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Incorporation of excessive road projects, mainly on political consideration, burdens the annual development programme and ends up halfway due to scanty allocation of resources, the government’s economic think tank says.
   ‘A large number of road projects are often taken up on political consideration resulting in very thin distribution of resources and consequent slow rate of project implementation,’ said Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in its policy recommendations for the upcoming national budget.
   In view of lacklustre of performance of unending road projects that routinely overburden annual development outlay, the BIDS strongly recommended that inclusion of new road projects should be restricted in the budget for 2006-07.
   ‘Further allocation for projects that have experienced extremely slow progress so far should be minimised and resources should be diverted to projects which have progressed much so that these can be completed at an early date.’
   The BIDS paper also said that realised growth in ADP has been less than 10 per cent in most of the previous years.
   ‘The expansion of ADP for 2006-07 should not be set at a level more than 8 per cent over the revised ADP in 2005-06,’ it said. ‘Assuming that revised ADP in 2005-06 is 8 per cent higher than previous year’s revised ADP, this would mean having a maximum ADP size of about Tk 24 thousand crore for 2006-07.’
   It showed that in the 2005-06 fiscal, allocation for road projects constituted nearly 8 per cent of total development outlay that included 138 road schemes out of total 183 projects in the transport sector.
   Because of such a number large of road projects, resource allocation to each project stands so low that 20 per cent of the projects will require more than 10 years to complete, while implementation of 10 per cent schemes will take more than 20 years, the BIDS assessed on the basis of real disbursement of funds for projects at the end of the day.
   BIDS also identified 24 road projects that saw extremely slow progress. Some of those projects started back in 1998 and with the current rate of implementation, they would take as high as 180 years to end.
   A development project for construction of feeder roads and bridges in greater Sylhet was undertaken in the 1999-2000 budget with total allocation of Tk 876.1 crore. But the project, which is designed to complete in 2010, saw a scanty Tk 37 crore allocation just in the 2005-06 budget.
   BIDS calculated that it will take 37 years to end at the present rate of allocation and implementation.
   Another such project is construction of bridge over Dholeshwari river, which was incorporated in 2004-05 fiscal and expected to end in June 2006 at a cost of Tk 48.4 crore. But just Tk 4 crore was allocated in the last year and implementation would take at least 22 years if funding remains at the current level, the BIDS report said.
   Similarly, construction of Debgram-Progoti Sarani link road, initiated in July 2004, would take 28 years, as only Tk 6 crore was allocated in the current fiscal year against total budget of Tk 91 crore. The project was scheduled to complete in June 2006.
   The 1st phase of development of district roads (project no-138) was included in the ADP in fiscal year 2004-05 with total allocation of Tk 1600 crore. But only Tk 100 crore was allocated in the current fiscal year, meaning that the project would end after 30 years.
   Again, 1st phase of development of district roads of public importance (project no-114) with an estimated cost of Tk 432.8 crore would need 15 more years to complete as only Tk 50 crore was sanctioned in the current fiscal. The project was taken in July 2004.

The electric equipment manufacturers of the country on Saturday demanded tax holiday up to 2015 in the interest of growth of the industry.
   They also urged the government to impose high import duty on the electrical equipment which have equivalents produced by the local industries.
   At a press conference, they said that the government should encourage the local manufacturers of electric equipment including power supply devices by providing them with different incentives like tax rebate to face the crisis of power.
   The Techno Venture Limited, an electric equipment manufacturer producing transformers and electric meter components, arranged the conference on ‘electricity and beneficial policy for industrial growth’ at the Sheraton Hotel in the city.
   Sayed Tanvir Hossain, former secretary for the power ministry, was chief guest while MA Malek, former chairman of the Rural Electrification Board, and Abdul Awal Mintoo, former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, were special guests.
   Malek said only 30 per cent of the total population got electricity while 70 per cent are still out of it.
   He said only power generation is not enough to meet the demand of electricity, but the government should develop infrastructures to distribute power across the country.
   Malek urged the government to give subsidy to the local power equipment manufacturers as well as the renewable energy developers. Tanvir informed that India generates 8,000 megawatts of power presently through the renewable energy like solar panel and the country is expecting 15,000 megawatts from this by 2015.
   ‘We should also focus on renewable energy sources to augment power generation instead of depending only on the national grid,’ said Tanvir. He added that sub-stations and transformers should be developed beside power generation.
   AHM Mahtab Uddin, chairman of Techno Venture, said, their company was going to manufacture meter components like copper enameled coil, current coil, terminal cover and other accessories within a short time.

Restaurant owners have demanded imposition of 20 percent value added tax (VAT) on the gross profit instead of current 15 percent VAT on total sale.
   ‘Sustenance of the industry would be very tough if the government continues to collect VAT at a rate of 15 percent on sale, whereas we do profit ranging from 15 percent to 20 percent,’ Khandaker Ruhul Amin, president of Bangladesh Restaurant Owners’ Association, told BDNEWS.
   Otherwise, there could be a flat rate of 4.0 percent of VAT for all what is being taken now from small restaurants, he said.

Depreciation of the taka and inflationary pressure have thwarted a central bank move to contain money supply, as credit flows to the private sector grew 17.04 per cent in a year to March 2006.
   ‘We are concerned by higher-than-expected credit growth in the private sector.
   A decision on whether the contractionary policy should be continued or not will be taken next month,’ a senior Bangladesh Bank official told the news agency.
   He said the move to narrow down credit growth in the private sector rather affected the liquidity situation of the banks.
   ‘Evidence shows a clear sign of credit growth well above our target. The restrictive monetary policy of the BB seems to have become ineffective as far as bringing down credits to private sector is concerned,’ he added.
   The country’s economists and business community have in recent times criticised the restrictive credit policy of the BB for threatening to put a brake on private sector investment growth, besides creating scope for the government to borrow for election-year spending.
   BB statistics show credit to the private sectors rose 17.04 per cent in a year to March 2006 as against 19.46 per cent during the same period of the previous year. The growth remained 3.0 percentage points higher than the BB’s targeted level.
   The BB in its Monetary Policy Statement in January 2006 aimed to bring down private sector credit growth to 13.9 per cent in March 2006 to contain inflationary pressure in line with the advice of the International Monetary Fund.
   Abdul Awal Mintoo, former President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: ‘Despite BB’s restrictive credit policy, the growth took place due to the depreciation of the taka against the US dollar.
   He said Taka has lost 10 per cent value against the greenback in recent months.
   Mintoo also said the BB should be blamed for creating space for the government to manage finances for budgetary expenditure in the election year, while squeezing credits to the private sector.
   ‘The depreciation of the taka led to the growth in private sector credit despite BB’s restrictive monetary policy. It seems the monetary policy has been unsuccessful as it will not help curb inflation,’ Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of the Unnayan Onneshan told BDNEWS.
   M Aminuzzaman, Chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh, however, said the growth was due to disbursement of previously sanctioned loans and would decline in the near future due to tightened monetary policy of the BB.
   Zaid Bakht, research director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said: ‘We need to see the composition of the credits ... This growth could be channelled more to the trading sectors rather than the industrial sector.’

The Dhaka Stock Exchange extended its bearish trend with the market indicators declining last week that ended on Thursday.
   Apart from Thursday’s rise on institutional buying at lucrative lower prices, stock prices declined at the Dhaka Stock Exchange throughout the week.
   In the week, DSE general index lost 24.90 points or 1.78 per cent to close at 1370.15 on Thursday.
   DSE20 index, comprising blue chips, shed 23.78 points or 1.75 per cent and all share price index went down by 16.26 points or 1.51 per cent.
   With the fall of the prices, market capitalisation stood at Tk 20,687 crore on Thursday down from Tk 20,980 crore on the closing day of previous week.
   Total turnover at the bourse declined by 12.09 per cent in volume and 17.44 per cent in value last week from the previous week’s figures.
   Around 12.36 million shares and debentures worth Tk 89.63 crore were traded at the DSE last week.
   Stock brokers said garments labour unrest in and around the capital city on Monday and Tuesday affected the shares trading at the bourses.
   On Tuesday, the turnover at the DSE went down to Tk 13.64 crore, lowest in May.
   The possibility of delay in the start of share trading of the Dhaka Electric Supply Company also dampened the investors’ mood, they said.
   Turnover at the DSE rose to Tk 27.17 crore on Thursday on the two large volume transactions of the shares of IFIC Bank and Dhaka Bank, market observers said.
   However, Alpha Tobacco and Modern Dyeing topped the lists of top ten gainer and loser companies respectively by closing price last week.

The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies has stressed that revenue efforts need to be streamlined in the next budget to raise tax-GDP ratio above 11 per cent as envisaged in the Medium Term Macroeconomic Framework of the PRSP.
   It has called for more focus on direct tax and bringing high-profit service sectors into the purview of highest slab of corporate tax.
   The government’s economic think tank seeks an end to the money whitening scheme and zero import duty regime, which it terms anomalous and discriminatory.
   It favours replacing tax holiday with accelerated depreciation allowance.
   BIDS put forward the policy recommendations to the government for consideration before finalising national budget for 2006-07.
   The government’s economic think tank also attached a brief review of the state of the economy and made policy recommendations in nine broad categories: resource mobilisation, size and quality of public expenditure, macroeconomic stability, private sector and SME development, trade policy, support to agriculture, human resource development and social protection issues.
   It stressed on strengthening the current measures of direct tax effort with focus gradually shifting from import sources towards income tax and value added tax.
   The institute said that as part of the on-going drive to raise the share of income tax and domestic VAT, the scope and coverage of the large taxpayers’ unit needs to be enhanced.
   It also stressed on expanding coverage of VAT stamp/band roll and, re-introduction of payment of advance income tax during annual renewal of vehicles fitness certificates.
   The BIDS recommendations include extension of the purview of the highest corporate tax slab (45pc) to other high-profit service industries such as telecommunications.
   The institute also suggested harmonisation and making the accounting system of the corporate sector more transparent so that corporate profit tax can be tapped properly.
   It also stressed the elimination of the ‘discriminatory provision of whitening black money by paying 7.5 per cent tax that acts as disincentive for honest tax payers.’
   The research oragnisation strongly suggested that the tax holiday system should be replaced by accelerated depreciation allowance.
   ‘Fiscal incentives in the form of exemption from payments of income tax under tax holiday arrangement are administered in a highly differentiated manner,’ observed the institute.
   The differentiated structure of incentive provided under tax holiday arrangement created various anomalies and abuses in the past, it said, as the business community started exerting strong pressure for further extension of the scheme.
   Instead, BIDS suggested that industries could be compensated by a uniform accelerated depreciation allowance system.
   The research body also suggested that the zero import duty should be abolished for the rationalisation of tariff structure and minimum slab should be set at a level like 2.5 per cent.
   It also showed that only selected industries have the benefit of importing capital machinery at zero duty and there are differentiations amongst industries with respect to whether the zero-duty slab includes import of auxiliary machine and machine parts or not.
   ‘In this respect the composition of the zero-duty category appears quite anomalous and differentiated.’
   The institute stressed the increasing non-tax revenue through service sector like rapidly growing telecommunication sector.
   ‘Government has already missed out on the scope of earning substantial license fee by auctioning the operations of the mobile phone operators in the country. The indecision regarding legalisation of VOIP despite recommendation of the BTRC is allowing illegal rent extraction by powerful individuals depriving government of huge amounts of revenue.’
   The BIDS also identified exploration, extraction and marketing of natural resources as unexplored areas of non-tax revenue.
   It also said that development of port facilities and providing port service to neighbouring countries would be a good source of revenue earnings but ‘so far these opportunities remained unexploited mainly due to political reasons.’
   For improving the efficiency of tax administration, BIDS strongly suggested implementations of the recommendations of the revenue commission.

The National Economic Council considers a new ADP of Tk 26,000 crore for the next fiscal year while a revised ADP of Tk 21,500 crore for the outgoing fiscal as it holds a meeting today (Sunday).
   Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is expected to chair the meeting to be held at the NEC conference room to approve the development outlays.
   ‘The development expenditures have been allocated in line with the targets of MDGs and PRSP,’ a senior official told UNB today (Saturday) as the government machinery has already worked out the documents for approval by the NEC.
   The new annual development programme (ADP) for fiscal 2006-07 is proposed to be Tk 4,500 crore or 21 per cent higher than the proposed revised ADP for fiscal 2005-06 while Tk 1,500 crore or 6 per cent more than the original outlay of Tk 24,500.
   The Planning Commission has proposed cutting the outgoing fiscal year’s ADP by Tk 3,000 crore or 12 per cent amid limited resources coupled with donor-imposed conditions and slow implementation of the development projects, officials said.
   They said the new one proposed creation of ‘huge’ employment opportunities to attack poverty and improve the standard of living through allocation of necessary funds for the ongoing projects limited in number.
   The new and revised ADP documents will be placed in Parliament after approval by the NEC.
   The budget session of Parliament begins on June 7 while the budget for fiscal 2006-07 is likely to be placed the following day (June 8).

Country’s growing textile industry faced with shortage of skilled manpower that compelled the local entrepreneurs to hire technical hands from abroad.
   Industry-insiders said thousands of foreign engineers, particularly from India, Pakistan and the Philippines, are working in Bangladesh, as the country could not rear adequate professionals in the trade to man the textile mills.
   Sources in Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) informed that the sector is getting one industry every 15 days on average, but the supply of manpower, particularly having textile engineering background, is very limited.
   As such, the entrepreneurs are being forced to appoint textile engineers from abroad, offering highly competitive salary, they told UNB staff writer Shahadat Hossain Riadh.
   The textiles are mostly used for making readymade garments that are exported to the markets of developed countries, including the USA, where quality matters most.
   Presently, BTMA has 875 member-factories: 249 producing yarn, 478 fabrics and 148 doing the work of dying and printing.
   “These mills need huge skilled manpower, but the only textile- engineering college in the country cannot provide adequate industrial workers we are crying for,” BTMA Chairman MA Awal said.
   He urged the government to make it mandatory for all public and private universities to offer textile-engineering course to make up for the shortage of textile engineers in the country.
   Meanwhile, the BTMA has taken up a project to set up a training institute for the textile graduates to equip them with up-to-date applied knowledge.
   The BTMA has already signed an agreement with a donor agency to this effect and completed formalities with the concerned ministry.

The government is yet to allocate Tk 90 crore fund for textiles sector survey emphasising requirement of technologists although textile mills owners demanded to address the development of technical persons for the sector, sources said.
   The government approved the project titled ‘The survey of textile sector update the database/MIS and assess the requirement of textile technologist of different sector’ worth Tk 90 lakh under Annual Development Programme (ADP) in early of current fiscal.
   Director of Textile Department Shafique Alam Mehdi said, ‘We are yet not appointing the consultant for the project due to allocate the fund’.
   Deputy director of Textile Department S M Harun Kadri said project has extended next December.
   Source said the government would not complete the project within December 2006 due to fund constrain and slow implementing process.
   Department of Textile conducted the first textile sector survey in February 2000 to create the database/MIS and also would implement the project through consultant firm.
   Many of the Textile entrepreneurs including Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) urged to the government to need for assessing the requirement of textile technologist for developing the textile technologist in the country.
   The government would develop the policy for establishing the textile colleges and vocational institutes as per the next survey result.
   Under the project, two workshop and seminar also would conduct by the participation of entrepreneurs textile sector.

The price of crude oil climbed back above 70 dollars per barrel this week, while star performers rubber and nickel hit historic peaks on rising demand from investment funds.
   Oil markets in London and New York are closed next Monday due to a public holiday in Britain and US Memorial Day in the United States.
   The Commodities Research Bureau's index of 17 commodities stood at 345.82 points on Friday, up from 342 points the previous week.
   GOLD: Gold prices eased.
   'The sharp sell-off in gold on inflation fears and growth concerns has slowed down this week,' Deutsche Bank analysts said. Metals prices had slumped the previous week on concerns that expensive commodity prices were spiking inflation, which in turn can weigh on economic growth.
   SILVER: Silver prices edged higher. Silver prices had been boosted by a new silver fund being traded on the American Stock Exchange.
   PALLADIUM AND PLATINUM: Palladium and platinum prices were mixed.
   'For now the directionless mood in the market should keep both metals tracking sideways,' said James Moore, analyst for specialist website TheBullionDesk.com
   The metal has been bolstered by strong demand from the car industry, which uses the metal in catalytic converters.
   Palladium has enjoyed keen interest from the Chinese jewellery sector fell also in price this week. Palladium had on May 12 topped 400 dollars per ounce for the first time in more than four years.
   BASE METALS: Base metal prices enjoyed mixed fortunes, but nickel struck a record high on sharply increased investment demand.
   OIL: World oil prices rose on hurricane concerns, and as the United States geared up the US summer driving season when demand peaks for motor fuel.
   Crude futures were supported also by bubbling tensions over Iran-the world's fourth largest producer of oil.
   In a volatile week of trading oil prices staged a sharp rebound Monday after US experts predicted a packed summer season of Atlantic hurricanes.
   As many as 10 Atlantic hurricanes could form in coming months, and up to four of them could hit the United States, the US National Weather Service said in a report released Monday.
   The report said the six-month Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1, is unlikely to reach the records set last year, when there were 28 tropical storms, 15 of which strengthened into hurricanes.
   SUGAR: Sugar prices steadied after a turbulent week.
   'London white and US raw sugar futures were caught in the commodity sell-off (on Wednesday) with heavy liquidation on the back of selling in crude oil futures in particular,' Sucden analysts said.
   GRAINS AND SOYA: Grain and soya prices stabilised as analysts expected a bumper harvest this season and wheat prices hit a new three-and-a-half year high before running into profit-taking.

Oil prices stabilised on Friday as the United States geared up for the start of its summer driving season, when demand for gasoline hits an annual peak in the world’s biggest energy-consuming nation.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, crept up five cents to close at 71.37 dollars a barrel.
   But in London, Brent North Sea crude for July delivery eased 12 cents to settle at 70.59 dollars a barrel.
   Both markets closed early Friday ahead of a long weekend on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, Monday is Memorial Day, the traditional start of the summer vacation season.
   Despite the markets’ quieter tone at the end of a volatile week, BMO Nesbitt Burns analyst Bart Melek said investors should brace for more choppy trade in the week ahead.
   ‘We continue to see considerable upside risk for oil as the hurricane season starts and more aggressive action is taken to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions,’ he said.
   ‘Gasoline also rose for the third day this week on Thursday ahead of the start of the peak US driving season, which stretches from the Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day (on September 4),’ Melek added.
   A key focus for the markets next week will be a meeting Thursday in Venezuela of oil ministers from the 11 members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
   Analysts expect the OPEC countries, for now, to maintain their total production quota of 28 million barrels a day.

Malaysian share prices are expected to trade cautiously in the week ahead with sentiment weakened by fears over inflation and the prospect of more US rate hikes, analysts said.
   Victor Wan, a senior analyst with Mercury Securities, said the market was ‘heading into choppy seas’ on concerns over the global economy.
   ‘Prospects of further US rates hikes and its impact on global economic growth are bearing down on the market,’ said Wan.
   He said potentially higher US rates were perceived to be dampening the region’s growth, with foreign funds redirecting their funds elsewhere and resulting in weaker regional currencies.
   ‘Trading conditions will remain challenging and although traders are generally advised to stay cautious, short-term trading opportunities will emerge from time to time for the braver players,’ said Wan.
   Malaysia during the week announced it would allow electricity tariffs to be raised by an average of 12 per cent, and Wan said inflationary pressures and the possibility of more interest rate hikes would weigh on investors.

President Evo Morales on Friday hosted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to tie their huge gas producing countries in an alternative free-trade deal to rival Washington’s.
   The heads of state met in Shinatoa, 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of La Paz with Carlos Lange, vice president of Cuba, which is also part of the Peoples Trade Treaty.
   ‘We are here to found a new alternative to neoliberal (economic) policies, agreements and free-trade treaties,’ Chavez said.
   He also said the United States ‘has already given the green light to conspiring to topple the leftist government of Evo Morales.’
   Venezuela and Bolivia plan to invest 1.5 billion dollars in crude refineries, petrochemical factories and fertilizer manufacturing, as well as the production of gas and oil in several locations in the Andean country, where 20 large multinationals have been drilling since 1996.
   ‘For the first time in history, Bolivia will begin to produce oil and gas products,’ Morales said.
   ‘This is for me a great joy,’ he said. ‘I am very proud.’
   State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Bolivia’s state-owned YPBF will produce natural gas in a joint venture. Bolivia has 1.55 billion square meters of gas, second only to Venezuela’s in South America. It already exports to Brazil and Argentina.
   In May, Morales shook world energy markets when he gave foreign investors 180 days to renegotiate their contracts with YPBF, to make them conform to Bolivia’s constitution.
   Bolivia and Venezuela also plan to form an agricultural enterprise and plan to sign a series of health, education and mining cooperation agreements.
   Tens of thousands of small farmers, many of whom raise coca, were in Shinatoa for the ceremony. They are the intended beneficiaries of the new businesses.
   Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, with millions eking out a living with subsistence farming or raising coca, which has been used here for centuries as a mild stimulant, like tea or coffee. However, drug traffickers extract and purify the cocaine, meeting demand in the United States and Europe.
   Morales clashed with the United States, even before he was elected, over the US funded eradication of coca.
   Chavez has also been a thorn in the side of US President George W. Bush, who Chavez claims tried to depose him in an aborted 2002 coup. The United States has cut arms supplies to Venezuela, saying Chavez has not cooperated with Bush’s ‘war on terror’.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday he would press US President George W Bush on trade issues, but also try to link energy and security to the environment during a White House visit in July.
   ‘Our principal priority is always securing access for our goods and services to the American market,’ Harper said.
   ‘I also anticipate that we’ll be talking about some of the items that we expect to come up at the G8 shortly after that. The big topic for the G8 this year is really energy and energy security,’ he said.
   ‘One of the things that I put on the agenda for my meetings with President Bush is energy and security linked to obviously environmental progress.’
   Both Harper and Bush are hostile to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
   The two leaders will meet on July 6 in Washington, according to officials, three months after they held their first official talks in Cancun, Mexico at a three-way summit.
   The March summit between Canada, Mexico and the United States focused largely on immigration issues and border security, but the White House said the agenda for the upcoming meeting would be broader.
   ‘The two leaders will discuss a range of bilateral and global issues, and explore areas where there are opportunities to deepen our bilateral ties and advance our shared global agenda,’ said Bush’s chief spokesman Tony Snow in a statement.
   It will spotlight ‘the special relationship between the United States and Canada as close friends and neighbors,’ Snow said.
   Canada’s ambassador to Washington, Michael Wilson, let it slip during his appearance this week before a congressional sub-committee that the duo would discuss espionage.

The president and CEO of Canon Singapore Pte Ltd, Kazuto Ogawa is scheduled to arrive at Dhaka today. Ogawa will be accompanied by Melvyn Ho, vice president and general manager of Canon Singapore Re Ltd.
   Ogawa oversees Canon’s sales and marketing operations in the South and South East Asia region. Holding different posts for Canon in his 25 years with the brand, Ogawa is the youngest CEO at 48 ever appointed in Canon Singapore Re Ltd.
   During his one-day visit to Bangladesh he will inaugurate Canon’s first independent display centre “Canon Link at Dhaka” at the city’s BCS Computer City.
   Later in the evening Ogawa will introduce Canon’s new series of products for Bangladesh. During the event he will also be awarding Canon’s best performing dealers in the country.

The Co-Management Week begins from May 28 with a pledge to protect the natural resources of the country.
   The event in Srimangal will highlight the impact of degradation of forest and wetland ecosystems on the poor, and efforts being made to improve management.
   Jointly organised and hosted by the Government of Bangladesh and USAID, the event will hold out lessons learned from two pilot efforts to bring local stakeholders together with the government in a collaborative management process.
   The two pilot co-management efforts include the Management of Aquatic Ecosystems through Community Husbandry (MACH) Project, managed and overseen by the Department of Fisheries under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, and the Nisharga Support Project, managed and overseen by the Forest Department.
   The week of events includes field trips to Nisharga Support Project’s Lawachara National Park site and the MACH Project’s Hail Haor site on May 28, followed on the morning of May 29 by a round table discussion of leading luminaries from civil society and international invitees.
   On the afternoon of May 29, the state minister for environment and forests and the US Ambassador to Bangladesh will attend the opening ceremony at the Bangladesh Tea Research Institute.
   During the two-day convention, local stakeholders directly working on co-management pilots around the country will come together to share experiences and lessons learned.
   An estimated 350 people from small villages around the country will come together for the convention.
   The two pilot projects have common elements. The Nisharga Support Project aims to protect Bangladesh’s forest and hio-diversity for future generation while MACH focuses on conservation and rehabilitation of degraded or lost aquatic habitats. Both of these projects work through a common approach of collaborative community co-management of resources involving the resource users in the community, local government, and respectively the department of fisheries and forest department.
   This very approach of co-management also involves sharing decision making and responsibilities between resource users and the government.
   Both MACH & NSP have been involved in efforts to create a platform for the co-management of productive rural resources for some time and are generating successful approaches for management and governance of natural resources in ways that can reduce poverty and generate local economic growth.
   Already the department of fisheries has adopted key lessons and elements of the MACH approach in its Inland Capture Fisheries Strategy.

China has urged a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea in order to help boost burgeoning trade and investment between the two countries, officials said Saturday.
   The suggestion came as Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai met with his South korean counterpart Chung Sye-Kyun, officials of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.
   Bo stressed the need to push forward free trade agreement talks. Beijing seeks an FTA with Seoul to help ease its chronic trade deficit with South Korea.
   Bo raised the same issue when he met with South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-Chong here Friday, according to the Minitry of Trade and Foreign Affairs.
   South Korea is reluctant to rush into an FTA with China amid fears that low-priced Chinese agricultural products could flood the domestic market, causing trouble for the country’s already impoverished farmers.
   South Korea and China have agreed to make efforts to double bilateral trade to 200 billion dollars per year by the year 2012.
   Bo also expressed concern over what he called a militant union at Ssangyong Motor, which was acquired by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. in October 2004.
   Shanghai Motor bought a controlling stake of 48.9 per cent in Ssangyong for 500 million dollars, becoming the first Chinese firm to own a major concern in the world’s fifth-largest auto market.

Speculation over the future of US Treasury Secretary John Snow reached a fever pitch with a flurry of reports that said he would step down in the coming weeks.
   At a news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair late Thursday, President George W Bush side-stepped a question about Snow’s plans.
   ‘He has not talked to me about resignation,’ he said. ‘I think he is doing a fine job.’
   But it is an open secret that the beleaguered Bush has long been seeking a new treasury secretary to better sell his message that the US economy is firing on all cylinders.
   Several high-profile candidates on Wall Street, however, have reportedly refused to take over a job whose profile has dwindled in this administration, where economic policy is jealously guarded by the White House.
   ‘Snow has made it clear for some time that he intends to return to private life but will not leave the president in a bind,’ an administration official said on condition of anonymity.
   Snow, 66, is a former railroads boss who, for all his genial good humour, appears to have failed to persuade the majority of Americans that they are enjoying unprecedented prosperity.

Las Vegas Sands has won the bid for Singapore’s first casino licence, giving it the right to develop a multi-billion dollar gaming, entertainment and convention complex, the government said Friday.
   ‘I am pleased to announce that the successful bidder for the Marina Bay integrated resort is Las Vegas Sands,’ Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar said in a press conference.
   Analysts had given a slight edge to a bid by MGM Mirage and its local partner, Southeast Asia’s biggest property group CapitaLand, for the development designed to spice up Singapore’s staid image and pull in more tourists.
   Another contender was Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s biggest gaming operator which waged a high profile campaign with its local partner, developer Keppel Land. The fourth bidder was Malaysia’s sole casino operator, Genting International and its partner Star Cruises.
   But Jayakumar said Sands’ proposal for the ‘integrated resort’—a mix of gambling and other facilities—would significantly strengthen Singapore’s convention business, more commonly known as meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibition (MICE).
   ‘Sands has submitted the best overall proposal that meets our economic and tourism objectives. In particular the proposal will significantly strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading MICE destination,’ Jayakumar said.
   He said the winning bid also ‘possesses unique design elements that will provide a memorable image for Marina Bay,’ the downtown waterfront site of the development.
   The US gaming operator, which already has an Asian presence in the southern Chinese enclave of Macau, will invest more than five billion Singapore dollars (3.18 billion US) into the casino resort, making it one of the most expensive projects of its kind in the world.
   It is expected to open in 2009.
   Sands’ president and chief operating officer William Weidner said the company was honoured to be chosen and believed its track record in running major conventions proved critical.
   ‘We are confident we have the strengths and capabilities to achieve this mandate based on our unique ability to develop successful, iconic integrated resorts from the ground up,’ Weidner said in a statement.
   ‘In particular, our unparalleled credentials and long-standing relationships in the meetings, incentive, convention and exhibition business with leading meeting and convention organizers empower us with the ability to produce a steady and predictable flow of visitors to Singapore,’ he said.
   The project, to be called Marina Bay Sands, will feature 100,000 square metres of MICE space to accommodate up to 52,000 people, making it one of the largest such facilities in Asia.
   A government panel had been grading the bids since March 29 according to their tourism appeal, architectural concept and design, development investment and bidders’ financial strength.
   ‘Sands has put up a compelling MICE proposal for the Marina Bay Sands,’ said Lim Neo Chian, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board.
   ‘With such a large scale, highly flexible facility, the Marina Bay Sands can help attract more large scale events to Singapore,’ he said.

Iran’s Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said Saturday that OPEC would not lower its output ceiling at its meeting next month, a news agency affiliated to the oil ministry reported on Saturday.
   ‘Given the current upward trend of global oil prices, it seems unlikely that any special decision will be made by OPEC to decrease the production ceiling,’ Vaziri Hamaneh said, the Shana news agency quoted him as saying.
   The 11-member cartel is due to meet on June 1 in Caracas.
   Iran is the world’s fourth and OPEC’s second crude producer, with a production level of around four million barrels a day.

Two former currency dealers for Australia’s biggest bank were convicted Saturday for their part in a 260 million US dollar rogue trading scandal.
   Vince Ficarra, 27, and David Bullen, 34, were found guilty on multiple counts of fraudulently seeking to gain from unauthorised currency trades for the National Australia Bank (NAB) between September 2003 and January 2004.
   The pair had pleaded not guilty, saying they believed they were carrying out instructions from the head of NAB’s foreign exchange desk when they made a raft of fictitious trades to mask massive losses.
   They said senior management at the bank were aware of the manipulation of trades, a practice known as smoothing and desiged to reduce the volatility of the profit and loss account.
   But the 12-member jury sitting in Melbourne found that the men had acted dishonestly. Their boss, Luke Duffy, was sentenced to in prison in June 2005.

FBCCI team visits
S Arabia
A 34-member delegation of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry is now in Saudi Arabia on a seven-day visit. FBCCI President Mir Nasir Hossain is leading the team, a press release said today. During the visit, the FBCCI team will have meetings with the leaders of Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Riyadh, Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dammam and Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The delegation will also perform Umrah in Makkah and Ziarat in Madina. The FBCCI leaders are expected to discuss promotion of trade investment and economic cooperation with their counterparts in Saudi Arabia.
— BSS

SEC fines four directors of Saleh Carpet
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday fined four directors of Saleh Carpet Mills Ltd Tk 1 lakh each for violating the securities laws. The commission fined directors of Saleh Carpet, Dilara Begum, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Badrul Haque and managing director, Shamim Ara Begum, Tk 1 lakh each for failing to transfer the shares to the buyers in stipulated time. They have to deposit the penalty money with the commission within fifteen days from the issuance of order or face extra fine of Tk 10,000 each for each day delay, a release of the commission said.
— New Age

Bangladeshi firms to participate in Guangzhou fair
Ten leather firms from Bangladesh would participate in the Guangzhou leather fair in China to be held from May 28 to June 2 with the support of Leather Sector Business Promotion Council (LSBPC). LSBPC under the Commerce Ministry which for the first time is supporting the leather firms to participate in the international fair, has established a part of Business Promotion Council (LSBPC) for the development of the leather sector. Programme Manager of LSBPC Ishrat Jahan said that the Council would support ten leather firms for fifty per cent of stall charges to participate in the fair. In last March, some of the leather firms from Bangladesh participated at the Hong Kong leather fair with support of the Export Promotion Bureau.
— BDNews