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The Bangladeshi RMG sector, although selling well in the USA, is apprehensive about the EU market because of the overall 2.33 per cent decline in shipments to the European countries in the first six months of 2005.
   Facing stiff competition in the post-MFA period, sales of woven garments fell in all EU countries by about two-thirds, and even increased export of knitwear could not compensate for the huge loss, reveled experts in a seminar on Thursday.
   The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association arranged the seminar on Bangladesh’s RMG exports to EU and USA, post-MFA dynamics and imperatives. The seminar is part of BATEXPO-2005, the largest exhibition of Bangladeshi garments, which was inaugurated at Sonargaon Hotel the same day.
   The country exported $1,931 million worth of RMG to 14 EU countries during January-June of fiscal year 2005-2006 against $1,977 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, said AKM Atiqur Rahman, chairman of the Department of Economics of the North South University and keynote speaker in the seminar.
   ‘The decline seems to be quite steep in the light of the past trend of positive growth,’ he said, adding that in fiscal year 2003-2004 Bangladesh had a 32.37 per cent overall growth in the EU market, including 20.47 per cent in woven garments and 47.46 per cent in knitwear.
   Rahman showed that export of woven garments to EU declined by 19.61 per cent during January-June 2005; exports stood at $803 million against $999 million in the first half of the previous fiscal year.
   In 12 of the 14 EU countries export of woven apparels declined, and knitwear export declined in four countries, said Rahman.
   Export of knit garments, however, increased by 15.31 per cent during the period as country exported $1,128 million worth of knitwear against $978 million in the previous year’s same period.
   Rahman pointed that lower price competitiveness in a quota-free world and high lead time are among challenges faced by Bangladesh now, but there are still opportunities in the quota-free market where consumption is growing.
   ‘Bangladesh still remains cost competitive compared to its major competitors, mostly due to cheap labour. Moreover the industry has matured and established good relationship with buyers,’ he pointed out.
   In his observations on the early post-MFA era, Rahman said India registered spectacular growth in export in the post-MFA period.
   He pointed that to survive in the present situation the Bangladesh RMG sector requires to reduce lead time and cost of raw materials, and improve infrastructure, utility and port services.
   BGMEA president Annisul Huq and second secretary of the Netherlands embassy in Dhaka, Sander Vis, also spoke in the seminar.

The finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, on Thursday cautioned if domestic manufacturers do not reduce yarn prices, the floodgates would be opened allowing import from India through the land ports within a month.
   The government imposed a ban on the yarn import from India through land port about three years ago to protect local spinning mills as well as stop smuggling of the product into the country through false declaration.
   ‘Any protection in a ruthless competitive world is not acceptable,’ he told the opening ceremony of the Batexpo-2005 at the Hotel Sonargaon.
   ‘Unless you (yarn manufacturers) reduce prices, within a month border will be opened to import yarn from India,’ he said.
   On a downtrend in woven garment export to EU market, the Finance Minister appeared critical of garment manufacturers for only spinning money without investing in much-needed backward linkage industry.
   He, however, assured that the fall in woven export is a seasonal phenomenon as EU market is going through unstable situation. Referring to his meeting with the EU Trade Commissioner, Saifur said the WTO-imposed safety clause on China on the export of woven apparels, similar measures would be applied on India soon.
   Disagreeing with BGMEA leaders’ plea for salvaging sick garment industries through government’s financial help, Saifur said most industrial units and institutions in the nationalised sector are either ‘dead, semi-dead or half-dead’ as the management could not run those properly.
   He rejected the suggestion for salvaging the sick industries through bank loan, which, he said, would create extra burden on the banks. However, he said a policy could be formulated to solve their problem.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, opened the three-day apparel fair. The inaugural session was also addressed by the commerce minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, the commerce advisor, Barkatullah Bulu and the BGMEA president, Annisul Huq.
   The commerce minister said the US Trade Bill that has passed through different subcommittees would be moved in the Senate by December. The Bill has sought duty-and quota-free access of products of Bangladesh and 14 other countries to American market.
   On sick industries, Chowdhury said the government has already issued instruction to concerned ministries to find a solution to the problem.

The Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceuticals Industry president, SM Shafiuzzaman, Thursday said export market of pharmaceuticals will expand to North Africa in March next year.
   Export of pharmaceuticals has already started in this region, he added.
   He was speaking at a press conference at the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) office after visiting the country’s marketing mission to North Africa. EPB director A K M Nizamul Alam, ACME Laboratories Ltd director Tanveer Sinha and members of the team that visited North Africa were also present.
   The BAPI president said, large-scale pharmaceuticals export from Bangladesh to the region will start in March next year. Square Pharmaceuticals has already exported its products to Libya, he added.
   Shafiuzzaman said Bangladesh is the only least developed country (LDC) among 50 LDCs of the world, that is self sufficient in pharmaceuticals industry. Bangladesh as a LDC country is eligible to export and produce pharmaceuticals without patent up to 2016, he added.
   BAPI and EPB jointly organised the marketing mission to visit the six countries of North Africa from 5-20 September. 16 members of the delegation visited Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Sudan. Delegates from different companies including Square, Beximco, Orion, Navana, ACME, Jayson, EsKayef, Alco, Bio-pharma, participated in the mission.
   The delegates of the marketing mission met with the health ministry, the Drug Administration and Pharmaceuticals importers of six countries. North African countries import 50 to 90 per cent of pharmaceuticals of their requirement.
   The mission presented a documentary with present information of our pharmaceutical industries. Bangladesh is exporting pharmaceuticals products in 62 countries. 95 percent of local requirement is met by 164 pharmaceutical industries.

The Bangladesh Biman spent an extra amount of Tk 298.66 crore in 2004-2005 fiscal year due to increase of prices of fuel in the international markets.
   However, Biman made an additional earnings of Tk 80.07 crore during the same period due to increase of passengers fare.
   This was told at the 30th meeting of the committee at the Sangsad Bhaban with Abdul Alim in the chair.
   Committee members Whip Mohammad Rezaul Bari Dina, Alhaj Salah Uddin Ahmed, Dr. Mohammad Rustum Ali Faraji, Alamgir Mohammad Mahfuj Ullah Farid and Mohammad Faruque Khan took part in the meeting.
   The meeting discussed some important issues relating to Bangladesh Biman’s ticket like non-availability of tickets of a particular flight while many seats of the same flight are found vacant after its take-off.
   The meeting was told that computerized auto-booking system would be introduced by December that would solve ticket selling problems of Biman.
   The meeting asked the concerned authorities to raise the standard of passenger services of the national flag carrier.
   The meeting also discussed various aspects of administration and operation of Bangladesh Biman including the latest condition of the ill-fated aircraft that met a fatal accident recently at Chittagong airport.

Millions of Indian state workers on Thursday staged a one-day national strike that disrupted flights and shut down government offices and banks, in a mass protest over moves to liberalise Asia’s fourth largest economy.
   It was unclear how many of the unions’ nearly 40 million members joined the walkout spearheaded by the government’s communist allies, but a top strike leader called the turnout ‘magnificent.’
   ‘The strike was successful beyond our expectations,’ said M.K. Pandhe, head of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, adding it ‘was the biggest ever action by the trade unions.’
   Public sector workers in most states, especially
   those in the banking and insurance sectors, joined the protest.
   Indian television stations dubbed the walkout—called to protest a host of reforms including privatisation, moves to consolidate weaker banks, foreign investment and easier hire-and-fire laws—the ‘mother of all strikes.’
   A union statement said the walkout was the first step in a fight against the ‘neo-liberal economic policy of reckless privatisation and liberalisation’ of the Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
   ‘This will be just a warning for the government,’ said Pandhe.
   The strike came after the 16-month-old government decided last month to sell 74 percent stakes in New Delhi and Mumbai international airports.
   Analysts said the walkout reflected growing tensions between the government
   and its leftist allies which provide key support in parliament.
   ‘This is brinkmanship to force the government to resist reforms,’ said D.H. Panandikar, an economist with the RPG Group, an independent think-tank. ‘They know very well if the government falls, nobody is prepared for elections.’
   Singh’s government, seeking to walk a tightrope between pro-poor and pro-investment policies, has said economic reforms are crucial to boosting growth and paying for its ambitious social welfare plans.
   But the government has had to retreat on some reforms in the face of opposition from its communist backers, including plans to sell strategic stakes in over a dozen state firms. Unless the government undertook a ‘comprehensive review of its policies’ longer strikes could be in store, Pandhe said.

A year after setting up its office here, Microsoft Bangladesh has now authorised local system builders to market licensed versions of Microsoft products at affordable prices.
   The US software giant’s local operation on Thursday launched the ‘commercial original equipment manufacturer’ (COEM) licence at the IDB auditorium in Dhaka.
   The licence will facilitate greater support to the local system builders, the Microsoft development partner and Microserve chief operating officer, Ismat Shereen, told the launching ceremony, attended by a number of system developers.
   She said Microsoft Bangladesh could not launch the COEM licensing during its one year of operations here for want of proper channel.
   Sajjadul Haque, an executive of COEM distributor Ingram Micro, said the licensing will help local makers build brand images as inclusion of built-in licensed software will give them a better competitiveness in line with the global manufacturers of brand personal computers.
   Microsoft partner accounts manager and technical specialist, Tanim Aziz, made a presentation on the usages and advantages of COEM licensing.

The existing public procurement regulation would be made an act soon to assure development partners more of flawless government purchases, the finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman said.
   ‘Donors want to see our procurement process transparent,’ he said, hoping that enactment of the public procurement act would immediately yield Tk 3,000 crore in aid.
   ‘Aid disbursement of donors depends on transparency of the state procurement mechanism,’ he said to journalists at the Zia International Airport Thursday morning on his return from the USA where he attended the World Bank-IMF joint meetings.
   Saifur Rahman informed that Bangladesh is likely to get a number of credit supports from IMF and WB in the next couple of months.
   Referring to the meetings with IMF and WB chiefs, he said the development partners expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the Bangladesh in various social sectors and in carrying out reforms, particularly in the banking sector.
   They also suggested acceleration of the reform programmes in the energy and telecommunications sectors.
   The president of Islamic Development Bank and the managing director of the IMF assured Bangladesh of cooperation in offsetting oil price shocks, he informed.

GRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan Thursday urged CIRDAP as well as its member countries to continue its role in the rural development and the reduction of poverty through sharing expertise and experiences for the uplift of poor of this region along with the global response and opportunity.
   The minister addressed the inaugural session of the Executive Council-25 of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) as the chief guest at its auditorium.
   CIRDAP is a unique organisation in the region working for poverty alleviation, rural development, gender equity, social mobilisation of poor, GO-NGO collaboration in development efforts, food security, harnessing the community initiative, human resources development since its inception, he added.
   CIRDAP have organised the series of events, including a regional policy dialogue on Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation, from September 29 to October 3 in Dhaka on the occasion of its executive committee (EC) and governing council (GC) meetings.
   Chairperson of the CIRDAP Executive Committee Arwan Surbakti presided over the meting.
   Director General Dr Durga Prasad Paudyal said the meeting would be a historic one for streamlining the mechanism for enhancing regional cooperation among the countries of Asia-Pacific region in fostering rural development and achieving the goal of poverty alleviation with active participation of CIRDAP at the regional level.
   Ziaul Haque Zia, State minister for the ministry and its Secretary Hedayetul Islam Chowdhury both hoped that a new strategic framework for CIRDAP has been developed with a new vision for enhanced regional cooperation.
   Representatives from 14 members countries of the CIRDAP and policy experts of this region have been taking part in the dialogue and the meetings.
   The regional policy dialogue on Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation will be held at CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka on October 1.
   According to the organisers, the 25th EC meeting of the CIRDAP will be held on September 29 and 30 while the 15th GC meeting on October 2 and 3 with a view to strengthening the organisational capacity and professional strength of the regional body.
   GC is the highest policymaking body of the CIRDAP comprising the ministers in-charge of rural development and agriculture in 14 member countries. The EC is a policy planning and recommending body consisting of the secretaries, permanent secretaries and secretary generals of the designated contact ministries of the member countries.

Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan attended a luncheon meeting, jointly hosted by Congressmen Joseph Crowley, co-chair of the congressional Bangladesh Caucus and Eliot Engel, an influential Democrat from New York at the Capitol Hill in Washington.
   During the meeting held on Tuesday, the Foreign Minister thanked both Congressmen for their continued support for Bangladesh and for the Bangladeshi-American community in New York, according to an official message received here Thursday from Washington.
   Morshed noted with appreciation that the Trade Act 2005, proposing duty-free access for Bangladeshi goods in the US, was gaining increasing support from the key US senators and congressmen.
   Both Crwoley and Engel assured the Minister that they would intensify their effort to generate more support for the bill in the house so that it may be enacted as law within the current year.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon Limited held a two-day training course on ‘Overview of Banking Operation in Bangladesh’ the new recruits at a local hotel recently.
   Eleven staffs of the bank from Dhaka and Chittagong took part in the training course.
   The country manager of the bank, S Renganathan inaugurated the training course. The training course was conducted by the human resource department of the bank and was coordinated by Mehboobur Rehman, deputy general manager and head of Human Resources of the bank in Bangladesh, says a press release.

The chairperson of SWIFT member group of Bangladesh and managing director of the Oriental Bank Limited, CM Koyes Sami, recently attended the User Group Chairpersons’ meeting and SIBOS held
   in Denmark, says a press release.
   SIBOS, the world’s premier financial services event which attracts leading industrial figures as well as bankers from all over the globe, is a conference and exhibition organised by SWIFT.
   Chairpersons from 200 countries around the globe participated in the conference and in SIBOS and the number of delegates, exhibitors and day passes were over 8000.

Joarder Nowsher Ali and AFM Jahangir have been re-elected chairman and vice-chairman respectively in the meeting of the board of directors of the Provati Insurance Co Ltd held on September 22, says a press release.

China said Thursday that textile talks in Washington with the United States had ended without an agreement being reached and that another round of negotiations would be held.
   ‘China and the United States held the fifth round of textile talks in Washington D.C., the two sides made positive progress in the talks, but some differences remain as well,’ the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
   ‘Both sides agreed to hold the next rounds of talks as quickly as possible and fix the time and place for them through diplomatic channels.’
   The announcement came after the two sides extended negotiations to a third day Wednesday in the dispute over limits on Chinese textiles to the US market.
   Industry sources had cast doubt on prospects for a deal, but officials said the two-day meeting had been extended to give the delegations more time to narrow their yawning differences.
   ‘We have made good progress in our discussions over the past couple of days and, although we still have differences, we feel that additional time to work on the issues would be beneficial,’ chief US negotiator David Spooner said late Tuesday.
   Chinese textile exports to the United States have rocketed by an average of 627 per cent since global quotas on the trade were lifted on January 1, according to US industry figures.
   For US critics, the textile dispute has highlighted what they call China’s ‘manipulation’ of its exchange rate to give its exports an unfair edge in world markets.
   US textile associations have filed a barrage of petitions with the government demanding new quotas against Chinese garment exports.
   Authorities have looked favourably on most of the petitions so far.
   But the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office says the quotas are ‘cumbersome’ and would prefer an agreement that injects some certainty for importers and retailers until 2008.

Ministers from 13 east Asian countries Thursday pledged to shore-up energy security in the wake of record oil prices and said they would work towards sealing a world free trade agreement in Hong Kong later this year.
   The trade and economic ministers from the 10-nation ASEAN block plus China, Japan and South Korea also raised the prospect of an East Asian oil stockpile as a means of combatting future oil price shocks.
   ‘The ministers shared a common concern at the soaring oil price on the recovering Asian economy and its negative effects on economic growth,’ they said in a statement.
   Other proposals included a joint impact study with agencies such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the negative economic impact of high oil prices, and energy efficiency and diversification measures.
   Japan, the only country in the region to already have its own oil stockpile, said it was taking seriously the threat posed to energy security by record costs and potential supply disruptions.
   Chief of the Japanese delegation Hachiro Okonogi told journalists the process of how to build a stockpile—with prices hovering around 65 dollars a barrel—and where, would now be referred to a working level committee.
   ‘This is a matter that we need to discuss further,’ he said.
   Oil and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference to be held in Hong Kong this December dominated talks with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three, economically powerful, northern neighbours.
   Issues concerning economic integration, which has witnessed China and Japan vying for influence in Southeast Asia appeared to have been relegated down the agenda for the time being.
   South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyen-Chong said that given recent global trade developments there was ‘a commitment to work together to ensure successful outcomes’ at the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference.

Exasperated US lawmakers warned Wednesday that they would hit back at Japan for unfair trade practices unless the Bush administration seized the initiative to resolve long-running disputes, including beef.
   At a hearing to examine trade relations between the two countries, some lawmakers in the House of Representatives urged US officials to seek redress at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to resolve trade spats.
   Others hinted that Congress itself could take action.
   ‘This hearing is drawing a line. There are no more tomorrows,’ House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas said. He accused the Bush administration witnesses of making excuses for Japan’s ‘stonewalling’ on the beef ban.
   ‘I’m a little disappointed in you folks coming here and being apologists,’ Thomas said.
   Officials from the trade, treasury and agriculture departments offered testimony.
   While the beef dispute prompted particularly caustic comments from House members, they also queried whether the administration had been effective in wide-ranging disputes ranging from the life insurance to medical devices industries.
   The Japanese post office’s life insurance business Kampo, for instance, pays no taxes and receives government guarantees for all of its products, to the frustration of US life insurers trying to get into the market.

More than two dozen state governors from both political parties Wednesday asked Congress for nearly $1.3 billion to help poor Americans nationwide pay sharply higher home heating bills this winter.
   The extra money for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) should be part of a supplemental funding bill aimed at helping rebuild Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat.
   LIHEAP distributed $2.2 billion to nearly 5 million poor households in fiscal 2005, which ends on Sept. 30.
   ‘We know this hurricane season will have a huge impact on already high energy prices,’ Blagojevich said.
   ‘LIHEAP budgets will be further stretched as we
   attempt to meet the needs of hurricane evacuees, many of whom lost virtually everything in the storm,’ said 28 governors in a letter to the ranking members of the House and Senate appropriations committees.
   They asked lawmakers to add nearly $1.3 billion to the LIHEAP program.
   Republican governors who signed the letter included Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Bob Taft of Ohio and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
   The US Energy Information Administration recently forecast that Midwest households will see a 70 per cent jump in natural gas heating bills this winter. Consumers who use heating oil will see an increase of about 31 per cent in their winter heating costs.
   Prices are expected to jump in part due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which damaged natural gas production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and processing plants.
   The US House approved cutting LIHEAP funding to $2 billion in fiscal 2006.
   The Senate has not yet finalized its appropriations for LIHEAP, which is part of the annual spending bill for the US Health and Human Services Department.

US-based General Motors, the world’s largest automotive maker, accused Japan yesterday of currency manipulation giving Japanese automakers a huge competitive advantage in the US market and causing significant harm to US manufacturers.
   The company charged that Japan’s weak yen policy gave its exporters an outright annual subsidy of up to 12,000 dollars per vehicle exported to the United States, giving an expected windfall of two billion dollars to Japans automakers.
   ‘This subsidy has both facilitated the expansion of Japanese companies in the US and succeeded in keeping American-built automobiles out of Japan,’ General Motors chief economist Mustafa Mohatarem told a Congressional hearing.
   The impact of Japans sustained currency manipulation is a key reason for a plethora of problems facing US-owned auto manufacturers, Mohatarem told a US-Japan trade hearing held by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means.

An Indian Airlines deal to buy 43 Airbus planes was given final approval by the cabinet, the finance minister said Thursday.
   The ‘cabinet has approved ... (the) purchase of 43 Airbus planes after further concessions were negotiated with Airbus Industrie,’ Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said.
   On September 12, during a visit to Paris by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, French President Jacques Chirac confirmed state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines would buy 43 Airbus passenger planes in a deal worth 1.8 billion euros.
   The deal for 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 A-321s and four A-320s is the first purchase of new planes by Indian Airlines in 15 years.

AGM of UCBL postponed
   The annual general meeting of the United Commercial Bank Ltd, scheduled to be held on October 3, 2005, has been postponed following stay order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. The trading of shares of UCBL in the bourses will remain temporarily suspended due to uncertainty and unclear status regarding the entitlement of the general shareholders in view of postponement of AGMs.
   
   Olympic proposes 11pc cash dividend
   The board of directors of the Olympic Industries Ltd has recommended 11 per cent cash dividend for the year ended March 31, 2005. The annual general meeting is scheduled to be held on December 27 Dec and record date is on December 15, 2005. The time and venue of the AGM will be informed later. There will be no price limit on the trading of OLIND Thursday 29 Sep ’05.
   
   Zero dividend for Sreepur Tex
   The board of directors of the Sreepur Textiles Mills Ltd has recommended zero dividend for the year ended December 31, 2002, 2003 and 2004. The 13th, 14th and 15th annual general meetings are scheduled to be held on November 27, 2005
   in the factory premises at Kewa, Sreepur, Gazipur. Book closure of the company will start from November 15 and continued up to Nov 27.
   
   Bionic Food downgraded to Z
   Bionic Sea Food Ltd will be placed in 'Z' category from existing 'B' category with effect from October 2, 2005 as the company did not declare any dividend in the annulka general meeting held on September 29.
   
   Orion Infusion posts Tk 1.17cr net profit
   As per provisional financial statements, Orion Infusion Ltd has posted net profit worth Tk 1.17 crore for the year ended June 30, 2005. Turnover of the company amounted at Tk 24.9 crore, gross profit at Tk9.46 crore and earning per share stood at Tk5.76.
   
   Mona withdraws an authorised representative
   Mona Financial Consultancy and Securities Ltd, a member of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE member no 164) has withdrawn one of its authorised representative, Abdul Momen Khan.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Tax return date extended to
October 31
The National Board of Revenue on Thursday extended the date of tax return for individuals for the year 2005- 2006 to October 31, 2005. The decision was taken to encourage the taxpayers and in view of the recommendations made by different quarters and organisations, according to a press release issued by the NBR. The extended time will also be applicable to the individuals who make self-assessment of their tax return, the press release added. The Board has requested all concerned taxpayers to submit their tax returns within the extended period.
— BSS

Bangladesh fair begins in Kathmandu
A five-day Bangladesh single country fair began in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu Thursday, aiming to boost trade relations between the two South Asian countries. Vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of Nepal Kirti Nidhi Bista, Bangladesh Ambassador to Nepal M Humayun Kabir and acting vice-chairman of Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh Mustafa Mohiuddin jointly inaugurated the fair at Birendra International Convention Centre. Bangladesh usually exports pharmaceuticals, textile fabrics, melamine tableware, chemical fertiliser, knitwear and garment accessories to Nepal while imports from Nepal vegetable products, ready food, mineral products and chemical products. Addressing the inaugural programme, Minister Bista lauded Bangladesh for its progress over the years, especially in areas of garment, leather, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, according to a message received here Thursday. The Minister said Bangladesh has registered a steady economic growth, particularly in export front, despite recent challenges emerging from the phasing out of the agreement on multi fiber arrangement. He said the current fair would provide an ample opportunity for consumers, traders, investors and industrialists from Nepal and Bangladesh to capitalise on trade and investment opportunities for the promotion of Nepal-Bangladesh trade and economic relations.
— UNB

Memo for full-fledged Sona Masjid land port
A memorandum demanding making the Sona Masjid land port a full-fledged land port was given to the prime minister through the deputy commissioner of Chapainawabganj, Nurul Islam, on Wednesday. Leaders of four land port-based organisations grouped under the banner of an action committee handed over the memorandum to the DC. They also held an opinion exchange meeting with the local journalists.
— New Age

FBCCI delegation
off to Nepal
A 70-member business delegation of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry left Dhaka for Kathmandu on Thursday to attend the Bangladesh Single Country Fair. FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain will lead the delegation at the fair to be held on September 29 to October 2. The FBCCI delegation will participate in a seminar on ‘Bangladesh-Nepal Economic Interaction’. They will also meet the leaders of the Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). While attending the seminar and meetings the private sector leaders of Bangladesh will put their proposals on areas of bilateral and regional cooperation.
— BDNews

Reverse repo
auction held
The reverse repo auction for commercial banks and financials institutions was held at the Bangladesh Bank here Thursday. Six bids of 2-day tenor amounting to Tk 64 crore, five bids of 3-day tenor amounting to Tk 127 crore and five bids of 4-day tenor amounting to Tk 179 crore in grand total sixteen bids amounting to Tk 370 crore were received and accepted. The rate of interest against the accepted bids was 5.25 per cent per annum for 2-day and 3-day tenor and 5.50 per cent per annum for 4-day tenor, a Bangladesh Bank press release.
— UNB

Hong Kong gold cloess higher
Hong Kong gold prices closed higher Thursday at 469.50-470.00 US dollars an ounce, compared to Wednesday’s close of 462.50-463.00 dollars. The market opened at 469.80-470.30 dollars.
— AFP

HSBC’s head favours RMB’s gradual
change
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) Chairman Vincent H.C. Cheng said Wednesday that China’s currency should maintain a gradual change considering the unprecedented transformation the country is undergoing. The country’s gradual change of currency policy with an emphasis on monetary and economic stability is in the interests of both China and the global economy, Cheng said in a lecture during a conference held in New York concerning China’s financial markets. Much of the negative sentiment towards China’s currency policy is based on misunderstanding, Cheng said, referring to the existence of US trade deficits with China since the mid-1970s. There is no relation between the value of China’s currency, the Renminbi (RMB), or the people’s money, and the US deficits, he said.
— Xinhuanet

Microsoft investment to reach $60m
Microsoft has invested US$50 million in China so far this year, and plans to invest another US$10 million before year-end, Greater China chief executive Tim Chen said Wednesday, as it vies for a piece of China’s small but fast growing software industry. After several years of relative quiet, Microsoft has recently stirred to life in China with a string of acquisitions over the last few months.     “We expect to invest in two more ventures by the end of the year, bringing our total investment for the year to US$60 million,” Chen said. The new activity comes three years after the world’s biggest software maker pledged to invest 6.2 billion yuan (US$766 million) in China, one of the largest foreign commitments to the country’s fledgling software market at the time. In May, Microsoft announced the creation of two ventures for its MSN Internet service in China, saying the development would help it provide a full range of services for both online and mobile phone users.
— Xinhuanet