5.50 per cent for 6-day and 7-day tenor, said a Bangladesh Bank press release.
— UNB

BRRI agri-instruments can save production cost
The farmers can save Taka 6,420 per hectare, using various agricultural instruments evolved by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute for weed removing, harvesting, threshing and cleaning. This was told by the speakers at a daylong workshop held at BRRI on popularising the agricultural instruments on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, the agriculture minister, MK Anwar, called upon the agri-scientists to popularise the use of agri-instruments, across the country instead of limiting them within 20 to 25 villages. The agriculture secretary, Kazi Abul Kasem, chaired the meeting, which was addressed by the director general of the department of agricultural extension, Ibrahim Khalil, and the BRRI director general, Dr M Mahiul Haque and the director, MA Baki. Emphasising the need for coordinated initiatives to mechanise agriculture sector, MK Anwar said it could save production cost of farming including seeds, water, fertiliser and labour. Dr Baki said display of instruments at field levels resulted in the sale of 5,471 agri- instruments so far among the farmers. BRRI has evolved 45 high yielding varieties of paddy seeds in last 35 years that helped the farmers to produce 25-30 maunds of additional rice per bigha, the speakers said.
— BSS

BIMSTEC trade experts sit in Dhaka in October
The trade experts of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation will sit in Dhaka in October to settle the differences on two core issues — rules of origin and sensitive lists. The meeting would be held in Dhaka from October 10-15, said Fazlur Rahman, the deputy secretary of the commerce ministry. Earlier, the trade negotiating committee had its 7th meeting in the Thai capital of Bangkok from September 12-16. ‘The member countries are yet to reach a consensus on two core issues — rules of origin and sensitive lists,’ said a negotiator of the Bangladesh government. Bangladesh has submitted a list of 1,326 sensitive items, a competent source in the commerce ministry said. The seven-country forum aims to achieve its own free trade area by the year 2007.
— BDNews

Sonargaon Hotel to mark the World Tourism Day
The Sonargaon Hotel has chalked out a daylong programme to celebrate the World Tourism Day’05 on September 27. The daylong programme contains an international food festival show, including Bangladeshi cuisine and Bangladeshi cultural show at Cafe Bazar restaurant. Mir Mohammed Nasiruddin, the state minister for civil aviation and tourism will inaugurate the daylong programme.
— BDNews

Sony slides on cool response to revamp
Sony shares tumbled Monday as investors fretted that with a big loss looming this year, a plan to overhaul the struggling Japanese electronic icon may not be radical enough. Sony fell by as much as 4.8 per cent in early trade as dealers gave a cool initial response to the restructuring plan, which was announced after the close of trade on Thursday ahead of a long holiday weekend. Sony ended the day 120 yen or 3.05 per cent lower at 3,820 as gains by the Japanese shares overall to new four-year highs helped staunch losses. Despite Sony boss Howard Stringer’s plan to cut 10,000 jobs, dispose of a swathe of assets, axe 11 of its 65 manufacturing plants and one-fifth of its product line, the analysts expressed concern that he had not gone far enough. ‘The company’s restructuring plan cannot be called drastic,’ a Merrill Lynch analyst, Hitoshi Kuriyama wrote in a research report. ‘We believe this structural reform is the minimum that is required for the bloated and slow-moving management at Sony,’ he added. ’It remains unclear, however, to what extent these reforms will directly result in improved product and marketing strength, and reduced costs.’ Sony last week issued its second profit warning this year, forecasting a net loss of 10 billion yen ($90 million) for the year to March 2006, largely owing to one-off costs linked to the restructuring drive. With the group’s bottom line set to sink deep in the red, company watchers stressed the need for a growth revival as well as cost cuts.
— AFP

Singapore industrial output up
almost 12pc
Singapore’s industrial output increased almost 12 per cent year-on-year in August, thanks to strong performances from its biomedical and transport engineering sectors, the government said Monday. On a month-on-month basis, industrial output rose 2.5 per cent, the Economic Development Board said. For the eight months to August, industrial output increased 6.0 per cent over the same period in 2004. For the month, a strong 45.4 per cent jump in the biomedical sector and 27.8 per cent rise from transport engineering, helped offset a 0.9 per cent contraction in the key electronics sector. ‘The growth was led by the biomedical manufacturing and transport engineering clusters,’ the EDB said. Output from the electronics sector, which accounts for almost half of total industrial activity and forms the bulk of Singapore’s exports, fell in August because of a slowdown in computer peripherals.
— AFP

Nestle CFO to step down from January 1
Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, said Monday its chief financial officer would step down next year, to manage a new 500-million euro ($601.7 million) growth fund. The CFO, Wolfgang Reichenberger, would leave his post on January 1, 2006, and would be replaced by Paul Polman, formerly the group president of Procter and Gamble Europe, Nestle said. The company said the new growth fund was formed to enable Nestle to develop promising new businesses for integration into its mainstream businesses, particularly in health, wellness and nutrition. Reichenberger wished to manage this fund by forming a partnership with Gunnar Weikert, the founder and chairman of Inventages Venture Capital Investments Inc, and would therefore leave the company in January to do so, Nestle said.
— AFP