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Dhaka and New Delhi signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday, after months of bureaucratic exercises, on allowing duty-free export of eight million pieces of Bangladeshi garment items to India a year.
   Officials of both countries termed the memorandum the first major step towards narrowing down the $2 billion plus bilateral trade gap in favour of India.
   ‘This is an important milestone. This MoU will fill up the trade gap to some extent,’ observed the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, after the signing of the memorandum at the commerce ministry.
   Describing it as an indicator of New Delhi’s willingness to open up its market, Chakravarty said although eight million pieces was not a big quantity for Bangladesh, more opportunities would be offered as Indian economy was growing fast. ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth,’ he quipped.
   The commerce secretary, Firoz Ahmed, welcomed India’s ‘gesture of goodwill’ and stressed the need for diversifying the export basket offering competitive prices to reduce the trade imbalance with India.
   The deputy high commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Mukta D Tomar, and joint secretary of the commerce ministry Abdul Wahab Mian initialled the memorandum in presence of representatives of apparel sector trade bodies.
   New Delhi last year made the offer for importing six million pieces of garment items duty-free from Bangladesh under the South Asia Free Trade Area tariff rate quota and later increased the number to eight million. Differences between the two sides over the process of implementing the facility delayed the signing of the memorandum.
   Struck on the basis of preferential tariff rate under the SAFTA, the agreement will allow zero-tariff import of eight million apparel articles in every calendar year by India from Bangladesh without any conditionality of sourcing of fabric or port restriction, according to the official release.
   As many as 185 garment items are on India’s sensitive list, which imposes restriction on exports to Indian market. Bangladeshi exporters will now be able to export all the items plus 49 more that are already free from restriction, officials said.
   It will take about a month to put the agreement into operation through due notification by Indian customs authorities and preparation of a mechanism by the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh for distribution of the quota among the garment exporters, the two sides announced.
   Asked how India would address the issue of non-tariff barriers, the high commissioner said every country had such barriers and discussions and interactions between governments and businesspeople were the means to solve the problems.
   Chakravarty mentioned a number of steps taken by New Delhi including zero duty on cement imported from Bangladesh and development of trade infrastructure, such as Petropole land port, to increase the bilateral trade.

Benchmark indices on the DSE and CSE declined by close of trade Sunday, amid profit taking in most sectors. Turnover also fell.
   ‘A portion of businessmen appear to be withdrawing their funds to cash in on the rise in trade during Ramadan,’ said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
   Institutional investor activity had also dropped to 56 per cent of total turnover, Khan told the news agency as the market closed.
   The DSE had gained before midday trade due to buying pressure for mutual funds and shares of the International Leasing and Financial Services.
   However, it fell in the second session amid profit-taking, with the power sector leading the downbeat.
   A number of stocks with small market capitalisation, along with mutual funds, rallied however on anticipation of better earnings.
   The DGEN or general index ended at 2548.33, down 1.48 points or 0.05 per cent. The DSI or all-share price index added 2.32 points or 0.10 per cent to 2121.96. The DSE-20 blue chip index added 6.27 points or 0.30 per cent to 2044.24.
   Turnover fell to Tk 1.19 billion from Tk 1.57 billion, but total number of traded shares increased to 16,443,169 shares. Of the issues traded, 70 gained, 113 fell and 13 closed unchanged.
   All the indices on the Chittagong Stock Exchange declined, with losers outnumbering gainers 62 to 39. Some eight issues held steady.
   A total of 3,689,659 shares worth Tk 168.63 million were traded.
   BRAC Bank, the most active share, rose 0.73 per cent to Tk 1305.25.
   Grameen1 mutual fund rallied 4.38 per cent to close at a new high of Tk 54.70 after it reported 29 per cent cash dividend for the year 2006-07.
   AIMS 1st MF climbed 3.96 per cent to Tk 6.03 on hopes of better dividends.
   AIMS of Bangladesh manages both the Grameen 1 and AIMS 1st mutual fund.
   UCBL added 2.34 per cent to Tk 4301.85.
   Power stocks slumped led by sector leader Power Grid Company of Bangladesh. Power Grid, one of the most active shares, fell 1.38 per cent to Tk 625.
   DESCO and Summit Power fell.
   Prime Bank gained followed by International Leasing and Financial Services and LankaBangla Finance.
   ILFSL surged on its debut and rising 634.50 per cent from its book value of Tk 100to close at Tk 734.
   ILFSL, Mita Textile and LankaBangla Finance led the gainers. Progressive Life Insurance, Peoples Insurance and Therapeutic Bangladesh were the main losers.

The value of Malaysia’s palm oil exports is expected to reach a record high this year thanks to strong worldwide demand fuelled by the boom in biofuels, a report said Sunday.
   Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin told the Sunday Star that export values were up despite a fall in volume, to 8.9 million tonnes for the first half of 2007 compared to 9.3 million tonnes in the first half of 2006. ‘Because of the current sharp hike in demand for palm oil, the price per tonne has also shot up. Due to this, our revenue from exporting this oil has also shot up tremendously this year,’ he told the newspaper.
   Chin said that revenue from exports of palm oil and related products hit 17.9 billion ringgit (5.15 billion dollars) in the first half of 2007, up 23.6 per cent from the 14.1 billion ringgit earned in the same period a year ago.
    ‘If this trend continues, this year will be a record year in terms of palm oil earnings,’ he said.
   Chin said that earnings from other commodities including cocoa and rubber were also doing well.
   Malaysia, the world’s top producer of palm oil, has warned that output in 2007 will likely fall to 14 million tonnes, the lowest in two years, due to heavy flooding.
   Palm oil production in 2006 was 15.8 million tonnes, up from 14.96 million tonnes in 2005.
   Malaysia and Indonesia account for 85 per cent of world production, and Indonesia is on track to claim the mantle of top producer as it expands the area of land it has under plantation.

England on Sunday eased transport restrictions imposed after the latest outbreaks of foot and mouth as the culling continued in an attempt to contain the disease.
   Farmers across Britain were allowed to take livestock to slaughter Sunday for the first time since the new outbreak was confirmed Wednesday on farm holdings west of London.
   It is a relaxation of the strict rules imposed following this week’s outbreaks of foot and mouth disease near Egham, just outside the M25 London orbital motorway.
   However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said Saturday pigs were to be culled on a farm close to the affected premises.
   The decision to cull was made as a precautionary measure after a veterinary inspection of the pigs for clinical signs of the disease proved inconclusive, Defra said.
   It brings to three the total number of premises subjected to culling following the latest outbreak.
   Tests were ongoing to establish whether the disease had spread through animals, environment contamination or vehicle movement.
    ‘Movement of animals to slaughter will be allowed in England under strict biosecurity rules and general licence,’ Britain’s chief vet Debby Reynolds said in a statement.
   She said the relaxation — which only applies to livestock outside the 10-kilometre (6.2-mile) surveillance zone round the affected farms — followed evaluation of the risk of movement of animals.
   Cattle, sheep and pigs can be moved directly from farms to listed abattoirs, or from farms
   to abattoirs by an approved collection centre or slaughter market.
    ‘We continue to take a
   risk-based, staged approach to movement controls,’ Reynolds said.
    ‘It is essential that all animal keepers, hauliers, abattoirs and those responsible for collection centres follow stringent biosecurity measures and all licence conditions.’
   Similar rules in Scotland and Wales have already been eased, while they were never imposed across the North Channel in Northern Ireland.

Home to some 1.5 billion people, South Asia is paying a high price to access the Internet as service providers have been slow to deliver cheaper broadband connections, analysts say.
   The region has embraced telephones, mobile phones and computers and India has a flourishing software and outsourcing industry, noted industry watchers at the first South Asia Broadband Congress here earlier this month.
   But South Asia has lagged behind in hopping onto the broadband bandwagon, observed Sanjay Gupta of India’s Midas Communication Technology.
    ‘There’s not enough local language content and affordable connections. Currently, broadband penetration is very low — estimated to be less than three per cent in the region — and it boils down to cost,’ Gupta said.
   Home users in Pakistan pay the most in the region, with annual broadband prices of 2,660 dollars, followed by Bangladesh at 2,066 dollars, according to Colombo-based LIRNEasia, a regional telecom think-tank.
   The same service costs 242 dollars in Sri Lanka, 223 dollars in India and 112 dollars in Maldives, said researchers at LIRNEasia, who are studying reasons for poor broadband penetration in South Asia. In March, India logged 40 million Internet subscribers, which included 2.3 million broadband users, according to India’s Department of Telecommunications.
    ‘India needs to target 100 million broadband users by 2015 to connect homes in remote villages. To do that, operators must bring down prices,’ said Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the Indian Institute of Technology.
    ‘Rural broadband expansion throughout South Asia will help in education, provide remote healthcare and promote call centres in villages so computer literate people will not be forced to migrate to urban areas,’ he said.
   However, telecommunications operators need to cooperate to make broadband economically viable in developing countries, said Mallikarjun Rao, a director at Canadian telecoms giant Nortel Ltd.
    ‘To leapfrog to the next generation, dominant operators must allow other operators access to its telephone exchanges — so-called local loop unbundling,’ Roa said.

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, for years an inscrutable seer on the economy, is causing a stir by alleging in his new memoir that ‘the Iraq war is largely about oil.’
   Greenspan, who as head of the US central bank was famous for his tight-lipped reserve, is uncharacteristically direct in ‘The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,’ also accusing President George W. Bush of abandoning Republican principles on the economy.
    ‘I’m saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows — the Iraq war is largely about oil,’ he wrote in reported excerpts of the book, which is set for release on Monday.
   Greenspan’s memoirs appear a year and a half after he left the Fed, with the US economy at a crossroads, and ahead of a critical central bank meeting under the chairmanship of his successor, Ben Bernanke.
   The man dubbed ‘the Oracle’ tells his own tale of nearly two decades at the helm of one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions — including surprising swipes at the Bush administration.
   US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, while explaining his ‘respect’ for Greenspan, rejected the charge that a thirst for crude explained the decision to invade Iraq in March 2003.
    ‘I know the same allegation was made about the Gulf War in 1991, and I just don’t believe it’s true,’ he said on ABC television Sunday.
    ‘I think that it’s really about stability in the Gulf. It’s about rogue regimes trying to develop weapons of mass destruction,’ he said.
   Greenspan, a lifelong Republican, writes that he advised the White House to veto some bills to curb ‘out-of-control’ spending while the Republicans controlled Congress.
   According to The Wall Street Journal, he says that Bush’s failure to do so ‘was a major mistake.’
   Republicans in Congress, he writes, ‘swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither.’
    ‘They deserved to lose’ in the 2006 elections, when the Democrats retook control of Congress.
   The 81-year-old Greenspan puts his own spin on the events surrounding the 1987 stock market crash, the bursting of the Internet bubble and the 2001 recession coinciding with the September 11 terror strikes.
   In a blog on the online bookstore Amazon.com, Greenspan says he will share details of his childhood in New York, his years as a jazz musician and his friendship with US presidents.
    ‘After years of talking ‘Fedspeak’ in carefully calibrated congressional testimony, I could finally use my own voice,’ Green says with uncharacteristic verve.
    ‘I tackled the personal part first, but then started unraveling the detective story about the economy,’ Greenspan adds in his blog. ‘What did all the economic shifts we began to detect in the late 90s mean?’
   His memoirs are due out just as the institution he led for so many years holds its most anticipated meeting in years.
   On Tuesday, investors around the world will be closely watching the Fed for some sign that might help counter the effects of a US mortgage crisis that has rattled markets and led to a credit squeeze.
   Greenspan is increasingly being blamed by some for the crisis. By keeping interest rates so low for so long, some argue, he helped foster the real estate bubble behind much of the current woes.
   The former Fed chief defended himself in an interview with CBS television, portions of which were released Thursday.
    ‘They are mistaken,’ Greenspan said of his critics. ‘It was our job to unfreeze the American banking system if we wanted the economy to function. This required that we keep rates modestly low.’

The East Invest, a UK-based private equity company, has recently expressed its interest to buy 100 per cent stake in the trouble-ridden Oriental Bank, said its director, South Asian operation.
   ‘We have already communicated with the Bangladesh Bank and other authorities concerned to buy Oriental Bank,’ director MM Roni told New Age over phone on Sunday.
   The company will also participate in the September 23 bidding, aiming to buy the bank, he said.
   Company sources said the East Invest initially planned to give $40 million or Tk 280 crore for the bank.
   In the communication with the central bank, the East Invest informed that the company had business operation in the USA, Italy, the Middle East and Eastern Europe and was now looking forward to South Asia, the sources said.
   The East Investment, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, having 10 billion pound sterling equity, has planned to invest $1 billion in the next three years in sectors, including power, financial institution, insurance, real estate and transportation in Bangladesh, the sources added.

The Sonali Bank on Sunday introduced a new software to ensure quickest possible transfer of money to the accounts of the non resident Bangladeshis back home, said an SB press release.
   SM Aminur Rahman, managing director of the bank, opened the software – remittance management system – at the head office of the Sonali Bank to ensure that the
   money deposited by an NRB abroad was deposited with his account in Bangladesh in 8 to 24 hours.
   The bank’s new disbursement instrument, a completely electronic system, would have nothing to do with manual operation of the past.
   The new system, it said, was introduced to encourage the NRBs to send their money through official channel and avoid the illegal system of hundi.
   The bank signed agree- ments with 46 banks and exchange houses to faci- litate remittance of foreign exchange through banking channel.

Iran on Sunday expressed impatience with India over the finalising of a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal via Pakistan, warning that it could go ahead with Pakistan alone if India procrastinated.
   Caretaker oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said New Delhi and Islamabad were still in discussions over the payment of transit fees by India to Pakistan for Iranian gas from the so-called ‘peace pipeline’.
   He said Pakistani officials were certain to come to Iran next week for talks to finalise the project but the attendance of Indian representatives was still unconfirmed.
    ‘Our preference is to have a tripartite negotiation. (But) the trend is moving faster with the Pakistanis,’ Nozari told reporters.
    ‘The Pakistanis and Indians are having discussions on the transit fees. If we believe that a serious delay has occurred with the Indians, we will go ahead with the Pakistanis.’
   Nozari did not elaborate over whether this could involve Iran signing the finalisation for the deal with Pakistan alone.

Federal Reserve policymakers face tough choices as they debate interest rates amid rising recession risks, but also concerns about inflation and a ‘bailout’ of real estate speculators, analysts say.
   The Federal Open Market Committee, which meets Tuesday, is widely expected to act in the face of the worst housing slump in decades, which has led to rising mortgage defaults and a tightening of credit standards that threatens the overall economy.
   A growing number of analysts say they expect the FOMC, which has held its federal funds rate at 5.25 per cent since June 2006, to cut the benchmark rate by 25 or 50 basis points.
   Of key importance is the message sent to financial markets. Chairman Ben Bernanke wants to ease economic stress while averting a return to easy money conditions that, according to some critics, fueled the real estate boom-bust cycle.
    ‘The Fed does not want to cut the fed funds rate, but it may well be forced to because of the inevitable slowdown in US economic activity arising from the subprime-induced credit crunch,’ says Sherry Cooper, chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns in a note to clients.
    ‘But Ben Bernanke has made it very clear that he will not bail out imprudent lenders and investors (read ‘hedge funds’) by aggressively easing monetary policy.’
   Cooper says the most likely scenario is for the Fed to cut by 25 basis points and wait to see if credit conditions return to normal. She says other actions — such as injecting liquidity into markets and easing conditions for the Fed’s discount window — may continue or intensify.
   Joseph Balestrino, analyst at Federated Investors, agrees that the Fed is likely to use an ‘incremental’ approach but that more rate cuts may follow in the coming months.
    ‘Over the near-term, as adjustable-rate mortgages reset, defaults and foreclosures are likely to rise,’ he said.
    ‘This should generate still more daunting headlines, keeping markets on edge. That also should keep the Fed in the game, signaling its readiness to act as necessary to keep the economy on track. This probably means a series of additional quarter-point rate cuts.’
   Economists continue to downgrade their forecasts amid weak economic data.
   One report showed the US economy lost 4,000 jobs in August in the first labor market contraction in four years. A slowing of job creation is likely to dent consumer spending, the main driver of economic activity.
   The UCLA Anderson School of Business, in its most recent report, said current conditions represent ‘a near recession experience,’ with growth holding around one per cent for the fourth quarter of 2007 and early 2008, with a return to normal growth of around 3.0 per cent delayed until 2009.
   Financial markets are effectively pricing in a rate cut of 25 basis points and some traders are expecting more. Ironically, some analysts say the Fed may want to show it is not yielding to market pressure.
    ‘The nearly universal belief that the Fed will cut rates next week is a little worrisome since there still is a viable argument for the FOMC to hold rates where they are,’ said Gregory Drahuschak at Janney Montgomery Scott.
   He said it remains unclear ‘whether the market will view whatever the Fed does as being enough. A quarter-point cut, for example, might be viewed as not being enough. A 50 basis-point cut might be viewed as a panic reaction.’
   Economist Diane Swonk at Mesirow Financial said that with housing woes deepening, Bernanke and his colleagues will not want to risk pushing the economy into a prolonged recession.
    ‘Bernanke is ultimately as risk hedger, which means that he would rather overstimulate the economy than risk a recession by not acting at all,’ Swonk said.
    ‘Remember, this is the same man who in 2003 reassured markets that he would drop money from helicopters if necessary, to avoid deflation.’

India will not open its cards on offering market for industrial goods in the WTO talks unless the rich nations come upfront with their offers on cutting the agricultural subsidies, a senior official has said.
   In its latest effort to break the deadlock between developed and developing countries on the Doha Round of trade negotiations, the World Trade Organisation has come out with separate drafts on agriculture and the Non-Agriculture Market Access.
   While India and other developing countries like Brazil are willing to accept the draft on agriculture as a good basis for negotiations, the text on NAMA has totally been rejected by them.
   ‘NAMA text as been very controversial as it is trying to sequence talks on industrial goods ahead of negotiations on agricultural goods,’ Joint Director in the Commerce Ministry Bipin Menon said at a CII meeting.
   Menon, who has been closely associated with the WTO talks, said the US and Europe want the developing countries to open their cards on industrial goods while they are keeping strategy on agriculture close to their chest.
   The NAMA talks are starting from September 24 in which Indian officials will participate.
   ‘We would like agriculture to be at the centre stage and intertwined with NAMA and services,’ he said.
   According to experts, the US is not likely to lower subsidies and direct income support it was providing to its farmers.

The European Commission is completely revising its rules covering the manufacture of toys after a series of recalls of Chinese-made goods, consumer affairs commissioner Meglena Kuneva told a German newspaper.
    ‘The commission is in the process of completely overhauling its directives on toys,’ Kuneva said in an interview with Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
    ‘We want to establish stronger safety standards to reduce the risk of dangerous chemicals in children’s toys.
    ‘I will present the new concept by the end of the year,’ she said.
   The commissioner said she was considering recommending inspections of factories in China.
    ‘I cannot rule out inspections of production sites, especially in China where 65 per cent of our toys are produced.’
   US toy giant Mattel recalled around 848,000 toys this month in its third recall of Chinese products this summer due to high lead levels in the paint used on the toys.
   In August, the company recalled 18 million Chinese-made products worldwide following fears over high lead levels and small magnets that have seriously injured at least three children.

Troubled British bank Northern Rock faced break-up rumours on Sunday as it sought to reassure panicking customers and investors following an emergency bail-out by the Bank of England.
   Worried customers besieged Northern Rock on Friday and Saturday to withdraw their savings — despite assurances from politicians, regulators and the bank itself that it would not fall victim to the global credit squeeze.
   More of the same was widely expected when the bank’s branches reopen for business on Monday.
   Investors will also look to the group’s share price, which tumbled by almost a third on Friday after the lender was bailed out by an emergency loan from the Bank of England.
   The Sunday Telegraph reported that Northern Rock could be sold off following its emergency bail-out.
   ‘Our share price has come off 30 per cent,’ chief executive Adam Applegarth was quoted as saying by the weekly newspaper.
   ‘You have got to be vulnerable (to a sale) if your share price has come down. It’s up to the bidders to make a bid.’
   The Mail on Sunday paper, quoting senior banking figures, added that rival banking groups would wait before making a move for Northern Rock.
   The likes of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland and French bank Credit Agricole would wait ‘until their rival is on the point of collapse so they can pick it up for a song,’ the paper said.
   Northern Rock, Britain’s fifth-biggest mortgage lender, told customers their money was safe as they tried to avert a third day of chaotic queues on Monday.
   However, the Sunday Times newspaper predicted Northern Rock could lose 12 billion pounds (17.4 billion euros, 24 billion dollars) — or half of its deposits — as anxious savers seek to safeguard their cash.
    ‘The question is why wouldn’t you take your money out and put it somewhere else,’ the newspaper quoted one senior banker as saying.
    ‘Though Northern Rock is solvent, a lot of people have been gripped by the fear that they might lose some of their savings. It is a huge problem.’
   Politicians and regulators were desperate to stop the panic spreading.
   Finance minister Alistair Darling, who authorised the Bank of England’s bail-out of Northern Rock, said it was vital to maintain stability and confidence in the British banking system.
   Meanwhile the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the chief financial watchdog, reiterated it judged Northern Rock to be solvent.
   But that did not stop disgruntled customers rushing to branches nation-wide Saturday.
   The Bank of England on Friday agreed an emergency lending facility for Northern Rock, which said it was facing severe difficulties raising cash to cover its liabilities.
   Nevertheless, the bank is the first major British financial institution to reveal a serious reaction to the global credit crunch sparked last month by a crisis in the US subprime, or high-risk, mortgage sector.

The Eastern Bank Limited has launched a short-term loan product, EBL Agreem, under its SME banking in the capital recently.
   The SME team of the bank has handed over the disbursement letter to the first EBL loan applicant in a ceremony at its head office.
   The small and medium business enterprises shall be able to avail the short-term loan facility and use it as their capital, said a press release.
   Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of the Eastern Bank Ltd, CRM Ehsan Khasru, head of marketing, and other senior officials of the bank were present at the document handover occasion.
   The range of the ‘EBL Agreem’ starts from Tk 2,00,000 to Tk 9,50,000. The loan tenure is one month to six months.
   Any successful enterprise with minimum two years in same or relevant ‘business can apply for the loan.

The AB Bank Limited has recently signed an electronic fund transfer agreement with the Ria Financial Services, a US-based worldwide money transfer company.
   Kaiser A Chowdhury, president and managing director of the AB Bank Limited, and Juan Bianchi, president and chief executive officer of the Ria Financial Services, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective company at a simple ceremony held at the bank’s head office in the city, said a press release.
   Under the agreement, the Bangladeshi expatriates around the world will be provided with hassle-free remittance facilities at a lower cost.
   The Ria Financial Services is the third largest money transfer company in the world having a network of more than 11,000 agents and 100 retails worldwide and mainly operates in 48 US states, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Dominican Republic.

Eleven countries joined the United States and four other key nuclear fuel nations Sunday in an effort to promote nuclear power as an energy solution through a Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.
   The 11 signed a statement of principles which described GNEP as ‘cooperation of those states that share the common vision of the necessity of the expansion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes worldwide in a safe and secure manner.’
   Nuclear energy is increasingly seen as a key technology since it makes electricity without adding to the greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
   GNEP started as a US initiative in February 2006 and had its first meeting in May this year in Washington when the United States hosted fellow members China, France, Japan and Russia.
   The United States is seeking to promote nuclear power while guarding against the danger of spreading nuclear weapons that arises when states like Iran develop key technologies, such as uranium enrichment, on their own.
   The key to GNP is supplying states with nuclear fuel, such as uranium, and helping them get nuclear reactors that do not present proliferation risks.
   The United States wants GNEP to organize countries that have secure, advanced nuclear capabilities to provide fuel to other nations who agree to use nuclear energy just for power generation under the auspices of the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency.
   US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Sunday that GNEP had no specific projects yet.
    ‘Our task today is to formally commit to the principles espoused by GNEP and to begin discussions with like-minded countries that seek to develop civilian nuclear power in a safe and secure manner and who, not coincidentally, have been reaching out to us,’ Bodman said in a speech at the GNEP meeting, which also included 22 candidate partner and observer countries.
   The 11 countries which signed on Sunday to join GNEP were Australia, Bulgaria, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Ukraine.

Nepal is soon signing a cooperation agreement with the International Organisation of Migration, especially to fill a condition set by Israel for accepting Nepali labourers, said state minister for labor Ramesh Lekhak.
   ‘Under the agreement, IOM will deal with issues relating to Nepali workers who are in crisis in Israel,’ Lekhak said talking to the Kathmandu Post adding that the agreement is aimed at paving the way for Nepal to send workers to Israel, which has sought the role of IOM while settling problems on migrations.
   Lekhak said that the labor ministry was preparing a draft of the agreement which is expected to be inked within two weeks.
   ‘Once this agreement is signed, Nepali workers in Israel will feel more secure.’ Lekhak added.
   According to Lekhak, once the agreement is signed, the IOM would assist Israel to monitor the status of Nepali workers and help them when they are in crisis there.
   Already a member of the IOM, Nepal reached an agreement with the global migration body to exchange co-operation in migration issues.
   Israel has sought a special agreement between Nepal and IOM that would deal with Nepali workers in Israel, along a Nepali mission in Israel as conditions for providing work permit visas for Nepalis. Nepal set up a diplomatic mission and deputed officials in Israel two months ago.

The Dutch centre-left government will present a 2008 budget that predicts a surplus for the next four years, according to government documents leaked by private television channel RTL Saturday. The figures will only be officially released on Tuesday but RTL leaked the highlights of the budget in its Saturday news.
   Several politicians here have already received the budget under embargo. In 2008 the Dutch state is counting on a 0.5 per cent budget surplus that will rise to 0.6 per cent in 2009, 0.7 per cent in 2010 and reach 1.0 per cent in 2011, RTL said. For the Dutch public the tax burden will rise with seven billion euros (9.7 billion dollars) in 2008 which means most households here will lose purchasing power.
    ‘Our government has chosen to take measures in 2008 that will allow us to keep our agenda for the future,’ RTL quoted Finance Minister Wouter Bos as saying in the budget documents.
   According to the leaked figures inflation will rise mildly from 1.75 per cent this year to 2.0 per cent in 2008.

Asian currencies climbed against the dollar last week on anticipation of a US rate cut, but Japanese gains were capped by a domestic political crisis.
   Japanese yen: The yen stayed firm in the past week amid prospects of a US interest rate cut in the coming week, but domestic political turmoil capped the currency’s top side.
   The yen stood at 115.00 against the dollar on Friday, up slightly from 115.10 the previous week.
   During the week it reached the 113 level against the dollar, as players dumped the greenback on lingering worries over the US outlook, particularly in the wake of the first drop in US payrolls in four years.
   Australian dollar: The Aussie dollar ended the week at 84.22 US cents, up from 82.64 the previous week.
   AMP Capital Investors chief economist Shane Oliver said the US Federal Reserve was expected to cut the cost of borrowing when it meets Tuesday, increasing the interest rate differential with Australia.
   He said the widening gap in Australian and US interest rates would make the Australian dollar an attractive option.
   New Zealand dollar: The New Zealand dollar ended the week at 71.19 US cents, sharply up from 69.16 the previous Friday.
   Hong Kong dollar: The US-pegged Hong Kong dollar ended the week at 7.79 to the US unit, from 7.78 a week earlier.
   Chinese yuan: The yuan closed at 7.5150 to the dollar Friday on the exchange-traded market, compared with Thursday’s close of 7.5105, and a close of 7.5371 the week before.
   Indonesia rupiah: The rupiah ended the week trading at 9,380/9,384 to the dollar, compared to 9,398/9,403 .
   Philippine peso: The peso traded higher at 46.30 to the dollar on Friday afternoon from 46.53 on September 7.
   Singapore dollar: The US currency was at 1.5126 Singapore dollars on Friday, from 1.5245 the previous week.
   Taiwan dollar: The Taiwan dollar fell 0.06 per cent in the week to close at 33.071 against the US unit. The local currency closed at 33.050 a week earlier.
   Thai baht: The Thai unit closed Friday at 34.24-25 baht to the dollar compared to last week’s close of 34.26-27.

Dividend
   ICB
   The board of directors of ICB has recommended cash dividend @ 14pc for the shareholders of ICB for the year 2006-2007. Annual general meeting of the bank will be held on October 30 at BIAM auditorium, 63 New Eskaton, Dhaka.
   
   Transaction
   Mercantile Bank Ltd
   Md Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Md Selim both are sonsors/drectors of the bnk, have further reported that they have completed their sale/buy of 6,250 shares each of the bank at prevailing market price through sock echange as announced earlier.
   National Life Insurance
   Md Imrul Alam, one of the sonsors/drectors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 500 shares out of his total holdings of 6,384 shares of the company at prevailing market price through sock echange within next 30 working days.
   Exim Bank
   Md Fahim Zaman Pathan, Abdullah Al-Zahir Sawpan and Hasina Akhter, all are sponsors of the bank, have further reported that they have completed their sale of 35,000, 76,945 and 45,840 shares respectively of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier.
   NCC Bank
   Md Anwar Pasha and Md Lokman Hakim both are sponsors of the bank, have further reported that they have completed their sale/buy of 9,600 shares each of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier. Qazi Monirul Alam and Latifa Rana both are sponsors of the bank, have further reported that they have completed their sale/buy of 13,300 shares each of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange as announced earlier.
   Eastland Insur
   Nazrul Islam, one of the sponsors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 2,100 shares out of his total holdings of 10,000 shares of the company at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   SEC News
   Saleh Carpet Mills Ltd, Bangladesh Hotels Ltd, Arbee Textiles Ltd, Sreepur Textile Mills Ltd, and Wata Chemicals Ltd: SEC has issued show-cause cum hearing notice to the companies, their directors, managing directors and company secretaries in connection with the non-submission of half yearly financial statements for the half-year ended on June 30.
   
   Rsponse to DSE query
   Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd
   In response to a DSE query, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Trade
   IFIC
   Trading of the shares of the Bank will also be allowed in spot market with cum benefit from September 17 to 24 as book closure will start from September 26.
   ICB
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on Sunday following its corporate declaration.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Monitor-Aktel introduces Best Airline awards
Travel publication Bangladesh Monitor and cell-phone operator Aktel have introduced ‘Monitor-Aktel Airline of the Year-2007’ award for the best airline. The best airline will be decided on frequent travellers poll, said a press release. The Bangladesh Monitor and Aktel organised a press conference on the launching of the award at the Westin Dhaka Hotel in the city on Thursday. Kazi Wahidul Alam, editor of the Bangladesh Monitor, Javed Tariq, head of corporate affairs of Aktel, San Amalan, general manager of the Westin Dhaka and Tofael Ibne Solaiman, general sales manager of Galileo Bangladesh Ltd, were present at the press conference.
— New Age

Dhaka Bank signs MoU with Haq’s
Bay Ltd
The Dhaka Bank Limited and the Haq’s Bay Automobiles Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the city recently. Under the MoU, the Dhaka Bank will extend its retail auto loan service to the clientele of the Haq’s Bay Automobiles Ltd, said a press release. Car buyers may get loan under the SME loan facility, according to the deal. Abdul Haque, managing director of Haq’s Bay Automobiles Ltd, and Md Imdadul Islam, SVP and head of retail banking, Dhaka Bank Ltd, inked the deal at the head office of the bank in the city. Khandker Fazle Rashid, deputy managing director, Mohammad Abu Musa, deputy managing director, of the Dhaka Bank Ltd, and Chowdhury Md Salim, assistant general manager (sales), and Shamim Wahid, manager, administration and sales, of Haqu’s Bay Automobiles Limited were present at the MoU signing occasion.
— New Age

DAE takes agri-rehab programme in B’baria
The Department of Agricultural Extension has taken up an extensive programme to rehabilitate agriculture sector of the flood-stricken district involving Tk 1,00,65,000. Under the programme, 1,290 hectares will be brought under various crops cultivation in Sadar, Nabinagar, Nasirnagar, Banchharampur, Kosba, Akhaura, Sarail and Ashuganj upazilas.
— UNB