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The country’s jute goods exporters have become anxious at the possibility of extensive sanctions by the United Nation against Iran, the largest market for Bangladeshi jute goods.
   Jute goods manufacturers, who have already been struggling because production is being hampered by frequent power cuts and increases in shipping charges, fear that UN sanctions against Iran will cause serious setbacks to their business.
   Sources at the Export Promotion Bureau said they, after being informed of the exporters’ anxiety, convened a meeting on Wednesday, inviting major exporters and stakeholders to discuss the results of the UN’s sanctions.
   Iranian buyers alone import around one-fifth of Bangladesh’s entire production of finished jute goods and intermediary products like jute yarn and carpet backing cloth (CBC).
   ‘We will discuss the possible effects on Bangladeshi jute goods exporters of any UN sanctions against Iran and try to find out ways to minimise the consequences of losing the largest market for Bangladeshi jute goods,’ a senior official of the EPB told New Age on Sunday.
   The EPB’s records show that in the July-April period of the of the last fiscal year which ended in June, Bangladeshi exporters shipped more than $40 million worth of jute goods to Iran out of the $246 million worth of jute goods sent across the globe.
   Exporters feel that Bangladesh’s jute goods manufacturing sector will face a serious setback if Iranian market is lost.
   Leaders of the jute goods manufacturers said that exporters have already been affected severely due to frequent power cuts that hamper production and increases in sea freight charges.
   ‘The jute yarn manufacturing industries are losing between Tk 15 to Tk 20 crore a month because of production shortfalls due to frequently interrupted supply of electricity,’ said the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association’s chairman, Shabbir Yussuf.
   Yussuf added that foreign shipping companies had increased the fare on a 20 equivalent unit container to $600 and a 40 equivalent unit container to $1,200 recently, eroding the competitiveness of Bangladeshi jute goods exporters.
   They opined that if government fails to intervene immediately and support the jute industries, Bangladeshi businessmen will lose their buyers in the global market to their Indian counterparts.
   In the meantime, due to decline in production in the government-owned jute mills, Bangladesh’s export earning from finished jute goods, including hessian, sack and rug, declined by more than 30 per cent in the first six months of the just ended fiscal year, said EPB
   Industry sources estimate that jute goods industries in the country produce $500 million worth of products — finished or intermediate — and nearly three-fourth of the production is exported.
   Jute yarn and twine are produced mainly by about 50 private sector mills grouped under the umbrella of the Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association.
   These intermediate products are exported to global manufacturers of carpets and other jute goods

Stock prices rallied on Monday, the first trading day of the current fiscal year that began a day back.
   Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange also increased to Tk 205.95 crore from the Thursday’s Tk 134.26 crore. This was the third highest turnover record at the country’s prime bourse.
   ‘Institutional investors were positive on the first trading day of the new fiscal year,’ said Mohammad Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, chief executive officer of LankaBangla Securities, a brokerage house.
   He said retail investors were also entering into the market in bigger number amid a bullish trend the market was witnessing since the late April last.
   The DSE general index gained 41.15 points or 1.91 per cent to close at its all-time high at 2190.46, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 15.47 points or 0.82 per cent to close at 1897.56.
   Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index gained 70.40 points or 2.02 per cent to close at 3548.99, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 99.16 points or 2.02 per cent to finish at 4998.02.
   Of the total 209 listed issues traded on the DSE floor, 141 advanced, 47 declined and 21 remained unchanged.
   Of the total 101 listed issues traded on the CSE floor, 73 advanced, 19 declined and nine remained unchanged.
   CSE turnover also went up to Tk 39.69 crore from the Thursday’s Tk 23.22 crore.
   EXIM Bank topped the turnover leaders on the DSE with total transaction of Tk 21.05 crore.
   Other turnover leaders on the prime bourse were Power Grid Company Bangladesh, Shahjalal Islami Bank, BRAC Bank, Dhaka Electric Supply Company, Southeast Bank, Grameen Mutual Fund One, Pubali Bank, Premier Bank and Prime Bank.

Diversified jute industries will see an investment of at least Tk 600 crore and create around 7,000 jobs across the country when the projects in the pipeline will go into full-scale production, a jute promotion official said in Rangpur Monday.
   Seven industries have already started production and nine industries are preparing to go on commercial operation under Small-scale Entrepreneurship Development in Diversified Jute Products, a project of Jute Diversification Promotion Centre.
   About forty industries were waiting for funds from different banks to start functioning, JDPC executive director ABM Abdullah said. Under the project, JPDC has been encouraging entrepreneurship in diversified jute sector and offering technical support and skill training with assistance from International Jute Studies Group, the current version of now-defunct International Jute Organisation headquartered in Dhaka.
   The project, with 1.6 million dollar assistance from Common Fund for Commodities, initially focuses on the northern region, the country’s economically and industrialy backward region.
   Jute and textile adviser Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury inaugurated the Diversified Jute Industry Entrepreneurs Service centre, a third of its kind in Rangpur. She also opened a three-day fair of diversified jute products at Rangpur Zila Parishad auditorium on Monday.
   She appreciated the activities under the project, which, she hoped, would promote production of diversified jute goods and help jute sector to regain its lost glory.

International air travel grew again in May, while air freight picked up sharply after several months of sluggish growth, the top airline association said Monday.
   Passenger travel rose by 5.5 per cent year-on-year, compared with 5.4 per cent a month earlier, the International Air Transport Association said in a statement.
   Demand for air freight rose by 5.0 per cent in May, up sharply from 2.8 per cent in April, led by airlines in the Middle East and a doubling of demand in the Asia-Pacific region, it added.
   IATA said it was the largest increase in air freight since September 2006.
   ‘The pick-up in freight, led by Asia, could be the first sign of strengthening demand,’ IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said.
   ‘On the passenger side, growth has stabilised while strong competition is keeping load factors high even as carriers aggressively expand international routes to take advantage of some liberalising markets,’ he added.
   Air freight has been facing stiffer competition from land and sea transport, according to IATA.
   Bisignani reiterated the association’s forecast of higher profits for airlines this year.
   ‘The industry is expected to turn a profit of 5.1 billion dollars in 2007 — the first black number since 2000. High load factors are part of the efficiency gains driving the return to profitability,’ he added.
   Average load factors for aircraft in May rose by 0.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year to reach 73.7 per cent.
   ‘They are also improving our environmental performance. Combine this with the impressive investments in more fuel-efficient fleets... and you can see an industry that is on target for a projected 25 per cent increase in fuel efficiency by 2020,’ he claimed.

Thailand, which has already overtaken the United States as the world’s biggest maker of light pick-up trucks, has set its sights on becoming a hub for fuel-efficient ‘eco-cars.’
   Japanese automakers have poured money into Thailand to turn it into a regional production base, and the kingdom now churns out 900,000 one-tonne pick-ups every year — about three-fourths of global output.
   But growth in that segment is slowing down as consumers fret over high petrol prices and start to look toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.
   Globally, growth in light pick-up sales is projected at just two to three per cent in the coming years, according to the Thai Automotive Institute.
   ‘The fuel efficient eco-car is a growing segment because oil prices are staying high and environmental concerns are growing all over the world,’ said the institute’s director, Wallop Tiasiri.
   Sensing an opportunity to expand the nation’s auto industry, the government has approved a slate of tax incentives designed to lure carmakers to build new factories where they can produce the so-called eco-cars.
   As many as 3.2 million small cars are sold every year around the world, Wallop said.
   ‘What we are trying to do is to convince those carmakers to set up a production base for small cars in Thailand by creating a sizable local demand for them,’ Wallop told AFP.
   Under the incentive scheme, excise taxes on eco-cars would be slashed from 30 per cent to 17 per cent.
   Automakers have also been offered tax incentives to produce cars that meet the next generation of European emission standards, which will require that by 2012, cars release no more than 120 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
   If companies take up the government’s offer, Thailand expects the first eco-cars to roll off the production lines in October 2009.
   The scheme could help stimulate Thailand’s auto market, which has seen domestic sales plunge by nearly 16 per cent in the first four months of 2007.
   Although exports remained strong, weak domestic sales pulled down Thailand’s overall production by 3.3 per cent through April of this year.
   Leading automakers are still mulling the government’s proposal.
   Adisak Rohitasune, senior vice-president of Japan’s Honda Motor in Thailand, said the company was extremely interested in producing small cars here for sale both in the kingdom and elsewhere.
   Honda late last year submitted a proposal to Thailand’s Board of Investment to produce eco-cars in the kingdom, but the company is reworking it to reflect the government’s new scheme.
   ‘We are revising our production plan for the model to comply with requirements recently endorsed by the BOI,’ Adisak said.
   ‘The model has an export potential as it suits the global trend for fuel-efficient cars amid high oil prices and global warming concerns,’ he told AFP.
   Carlos Ghosn, head of Japan’s Nissan Motor and France’s Renault, said during a visit to Bangkok last week that Thailand’s proposal was ‘one of the considered options’ for his company, but added that it appeared to favour the power players in the Thai market.
   Suraphong Paisitpattanaphong, spokesman for the Automotive Industry trade group, said small cars would complement Thailand’s existing production of pick-ups.
   About 65 per cent of the vehicles made in Thailand are one-tonne pick-ups, which accounted for 78 per cent of the nation’s auto exports last year, he said.

Stern measures will be taken against any customs official or employee who will demand or take bribe, the National Board of Revenue chairman, Badiur Rahman, told Chittagong businessmen on Monday.
   ‘Collect evidence whenever any customs staffer demands bribe from you and send it to me for immediate action,’ he told them while exchanging views with Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry at its auditorium.
   The NBR also has instructed its staff to accept tax from any one who comes to pay it willingly, Badiur Rahman said, adding that the taxmen were allowed only to inform the board of any discrepancy detected in the wealth statement submitted by the taxpayer.
   ‘From now on, we will show zero tolerance to any taxman harassing the taxpayers,’ he announced.
   The Chittagong customs commissioner, Farid Uddin, CCCI senior vice-president, MA Latif, vice-president, Mahbub Alam, and directors Amirul Hoque, Ershad Ullah, and Jahirul Islam Chowdhury, and customs officials Abdul Mannan Patwari, Ramendra Chandra Basak, Rustam Ali, and Habibur Rahman Khan also spoke at the session chaired by the CCCI president, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
   Saifuzzaman said the increased duties on import of machinery and raw materials imposed under the new budget would hinder the country’s industrial growth drastically. The business community had been expecting in vain that the duties on machinery would finally be reduced.
   ‘We, the businessmen, are willing to pay taxes. But the government also has to reciprocate by providing us business opportunities,’ the CCCI president said, adding that the duty hike would make businessmen reluctant to set up new industries.
   Saifuzzaman also observed that reducing the import tax on textile machinery from 10 per cent to 5 per cent was not sufficient for boosting the sector. The sector needs zero-tariff facility as it has enjoyed until the current fiscal year, he maintained.
   The CCCI chief stressed the need for publishing a booklet by the NBR elaborating the export procedures and facilities offered by the government to exporters to increase export of local products.

The Department of Insurance has tightened rules on the appointment of chief executive officers for insurance companies saying that none above age 67 will be allowed to hold the post.
   ‘The post will be considered vacant after CEOs cross 67. Companies have to appoint a new CEO within three months,’ according to a circular of the chief controller of insurance recently.
   Industry players, however, opposed the move saying it would be tough to get experienced managing directors or CEOs if they were to comply with the rules because many companies were running their businesses with acting CEOs or MDs for a shortage of skilled hands.
   The rule would force eight MDs into retirement this year, said an executive committee member of Bangladesh Insurance Association.
   ‘We have issued the directive to bring about dynamism and efficiency in the companies. We hope it will allow entry of fresh blood to the posts,’ Mahfuzul Haque, chief controller of insurance, told this news agency Monday.
   Haque said that there had been no maximum age limit for the post until his office took the initiative. In some cases, persons aged 68 to 70 years were holding the position of CEOs, he said.
   The directive also said that no CEO would be able to join or perform duties in the position without prior approval of the department of insurance. The same rule would be applicable to companies appointing new CEOs.
   In case of renewal of job contracts, prior permission would also be needed, it said.
   The directive said that a person with a minimum bachelor’s degree and aged between 40 to 67 years would be allowed for appointment as CEO.
   Shah Abdul Kashem, managing director of Asia Pacific General Insurance, said that the sector would suffer for lack of efficient and experienced MDs if the directive prevailed.
   ‘We feel that such a rule should not prevail as we have shortages of experienced and efficient hands,’ Kashem said.
   Eight CEOs or MDs would be retired this year because of the new rule. The number would rise in the coming years, he said.
   At present, there are 62 insurance companies, including two state-run ones, operating in Bangladesh.

Kazi Mahmood Sattar has joined The City Bank Limited as managing director and CEO.
   Prior to his job, he was the managing director of Eastern Bank Limited for more than six years.
   He successfully transformed the bank to a modern bank through installing control measures in critical risk areas, re-engineering operating processes, reorganising the organisation structure from branch based to centralised business matrix and installing new advanced IT system and improving over-all transparency.
   He started his career with ANZ Grindlays Bank in 1981 and worked in Bangladesh, UK, Australia and India during his tenure. He is an executive committee member of BAFEDA and Association of Bankers, Bangladesh.

More bicycle riding and other lifestyle changes will reduce climate-altering carbon emissions that are damaging the health of people in Asia and could also threaten the economy, the World Health Organisation said Monday.
   Climate change contributes directly or indirectly to about 77,000 deaths per year in the region, according to WHO estimates. ‘So far the impact is on the health of the people. If the trend continues, it may have an impact on the economy,’ said Shigeru Omi, WHO’s regional director for the Western Pacific.
   ‘Of course the threat is there. We should not wait for that to happen,’ he told reporters at the start of a four-day conference on the impact of climate change and health in Southeast and East Asian countries.
   He said that in some countries environmental issues were not given the highest priority but ‘if we ignore the environment, humanity will suffer.’
   Omi proposed greater use of bicycles, the use of clean energy sources, and tax incentives to reduce carbon emissions. Health threats from global warming include malaria and dengue fever due to the proliferation of mosquitoes, while reduced rainfall and water shortage could lead to waterborne diseases, the UN health agency said.
   Carbon dioxide from energy use is a major contributor to the greenhouse gases which scientists blame for global warming.
   At least 40 participants from 16 countries including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have gathered to identify innovative ways to combat climate change.

Indonesia’s annual inflation eased slightly in June to 5.77 per cent, beating market expectations and signalling a possible further drop in interest rates, official data and analysts said Monday.
   The consumer price index for Southeast Asia’s largest economy last month rose 0.23 per cent from May, Central Bureau of Statistics deputy chairman Pietojo said.
   The rise was curbed by clothing prices dropping 0.43 per cent, he said.
   In May, the CPI rose 0.10 per cent from April and was up 6.01 per cent year-on-year.
   Raw food prices in June rose 0.47 per cent month-on-month, prices of processed food, beverages and tobacco were up 0.33 per cent and healthcare prices rose 0.22 per cent.
   Danareksa economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the results were ‘certainly better than the market expected. This is the first time this year, that the CPI year-on-year came in below six per cent.’
   He said that with inflation under control, the central bank should have leeway to further cut its benchmark Bank Indonesia rate by 25 basis points at its policy meeting later this week.
   The BI rate currently stands at 8.50 per cent.
   Since May last year, the central bank has cut the BI rate by a cumulative 425 basis points.
   Last month’s 25 basis point cut was due to the prospect of inflation hitting the bank’s target this year of 5.0-7.0 per cent, and for next year of 4.0-6.0 per cent.
   Rates were dramatically hiked up at the end of 2005 when a fuel price rise saw inflation soar.

The China Southern Airlines Monday opened an air route from Guangzhou to Yangon, bringing the total number of air links between China and Myanmar to three.
   Becoming the third Chinese airline that flies Yangon using 120-seat Airbus A-319, the China Southern Airlines will have regular flights three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Saturday after a 30-day promotion period, officials of the airline said.
   The opening of the new air route contributes to the enhancement of tourism, trade and economic cooperation and friendship between the two countries, officials with the civil aviation authorities of the two countries told Xinhua.
   Of the first two Chinese airlines that fly Myanmar, Air China has been offering flight services for the route Beijing-Kunming-Yangon since half a century ago. The airline now uses Boeing-737 aircraft for three flights a week on every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
   The other airline is China Eastern Airlines flying between Myanmar’s Mandalay and China’s Yunnan provincial capital of Kunming. It has four flights a week on every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
   There are 11 other airlines including a Myanmar international airline and 10 foreign airlines flying Yangon with about 82 flights per week in total between Yangon and eight destinations, namely Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Calcutta, Chiang Mai, Chinese Taipei and Doha.
   The 10 foreign airlines flying Yangon also comprise Thai Airways International, Indian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Silk Air, Malaysian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Mandarin, Jetstar Asia, Phuket Airline and Thai Air Asia.
   Myanmar’s domestic airlines are represented by the state-run Myanmar Airways, two joint ventures — Air Mandalay and Yangon Airways, and national private-run Air Bagan.
   Of them, the Air Bagan extended its first international flight to Bangkok on May 15 and has planned to add more flight destinations such as Kunming, Singapore, Incheon, Siam Reap, Chennai and Dhaka in the future.
   Meanwhile, foreign tourist arrivals in Myanmar increased annually in the past five years registering 654,602 in the fiscal year 2006-07 which ended in March, of whom, 276,613 entered through Yangon checkpoint, 5,763 through Mandalay and Bagan checkpoints and 372,226 through border checkpoints.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez sealed their anti-American alliance Monday by laying the foundation stone of a joint petrochemical plant in Iran.
   The two leaders pledged to ‘stand against all enemies,’ a reference to the United States, as they inaugurated construction of a 700 million dollar methanol plant in the Asaluyeh industrial zone on the Gulf coast.
   Chavez, on his third trip to Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, promised to ‘unite the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean’ and even adopted Persian slang for the benefit of reporters assembled for the occasion.
   ‘We as two united countries will build a better world. I thank God that Iran and Venezuela are standing together forever,’ he said on the last day of a trip which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus.
   ‘We are going to unite the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean. We are together and we want to go forward with a multi-polar world,’ he said.
   The two members of the powerful OPEC oil cartel pledged to boost cooperation and trade ties during a day of talks between Chazez and leaders of Iran’s Islamic regime on Sunday, while predicting the downfall of the United States.
   Ahmadinejad lauded the ‘brotherly ties’ between the two countries, one a Shiite clerical regime and the other a deeply Catholic socialist democracy.
   Despite their cultural differences, the two are major oil producers and staunch opponents of US ‘hegemony and imperialism.’
   ‘A long step was taken to bolster brotherly ties between the two revolutionary, people’s governments of Iran and Venezuela, whose goal is to build their countries and stand against all enemies,’ Ahmadinejad said.
   ‘It’s a glorious day. We’re determined to build things together and give it as a gift to our nations,’ he added, as Chavez chimed in with snippets of Persian such as ‘eyval’ or ‘bravo.’
   ‘Viva Iran and Venezuela and all revolutionary nations and death to the enemies,’ Ahmadinejad said.
   The methanol plant, set to come on stream in four years, will have a capacity of 1.65 million tonnes a year and a similar project is planned for Venezuela, an Iranian petrochemical official said.
   The Venezuela plant would give Iran better access to Latin American and Brazilian markets and provide easier reach to India and Pakistan for Venezuela, the state news agency IRNA said.
   Chavez met Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Sunday in a rare honour for a non-Muslim visiting foreign dignitary.
   ‘The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded,’ state television quoted Khamenei as telling Chavez.
   Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with Washington, which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus.
   He was accompanied by his foreign, communications, energy, industry and economy ministers, and was expected to sign 20 agreements with Iran for projects in his country.
   Ahmadinejad toured Latin America in January in a bid to seek support from the region’s leftist leaders who share his scornful defiance of the United States.
   Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for weapons development although Tehran insists it is purely peaceful.
   The United States, which broke diplomatic ties with Iran in 1980 after Islamist revolutionaries occupied its embassy, has been spearheading the international campaign to stop Iran’s enrichment programme.

Japanese business confidence held steady close to a two-year high and firms set aside more cash to invest in new plant and equipment, a key survey showed Monday, underpinning confidence in the economy.
   The Bank of Japan’s closely watched ‘Tankan’ survey showed the business sentiment index for major Japanese manufacturers at 23 in June, unchanged from the previous survey in March and in line with market expectations.
   A positive reading means confident firms outweigh the pessimistic ones. A figure of 23 indicates generally upbeat sentiment and is within sight of December’s two-year peak of 25.
   Analysts said that the BoJ still looked set to raise interest rates again sometime in the next few months as the economy recovers from its long slump.
   ‘Despite recent weakness in manufacturing output data, sentiment was solid at large enterprises,’ noted Morgan Stanley economist Takehiro Sato.
   The survey ‘as good as gives the go-ahead for the BoJ to raise rates,’ probably in August, said Sato.
   ‘In our view there has been no big surprise in this Tankan and so we continue to expect the BoJ to raise interest rates in September,’ said UBS Securities economist Akira Maekawa.
   For the quarter to September, the index for large manufacturers is projected to fall one point to 22.
   The Tankan survey also showed confidence among major non-manufacturers holding steady at a figure of 22 over the three months to June.
   Chief cabinet secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said the survey supported the government’s view that ‘the Japanese economy is expanding steadily.’

Japan and India warned on Monday that the world faces a major challenge in tackling climate change while seeking to keep economies growing.
   The warning came in a joint statement after a meeting between Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy head of India’s planning commission, and Japanese economy minister Akira Amari
   ‘Humanity faces a very important challenge of concurrently achieving response to climate changes and sustainable economic development,’ they said.
   The two sides agreed to establish individual goals and voluntary action plans to improve energy efficiency and boost cooperation in the development of renewable fuel sources.
   Cooperation between the two countries on energy projects would be ‘mutually beneficial,’ they said in a statement.
   Amari is on an official five-day visit which began against the backdrop of talks on a free trade agreement in the Indian capital last week that ended with big differences.
   New Delhi demanded extra safeguards for its domestic industry but Tokyo opposed such concessions.
   India and Japan had agreed to launch negotiations on an economic partnership pact after prime minister Manmohan Singh visited Tokyo last year.
   During his visit, Amari will review the progress of the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with India’s commerce minister Kamal Nath.
   India’s exports to Japan in 2005-06 totalled 2.4 billion dollars while imports stood at 3.5 billion dollars. Indo-Japanese trade has been growing at over 20 per cent annually in recent years.

Asia may need to establish its own monetary fund if it is to cope with future financial shocks similar to that which rocked the region 10 years ago, a regional forum was told in Manila Monday.
   An Asian Monetary Fund may be essential as the International Monetary Fund was unable to cope adequately with the Asian crisis when it started in July, 1997, the forum hosted by the Asian Development Bank was told.
   ‘The IMF failed to make precise reforms while the US was ill-positioned to take swift action’ when the crisis broke, said Duck-Koo Chung, former South Korean commerce minister.
   ‘Instead of waiting for a fire department across the world to act, the region needs a voluntary, community fire brigade,’ he added, warning that ‘a sense of complacency may bring about another crisis.’
   Chung said the Asian crisis, triggered on July 2, 1997 when Thailand conceded defeat and allowed the baht to float freely, had been the worst faced by his country since the Korean war in the early 1950s.
   Dorodjatun Kuntjoro Jakti, former minister of economic affairs in Indonesia, said IMF conditions imposed to get Jakarta out of the crisis ‘created continuous tensions within the body politic of Indonesia,’ contributing to the downfall of president Suharto in 1998 and leading to years of political turmoil.
   Former Philippine finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo said that when Asian nations first proposed an Asian Monetary Fund to deal with the crisis, this was immediately shot down by ‘the wise men’ from the other countries.
   He argued that ‘the Asian financial crisis ended sooner than everyone expected,’ and linked this to increased inter-Asian trade that many countries promoted in its aftermath.
   ‘The time has come for Asian countries to figure out, in their own way, what to do with their financial resources,’ de Ocampo said.
   ‘Further Asian financial integration is the best antidote for Asian future financial crises.’
   He said that Asia had a huge surplus of savings which was invested mostly in US-dollar denominated instruments.
   The IMF was ‘a debtors monetary organisation and we need a creditors’ monetary organisation,’ he said.
   Thai finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said that since the 1997 crisis, there had been ‘a small step towards an Asian monetary system.’
   The ASEAN-plus-three forum, bringing together 10 Southeast Asian countries and their key trading partners, China, Japan and South Korea, were all discussing ‘multilateral pooling of reserves’ to prevent a repeat of the crisis.
   ‘Once we have some kind of agreement, it is natural that we have some kind of organisation to coordinate this,’ he said, adding that if such a body was created, ‘initially, it should not be too independent of the IMF.’
   ‘We should have some division of labour between the Asian Fund and the IMF,’ Chung added.
   Haruhiko Kuroda, president of the ADB, acknowledged that the 1997 crisis ‘quickly developed into an opportunity to accelerate emerging economic regionalism.’
   He also noted that after the crisis, plans for an ASEAN economic community and even an East Asian Economic Community had all accelerated.
   But he also warned the region still had ‘the potential for more bouts of financial market volatility,’ due to the increase of capital flows.

With the Olympics as a launch pad and amid a rising global fascination in all things Chinese, China is expected to replace France as the world’s top tourism destination by 2014, according to experts.
   From just 300,000 in 1978, the number of foreign visitors to China reached 22 million in 2006, excluding arrivals from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, according to the China National Tourism Administration.
   ‘China is now an attractive destination for tourists the world over,’ administration vice-president Wang Zhifa told a travel industry forum here recently.
   While tourism growth in France has been slow, China has been enjoying double-digit expansion for years, with the number of tourist arrivals doubling in the past five years alone.
   As a result, China, originally expected to overtake France as the number one tourism destination in 2020, is now tipped to do so six years earlier, according to the World Tourism Organisation.
   Xu Jing, the organisation’s Asia-Pacific representative, said that China was on course to overtake the United States, the world’s number three tourist destination, this year in terms of foreign visitor arrivals.
   The Asian giant would then pass Spain, number two, by the end of the decade.
   With an expected boost from next year’s Beijing Olympics, and another shot in the arm supplied by the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, China will overtake France by 2014, Xu said.
   The Chinese capital is preparing to receive 500,000 overseas visitors during the 2008 Summer Games from August 8-24, up from 350,000 visitors in August 2006.
   Those Olympic visitors are expected to spend about five billion dollars, according to China’s tourist board.
   Meanwhile, foreign tour operators and airlines are expanding services to meet growing demand in Beijing and across the country.
   ‘Our China business has grown 20 per cent annually over recent years,’ said Eric Bouladou, Asian manager for French firm Nouvelles Frontieres.
   One explanation for China’s appeal is the wide variety of destinations on offer, he said.
   In the world’s most populous nation, a tourist can find tranquility in the remote mountains of Tibet, visit ancient archaeological sites such as the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, climb the Great Wall, party in the big cities, relax on a southern island beach and eat several types of Chinese food.
   ‘There is no typical tourist, so the range is very wide from budget to luxury,’ Bouladou said.
   With China in high demand, Air France-KLM is boosting capacity, notably offering five extra flights per week to Shanghai this summer.
   ‘We have very strong bookings,’ said Air France’s director for greater China, Frank Legre.
   The economic impacts for China of its tourism industry are stunning.
   This year alone China’s tourism industry is expected to generate 78 billion dollars, 2.5 per cent of GDP, a figure that could rise to 277 billion by 2017, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

South Korea’s exports grew 15.9 per cent in June year-on-year to hit an all-time record of 32.3 billion dollars, raising hopes that economic recovery will pick up pace in the second half of this year.
   ‘Exports maintain annual double-digit growth and investment growth has accelerated to a double-digit figure,’ finance and economy minister Kwon O-Kyu said.
   ‘Construction investment and consumption are also improving gradually. Judging from these factors, the economy will perform better in the second half than in the first half,’ he said.
   The government has said the economy would expand 4.5 per cent year-on-year this year, down from a five per cent growth last year.
   Imports in June grew 9.3 per cent from a year earlier to reach 28.45 billion dollars, leaving the largest ever monthly trade surplus of 3.85 billion dollars.
   ‘The sharp rise is much higher than previously anticipated,’ said Oh Jung-Kyu, head of the trade and investment promotion bureau in the Finance and Economy Ministry.

With its exotic beaches where gently sloping lush green mountains kiss the deep blue sea, Vietnam has decided to beckon Bollywood and Indian tourists, determined to give neighbouring Thailand and Malaysia a run for their money.
   Vietnam Tourism officials at this beautiful sea resort told PTI that plans are afoot to set up a representative office in India and launch road shows to attract top-end Indian tourists.
   They said Bollywood filmmakers could get incentives in shooting in Vietnam which provides a variety of locales ranging from hills in the north and central highlands to sea beaches in the southern part of the country.
   Vietnam’s low-cost skilled and unskilled workforce can help Bollywood film producers with support staff, they said.

The euro spiked to a six-week high against the dollar on Monday following the release of positive economic data from the eurozone, dealers said.
   The euro struck 1.3580 in early European trade—the highest point since May 16.
   It later stood at 1.3578 dollars, compared with 1.3540 dollars late on Friday in New York.
   The dollar fell to 122.56 yen, from 123.15 yen late Friday.
   Manufacturing activity in the 13 nations that share the euro firmed more than expected in June after slumping in May, according to a widely watched survey on Monday.
   The eurozone’s seasonally adjusted purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by NTC Research, rose in June to 55.6 points from 55.0 in May, beating a provisional estimate and economists’ forecasts for 55.4 points.
   ‘The euro will be supported by the data,’ Calyon economist Mitul Kotecha said.
   He added: ‘Although these data are of little focus in terms of monetary policy, they continue to highlight that manufacturing sentiment is healthy and that higher interest rates are not acting to dampen sentiment.
   ‘They should not therefore, stand in the way of further interest rate hikes from the ECB over the coming months, and we maintain our view that ECB rates will peak at 4.5 per cent by early next year.’
   The European Central Bank was expected to keep borrowing costs at 4.00 per cent on Thursday, the same day that the Bank of England was forecast to hike its key interest rate by a quarter-point to 5.75 per cent.
   The yen meanwhile rose against the dollar Monday after a Japanese central bank survey showed local business sentiment close to a two-year high, dealers said.
   The Japanese currency turned higher as players digested the Bank of Japan’s closely watched ‘Tankan’ survey which showed confidence among major manufacturers holding steady as firms upgraded their capital investment plans.

Profit
   Bangladesh Online
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net profit of Tk 120.90m with EPS of Tk 5.96 as against Tk 132.29m and Tk 6.52 respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   Beximco Pharma
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net profit of Tk 470.66m with EPS of Tk 4.67 as against Tk 489.26m and Tk 6.36 respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   BEXIMCO
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net profit of Tk 132.19m with EPS of Tk 4.20 as against Tk 43.87m and Tk 1.39 respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   Beximco Synthetics
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net profit of Tk 72.77m with EPS of Tk 19.09 as against Tk 24.50m and Tk 6.43 respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   
   Dividend
   Beximco Fisheries
   The board of directors did not recommend any dividend for the year 2006. Annual general meeting of the company will be held on September 6, Venue: 1, Shahbag C/A, Dhaka. Record date: August 1.
   Shinepukur Holdings Limited
   The board of directors did not recommend any dividend for the year 2006. Date of AGM: 02.09.07, Time: 3:30 PM, Venue: 1, Shahbag C/A, Dhaka. Record date: 01.08.07.
   Expire Date: 2007-09-02
   Beximco Synthetics
   The board of directors has recommended stock dividend @ 15pc for the year 2006. Annual general meeting of the company will be held on September 8, Shahbagh C/A, Dhaka.
   BEXTEX Ltd
   The board of directors has recommended stock dividend @ 10pc for the year 2006. Annual general meeting of the company will be held on September 8, Shahbagh, Dhaka.
   
   Transaction
   Standard Bank Ltd
   Mohammad Nurul Islam, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 50,000 shares out of his total holdings of 3,49,318 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   Mutual Trust Bank Ltd
   Shakil Ahmed Khan, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 1,000 shares out of his total holdings of 1,050 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   Exim Bank
   Md Mazakat Harun and Rizwana K Riza, both are sponsors of the bank, have reported their intention to sell 56,043 and 50,000 shares out of their total holdings of 4,76,043 and 2,66,583 shares respectively of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Trade
   Sonargaon Textiles
   Trading of the shares of the company will also be allowed in spot market with cum benefit from July 3 to 04 as book closure will start from July 6.
   Beximco Synthetics
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on Monday following its corporate declaration.
   BEXTEX Ltd
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on Monday following its corporate declaration.
   
   Loss
   CMC Kamal
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net loss of Tk 5.94m with EPS of Tk 3.45 as against net profit of Tk 2.70m and EPS of Tk 1.57 as on December 31, 2005.
   Beximco Fisheries
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net loss of Tk 1.80m with EPS of Tk 1.38 as against Tk 2.33m and Tk 1.79 respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   BEXTEX Ltd
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net loss of Tk 208.65m with EPS of Tk 1.22.
   Shinepukur Holdings Limited
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported net loss of Tk 10.69m with EPS of Tk0.42 as against net profit of Tk 2.92m and EPS of Tk 0.12 as on December 31, 2005.
   
   Increase revenue
   Meghna Life Insurance Co Ltd
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the
   company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk 713.26m with total life insurance fund of Tk 2013.32m as against Tk 450.11 m and Tk 1300.06 m respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   Popular Life Insurance co.Ltd.
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the
   company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk 1069.65m
   with total life insurance fund of Tk 1931.97m as against Tk 573.69 m and Tk 862.33m respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   Fareast Islami Life Insurance Co Ltd
   As per audited accounts as on December 31, 2006, the company has reported an increase in life revenue account of Tk 957.41m with total life insurance fund of Tk 2403.25m as against Tk 566.97 m and Tk 1445.84m respectively as on December 31, 2005.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Financial Epo-07 to begin on August 23
FNF Consortium will organise the Bangladesh Financial Expo-07 at the Bashundhara Exhibition Centre in Dhaka on August 23-25. The organiser announced the event at a press conference at National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday, said a press release. In the three-day programme, three seminars on different issues relating to the financial sector will also be organised. Eminent economists, bankers and high officials of different financial institutions are expected to attend the seminars. By this event, people in general will be aware about benefits of different services and products of the financial institutions. On the other hand, the financial institutions will get instant feedback about their services and people.
— New Age

BWCCI chief off to Istanbul
Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Selima Ahmad has been invited to speak on ‘Empowering women in business-chambers leading the way’ as a speaker at the 5th World Chambers Congress from July 4-6 in lstanbul. The recognition of the importance of women in a local economy has risen greatly during the last decade. Most of the micro enterprires in developing countries are run by women, said a press release.
— New Age