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Investment promotion is set to get a special focus in the next budget for an economic turnaround to create employment opportunities, finance officials hinted.
    Ways and means may also be worked out to bring money from the informal sector into productive economic activities, they said about thematic discussion at the ministry.
   However, it cannot be ascertained at this stage whether AB Mirza Azizul Islam, the finance and planning adviser, will provide an opportunity to whiten ‘black money.’
   Such issues have been discussed in the finance ministry’s pre-budget internal exercises to identify broader areas of fiscal policy for formulating the budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year, ministry sources have informed New Age.
   Officials concerned explained that tax incentives should be given to potential investors and also existing investors to encourage them to re-invest their money or inject fresh fund in productive activities.
   ‘Overall investment policy environment should be improved and scope for employment must be widened to boost economic activities. This must be linked to the tax policy and public expenditure policy,’ said an official concerned.
   In an apparent bid to facilitate investment and restore business confidence, the interim government earlier formed Better Business Forum headed by chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and the Regulatory Reforms Commission, headed by former bureaucrat Akbar Ali Khan. A Truth Commission was also planned to remove fear of anti-corruption drives from the minds of businesspeople.
   Special focus may also be given on small and medium enterprises in the 2008-09 budget to involve more people in job-oriented ventures and alleviate poverty, according to a recommendation.
   The recent downtrend in investment may have prompted the finance ministry to focus on investment as prerequisite for overall economic development and poverty alleviation.
   Domestic and foreign investment proposals registered with the Board of Investment declined significantly in the past one year.
    Import of capital machinery, a major criterion of actual investment, also showed a sluggish trend, mirroring stagnation in manufacturing activities, according to Bangladesh Bank statistics.
   Employment marked negative growth as the rate of annual employment growth was found to be 2.2 per cent during a period between 2003 and 2006 as against 4.4 per cent growth rate in 2000-2003, reveals the Labour Force Survey 2005-06 carried out by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Underemployment increased by about 50 per cent in three years since 2003.

The trading of six more companies’ securities will be settled in dematerialised form under the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd from March 30, said officials.
   Under the CDBL, shares are traded in electronic form instead of conventional paper form.
   ‘From March 30, trading of the shares of Oriental Bank, Aramit Ltd, Aramit Cement, Information Services Network, Metro Spinning, and National Polymer Industries will be settled in dematerialised form,’ said a senior official of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
   He said as per recent decision of the SEC, the Oriental Bank had been declared as eligible securities for dematerialising its shares through the CDBL with effect from March 30.
   ‘The SEC decision, however, does not clear the way for trading of shares of the Oriental Bank as the commission kept it suspended from June 21, 2006 following a request from the Bangladesh Bank,’ said the official.
   The central bank took over the ailing bank in June 2006.
   The SEC official said the commission was observing the latest developments concerning the bank. ‘The SEC will withdraw the suspension order in due course of time.’
   Last month the Switzerland-based ICB Financial Group Holding bought 50.1 per cent stake in the Oriental Bank as per the government’s restructuring plan for the lender.
   On February 28, the Bangladesh Bank, the ICB Financial Group Holding and the Oriental Bank signed the sale and purchase agreement to transfer shares worth Tk 350.67 crore to the global company.
   The SEC official said with the six more companies, shares of 146 companies are traded in dematerialised form under the CDBL.
   Stocks closed downbeat on Monday for the second consecutive day after a three-day bull run.
   The general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 0.48 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 2915.72, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 17.99 points or 0.77 per cent 2310.76.
   Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index lost 30.79 points or 0.64 per cent to close at 4770.78, while its blue chips index, CSE30, shed 64.49 points or 0.96 per cent to close at 6672.76.
   Turnover at the DSE, however, increased to Tk 212.41 crore from the Sunday’s Tk 183.39 crore.
   The CSE turnover went down to Tk 29.05 crore from Tk 36.68 crore.

Nearly 1,500 Vietnamese workers went on strike at a South Korean-owned garment plant demanding more money amid rising prices, and half of them remained off work Monday, a company official said.
   The workers at SH Vina Company in southern Long An province walked out last Thursday demanding an additional 150,000 dong (about $10) monthly travel allowance amid high inflation driven by surging fuel prices, he said.
   ‘Consumer prices have gone up sharply, and fuel prices also went up recently,’ said personnel department officer Huynh Thanh Tra. ‘The salary is not low, but it’s hard for worker to make a living under such conditions.’
   Half of the employees returned to work Monday, accepting a new 80,000 dong monthly allowance, but the remainder had stayed away, said Tra.
   ‘The price increases have had a really bad impact on our workers, and in turn on our company’s business,’ Tra told AFP.
   Communist Vietnam is now fighting spiralling inflation, with consumer prices rising more than 15 per cent year-on-year in February, a decade high, driven in part by world oil prices above 100 dollars a barrel.

The top Thai diplomat in Dhaka felt that Bangladesh should relax its rules and regulations for attracting more investment from Thailand.
   ‘You’ve the proper environment for foreign direct investment. To get it, the rules and regulations here need to be adjusted,’ Chalermpol Thanchitt, Thai ambassador in Dhaka, said at a conference at the National Press Club Monday.
   The conference was organised on occasion of a four-day Thailand Exhibition 2008 starting at the Sheraton Hotel tomorrow.
   Referring to the Thai industrial relocation in Vietnam and Cambodia, he said, ‘Vietnam is doing well adjusting its investment climate and get the benefit out of it.’
   Addressing the function,
   Kazi Habib Sattar, president of the Bangladesh-Thai Chamber of Commerce, said Thai
   businessmen had expressed their intention to relocate their industry in Bangladesh.
   ‘Textile, garments and food processing Thai industries can be relocated in Bangladesh due to cheap labour available here,’ he added.
   Responding to a query about Bangladesh-Thai trade gap, tilting more to Thailand, the envoy said Dhaka should consider initiating talks for striking bilateral free trade agreement.
   ‘We already have FTA with India and hope to make it with your country soon,’ Thanchitt added.
   Touching upon the issue of potential areas of investment in Bangladesh, the ambassador said Italian-Thai, a company of the ASEAN nation company, had already expressed their wellness to build elevated express highway.
   Chalermpol Thanchitt said, ‘Also Dusit Thani, a Thai chain hotel, also expressed their willingness to make their outlet in Dhaka and Chittagong. Apart form these, Thai companies are willing to involve in offshore oil and gas exploration in Bangladesh.’
   On the issue of making more interaction between the people of the two countries, he said his government was negotiating to increase more air frequency between Bangladesh and Thailand.
   Supaporn Wan-a-Loh, commercial counsellor of the embassy, also spoke in the press gathering.
   The Thai Embassy and Thai trade centre in Dhaka organise the four-day expo with an ultimate campaign of ‘Explore the finest Thai healthcare, beauty & spa’.
   In all, 43 companies having 11 categories of products, including chemicals products, construction materials and hardware and machinery, auto parts and accessories, electrical appliances, food & beverages, garments and textiles and fashion accessories, gift and decorative items, health and beauty, household and kitchenware products, leather products and footwear, textiles and garments during the exhibition, are expected to take part in the expo.

HSBC Holdings’ Asian unit, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp, reported on Monday a 53.90 per cent increase in net profit for 2007 driven by robust economic growth in the region.
   It posted a net profit of 58.03 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$7.44b) for the year, up from 37.71 billion dollars a year earlier, as its three principal operating divisions recorded strong growth.
   Profit before tax in Hong Kong rose 41.6 per cent to 53.79 billion dollars, while that in the rest of Asia increase 44.1 per cent at 20.166 billion dollars.
   Operations in the Asia-Pacific account for half of the main HSBC Group Plc’s pre-tax profit of 24.2 billion US dollars as the lender focused on developing emerging markets in Asia as well as in Latin America and the Middle East.
   In mainland China, the lender recorded for the first time a profit before tax of one billion US dollars, in addition to over seven billion dollars generated in Hong Kong.
   The bank said mainland China remained the lender’s top target for development in 2007, when it doubled its branch network to more than 80 during the year.
   ‘We will continue to see growth particularly in China because of China’s economic growth,’ Sandy Flockhart, chief executive of HSBC Asia-Pacific, told reporters.
   Among the bank’s three principal operations, its personal financial services division posted pre-tax profit growth of 49.8 per cent to 32.79 billion Hong Kong dollars, driven by a 19.8 per cent rise in net interest income.
   The commercial banking unit posted a 25.5 per cent increase in pre-tax profit of 18.75 billion dollars.
   Strong equity markets and better investment returns boosted the global banking and markets operation which recorded a 62.7 per cent increase to 24.80 billion dollars.
   Hongkong and Shanghai Bank’s total 2007 net interest income rose to 62.76 billion dollars from 51.099 billion dollars, while total fee income amounted to 41.15 billion dollars from 26.55 billion.
   Looking ahead, the Asian unit’s chairman Vincent Cheng cautioned about uncertainty in the global economic outlook, with expectations of a continued slowdown in the United States.
   The global banking giant took a massive 17 billion US dollar hit on its exposure to the collapsing US housing market and resulting global credit crunch last year.
   ‘Further fallout from the US subprime lending situation and turbulent market conditions are bound to affect the economic prospects of Asia’s dynamic economies,’ he said.

The consolidated sales of the Nestlé Group increased to Swiss Franc 107.6 billion in 2007, an increase of 9.2 per cent over the same period in 2006.
   This was driven by organic growth of 7.4 per cent, consisting of real internal growth of 4.4 per cent and price increases of 3.0 per cent, said a press release on Sunday.
   Acquisitions net of divestitures, primarily driven by the acquisition of Novartis Medical Nutrition and Gerber contributed another 1.4 per cent of growth while exchange rate fluctuations added another 0.4 per cent.
   The Group’s Food and Beverages business, with sales of Swiss Franc 100.3 billion, was the main contributor to growth, achieving organic growth of 7.1 per cent, consisting of real internal growth of 4.0 per cent and price increases of 3.1 per cent.
   Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and chief executive officer of Nestlé, commented on the result as ‘This milestone performance was achieved in a difficult external environment and, for the twelfth year in a row, has demonstrated the power of the Nestlé model: organic growth of at least 5-6 per cent coupled with a sustainable EBIT margin improvement, irrespective of prevailing economic conditions.’

The price of gold rose to a record high 984.95 dollars an ounce Monday, extending gains on the back of a weak dollar and its safehaven status amid concerns about rising inflation, dealers said.
   They said that against a backdrop of inflation and fears the US economy could be at risk of recession, investors were looking to gold and other precious metals for safety.
   Gold later slipped back to 981.35 dollars.
   On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold closed at 971.50 dollars on Friday.

Oil prices fell on Monday, easing further off record highs as market sentiment was dampened by expectations that crude cartel OPEC would leave output unchanged this week, analysts said.
   Investors also took their cue from sliding global stock markets and growing fears of a possible recession in the United States, the world’s single largest energy market.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, shed 75 cents to 101.84 dollars per barrel, after hitting a record 103.05 dollars on Friday.
   Brent North Sea crude for April delivery lost 59 cents to 99.51 dollars after a record high of 101.27 dollars on Friday.
   ‘Oil futures were lower on increased expectations ... for OPEC to leave output unchanged rather than cut, which is encouraging profit-taking,’ said Sucden analyst Nimit Khamar.
   OPEC, whose member countries together pump 40 per cent of the world’s oil, was expected to maintain its official output ceiling on Wednesday as crude prices trade close to record highs.
   OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the 13-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries would decide to either cut or hold its current daily output level of 29.67 million oil barrels when it meets in Vienna.
   ‘Either we hold output steady or we cut in order to restore market balance and stability,’ Khelil, who is also Algeria’s energy minister, said in a statement ahead of Wednesday’s meeting.
   OPEC members Iran and Venezuela are calling on the cartel to cut production when it meets in the Austrian capital, arguing that prices were likely to slide when demand for crude drops during the second quarter.

The Grameenphone has offered special instant recharge benefit for a specific group of prepaid subscribers, says a press release of the mobile phone operator.
   Under the offer, the eligible Grameenphone pre-paid subscribers will enjoy special tariff rate of Tk 0.5 per minute for talks up to 200 minutes if they recharge any amount. They will get this benefit instantly on recharge.
   The Grameenphone’s smile mobile to mobile, smile PSTN, djuice and Business Solutions pre-paid subscribers who had not used their connections or whose subscriptions had been de-activated for at least 30 days till February 29 are eligible for enjoying the benefit.
   The subscribers will enjoy the special benefit in making call to any Grameenphone number till April 14 on any amount of recharge. This offer started on March 2.

Global banking giant HSBC said Monday it had to take a massive 17 billion dollars hit on its exposure to the collapsing US housing market and resulting global credit crunch last year but it still managed a record net profit.
   Europe’s largest bank said impairment losses soared 63 per cent to 17.24 billion dollars in 2007 but net profit rose 21 per cent to 19.13 billion dollars as total income increased 25 per cent to 87.60 billion dollars.
   ‘2007 was a year when large parts of the international financial system came under extraordinary strain,’ HSBC group chairman Stephen Green said in comments accompanying the earnings release.
   ‘For HSBC to achieve another new high in earnings, despite these conditions and the exceptionally weak performance of our US business, underscores the value of the strategic focus we announced early last year to drive sustainable growth by concentrating on the faster growing markets of the world.’
   Pre-tax profit, meanwhile, increased 9.6 per cent to 24.21 billion dollars, just shy of analyst consensus forecasts for 24.82 billion dollars.
   The improvement was driven by the Asia-Pacific region excluding Hong Kong, where profit for the year jumped 70 per cent to 6.01 billion dollars, reflecting strong economic growth in the region, HSBC said.
   That outweighed a downturn in the US, where profits slumped to just 91 million dollars from four billion dollars in 2006, held back by rising bad debts as more mortgage-customers defaulted on their loans.

India on Monday exuded confidence that the new government in Islamabad will take immediate steps to implement the South Asian Free Trade Agreement with New Delhi and take necessary measures, including duty changes, to facilitate trade.
   ‘We are looking toward the new government in Pakistan to take more positive steps in fulfilling the agreement in SAFTA, which it has acceded to but not implemented. We are looking at the new administration in Pakistan to look at this positively because it is an advantageous situation for them,’ Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath told reporters here after the third meeting of the SAFTA Ministerial Council.
   Pakistan, a signatory of SAFTA, has maintained that with India it will implement the agreement only in line with its existing bilateral trade policy. Currently Pakistan’s trade with India is restricted to about 1076 items. India wants the neighbouring country to implement SAFTA in ‘true letter and spirit’.

Indonesia’s inflation rate increased in February, with high food prices driving the consumer price index up 7.4 per cent over the same period last year, an official said Monday.
   ‘Food prices in February rose 1.59 per cent month-on-month,’ Ali Rosidi, deputy chairman at the Central Bureau of Statistics, told reporters.
   The figures were higher than economists’ predictions, which put February’s expected CPI increase at between 0.4 and 0.8 per cent on the previous month and 7.13-7.6 up on February last year.
   In January, inflation was up 1.77 per cent month-on-month from December, and up 7.36 per cent year-on-year.
   Analysts have said that rising global commodity prices and disruptions to the transport of goods caused by floods and natural disasters in some parts of the country would add pressure to food prices.

The Citibank, NA Bangladesh has recently appointed Tawfiq Ali to head its Financial Institutions business in Bangladesh.
   As head of FI Tawfiq will be responsible for managing banks’ relationship with bank and non-bank institutions, said a press release.
   Tawfiq joined Citi in early 2006 and has been working as head of bank relationships for almost two years.
   Before joining Citi, he worked with ANZ Grindlays Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, in commercial banking & financial institutions.
   Tawfiq has an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University and has 14 years of relevant experience.

European equities dived on Monday after heavy falls earlier in Asia as markets were gripped by growing concern that the US economy was slipping into recession, dealers said.
   Stock markets in Europe and the United States had sunk late last week following signs that the fallout from the US credit crisis was far from over.
   In late morning European trade on Monday, Frankfurt, London and Paris stock markets chalked up fresh losses of about 1.5 per cent.
   Asian stocks plunged earlier Monday with Tokyo ending down almost 4.5 per cent, Hong Kong tumbled 3.07 per cent and Seoul gave up 2.3 per cent. Singapore and Sydney both shed about 3.0 per cent.
   ‘Not a great start to the week with the UK following falls in the US Friday and Asia today,’ said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at brokerage Brewin Dolphin.
   ‘What matters most to investors is what is happening in the US. Investors view the US as in recession or going into recession which is not good news for corporate earnings and the market.’
   London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies shed 1.32 per cent to 5,806.70 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 slid 1.51 per cent to 6,646.08 points and the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.33 per cent to 4,727.09.
   In the foreign exchange market, the euro stood at 1.5174 dollars, after striking a record high 1.5239 last Friday.
   The European banking sector took a big hit amid fresh credit crunch fears, with giant HSBC announcing more than 17 billion dollars in losses linked to the US housing sector in 2007.
   The bank still managed to post a record net profit but this was largely due to its historic core business in Asia.
   ‘As ongoing worries over US growth and the problems in credit markets continue, risk-taking is likely to continue to be scaled back’ in global equity markets, said ABN Amro analyst Melinda Smith.
   Among global stock markets, Tokyo was the hardest hit, with the Nikkei-225 tumbling 4.49 per cent to end below the key 13,000 points level for the first time in over a month.
   The heavy losses also came as the yen soared to a fresh three-year high against the ailing dollar, stoking worries about the outlook for Japanese exporter earnings.
   Worries about the fallout from the US subprime home loan crisis escalated after a weak earnings report from insurer American International Group, which wrote down 11.1 billion dollars in credit-related losses.
   The results were ‘a reminder to investors that subprime woes have not gone away,’ CIMB-GK Research analyst Song Seng Wun wrote in a note to clients from Singapore.
   In Hong Kong, worries about the state of the local economy added to the pessimistic mood.
   Stocks fell heavily on Wall Street on Friday, hit by weak earnings news and growing fears that the US economy may be slipping into recession, dealers said.
   The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2.51 per cent Friday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq skidded 2.58 per cent to a 17-month low.
   Investors were spooked by a media report that a planned bailout of US bond insurer Ambac Financial was running into snags, dealers said.
   Ambac and other major bond insurers have been hard hit in the financial turmoil stemming from the US housing slump and related credit squeeze.
   ‘Investor fears of a US recession have strengthened. There is even a growing view that the US economy has already entered into a recession,’ said Ryohei Muramatsu of Commerzbank in Tokyo.
   A Commerce Department report showed Friday that US consumer spending increased 0.4 per cent last month while personal income rose 0.3 per cent.
   While both readings were better than anticipated, economists said the survey also suggested American wallets are being increasingly stretched by inflation.
   Markets expect the US central bank to cut interest rates again at a March 18 meeting. The central bank has already slashed borrowing costs by 2.25 percentage points since September in a bid to shore up flagging economic growth.

Cuba’s vice-president Carlos Lage unveiled a plan Sunday to reinvigorate key sectors of the country’s economy, including its flagging construction and food industries, state-run media reported.
   Lage, reelected by parliament one week ago as a vice president in Cuba’s council of state, announced in the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) newspaper that the country would initiate ‘a stimulous plan in strategic economic sectors.’
   The announcement came a week after the National Assembly chose Raul Castro as president, succeeding his 81-year-old brother Fidel Castro who stepped down as head of state for health reasons after nearly five decades in power.
   Lage, 56, a pediatrician by training who for the past several years has been the operational head of the government and one of the most visible Cuban leaders, helped Cuba edge out of a deep crisis in the 1990s caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, then its main financial backer.
   Lage, a member of parliament since 1976 and a longtime member of the Communist party’s central committee, also underscored the need to step up Cuba’s production capacity and reduce its level of imports.
   Lage was seen as a possible choice for the country’s number two post but Raul Castro opted for a member of the communist ‘old guard,’ naming regime veteran Jose Ramon Machado, 77, to the spot.

The Sonali Bank Limited inaugurated ATM booth at its Ramna corporate branch in the Dhaka city on Monday.
   SA Chowdhury, chief executive officer and managing director of the bank, opened the booth, said a press release.
   Speaking on the occasion, SA Chowdhury said twelve such ATM booths would be launched in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and Khulna within shortest possible time.
   Sonali Bank has started remittance management system to enable to reach foreign remittances to their beneficiaries not exceeding 24 hours in any part of the country.
   Senior officials of the bank and a huge number of clients were present at the inaugural function.

The RubyCement held the annual dealers’ night in Chittagong recently.
   Ramakanta Bhattacharjee, director of the Heidelberg Cement Bangladesh Limited, and the company’s sales managers Wahedunnabi Chowdhury, and Quazi Shafayet Hossain attended the programme, said a press release.
   RubyCement is a brand of the HeidelbergCement Bangladesh Limited, which is a member of HeideldelbergCement Group-Germany and meets approximately 15 per cent cement demand in Bangladesh by the two brands, the ‘ScanCement’ and the ‘RubyCement.’

Oil prices could reach 200 dollars a barrel, the European Union’s energy commissioner said in an interview published Monday in Spain, two days ahead of an OPEC meeting to decide daily output levels.
   ‘When I arrived at the European Commission in 2004, a barrel of oil cost 52 dollars. It has doubled in three years. We can’t rule out that in 2011 it will be at 200 dollars,’ Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told business daily El Economista.
   ‘What I am saying is, in part, a joke, but it shouldn’t surprise us,’ he said, adding that when US investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted oil could reach 100 dollars three years ago, ‘everyone took it as a joke.’
   ‘We can’t rule out 200 dollars because in the last two years, all of us have been completely mistaken, thinking that what is in fact happening now was impossible,’ Piebalgs said.
   Oil prices struck a record-high 100 dollars at the start of January and on Friday the price of New York crude hit a fresh peak of 103.05 dollars per barrel.
   The 13 members of OPEC, who together pump 40 per cent of the world’s oil, are due to meet Wednesday in Vienna, Austria to decide on daily output levels, currently set at 29.67 million barrels.
   In a statement made ahead of the meeting, OPEC President Chakib Khelil, who is also Algeria’s energy minister, said the body will either hold output steady of cut production ‘to restore market balance and stability.’
   Piebalgs told the newspaper he ‘couldn’t imagine (an OPEC production) cut.’

Manufacturing activity in the 15 nations sharing the euro slowed in February despite wide variations among some countries, a survey showed on Monday.
   The eurozone’s purchasing managers index, compiled by NTC Research, fell to 52.3 points in February from 52.8 in January and was unchanged from a first estimate.
   Although the reading held above the 50-points boom or bust level, it was still the second weakest since August 2005.
   While the index added to the growing gloom over the eurozone outlook, economists said it showed diverging trends in some of the bloc’s bigger members.
   ‘The disparity in manufacturing activity across the Eurozone is striking,’ said economist Howard Archer with consultants Global Insight.

China’s vast sovereign wealth fund said it would target a broad array of assets as it dismissed concerns it was a threat to other nations, state media reported Monday.
   The 200-billion-dollar China Investment Corp has decided on seven categories and sixteen sub-classes of assets it plans to invest in, the China Securities Journal reported, citing Jesse Wang, the fund’s vice-president.
   ‘Highly diversified assets allocation ... will help spread risk as much as possible and increase returns,’ Wang was quoted as saying.
   He was not quoted as giving details about the different categories of assets to be targeted by the fund.
   Wang dismissed foreign concerns about sovereign wealth funds’ alleged lack of transparency and suspicions about their objectives.
   ‘We have noticed some countries, including the United States, have set up impediments to sovereign wealth funds’ investments in domestic companies and turned this into a political issue, which I think is unnecessary’.
   ‘It’s inappropriate to politicise investments by sovereign wealth funds or link them to nationalism,’ he said in the China Securities Journal.
   Wang said the CIC, with one-third of its money slated for overseas investment, had no problems with transparency as long as it did not hurt the fund’s commercial interests, he said.
   The Shanghai Securities News, another official newspaper, quoted Wang as saying that the CIC has interviewed about 100 international asset managers in search of investment expertise.
   The fund will seek a highly-diversified portfolio, including investments in stocks, fixed-income assets, private equity as well as hedge funds, Wang told the newspaper.
   The fund has announced plans to invest five billion dollars in Morgan Stanley for no more than 9.9 per cent of the US bank’s shares. It has also bought a three-billion-dollar stake in US private equity firm Blackstone Group.

British billionaire Sir Richard Branson launched Virgin Mobile in India on Sunday aiming to tap the huge number of young people in the world’s fastest-growing cellular market.
   The flamboyant tycoon was lowered by wires down the face of a 35-storey hotel in Mumbai, unveiling the Virgin logo in mid-air, to herald the firm’s entry in a tie-up with India’s sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group.
   ‘India looks very, very promising,’ said Branson, who is tying up with Tata Teleservices.
   The service will be marketed under the Virgin Mobile brand name in India, whose cellular market is expanding by eight million subscribers per month.
   Virgin sought to deliver a ‘more tailored, more relevant offering’ aimed at India’s young population, he said. Some 51 per cent of India’s population of 1.1 billion people is under 25 and two-thirds under 35.
   The venture will offer music, entertainment and news on India’s film industry, sports and stock market.
   Virgin needs to grab ‘only a small percentage of the market to do well,’ the tycoon told reporters in Mumbai on the weekend, adding that ‘the vibrancy of its youth and culture truly makes it Virgin territory.’
   To start, Virgin will launch its service in 50 cities, expanding to more than 1,000 cities by December.
   Virgin is seeking to tap India after Britain-based Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile company, made its entry last year by buying Indian cell phone operator Hutchison Essar for 11.1 billion dollars.
   Virgin Mobile ‘can capture more than 10 per cent’ of the growing youth market within three years and generate more than 350 billion dollars in annual revenues, Jamie Heywood, deputy chief executive of Virgin Mobile India, said.
   It can do that by focusing on a single segment and by delivering innovative services, he said.

Russia on Monday cut gas supplies to ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine by 25 per cent after talks in a pricing dispute failed, but supplies to Europe will not be affected, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said.
   ‘To ensure its economic interests, Gazprom from 0700 GMT today reduced gas supplies to Ukrainian consumers by 25 per cent,’ spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said in a statement.
   Although Ukraine is the main transit route for Russian gas supplies to the European Union, ‘deliveries to European consumers are continuing and will continue at full capacity,’ he said.
   The dispute echoes one in 2006 in which Russia briefly cut supplies to Ukraine, leading to knock-on disruption in several European countries.
   In that dispute Moscow accused Ukraine of diverting supplies destined for Europe to fill its shortfall, but a spokesman for Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz said Monday that would not happen this time around.

Europe’s biggest auto firm Volkswagen said Monday it has won control of Scania, a step that could dramatically reshape the heavy vehicle industry via an eventual merger of the Swedish truck maker with German rival MAN.
   VW will hold 68.60 per cent of the voting rights in Scania and increase its direct stake to 37.73 per cent after buying shares from the Wallenberg family, the German company said in a statement.
   Prior to the deals, VW owned 20.89 per cent of the shares in Scania and held 37.98 per cent of the voting rights.
   ‘Scania is a strong premium brand which has a prosperous future,’ VW chairman Martin Winterkorn said in the statement.
   Scania boss Leif Ostlin told a press conference in Stockholm: ‘I very much welcome VW as the majority shareholder. It’s good for Scania to have the stability’ following months of speculation over the company’s future.
   VW is also the leading shareholder in the German conglomerate MAN, another manufacturer of heavy trucks and buses that tried to take over Scania in late 2006.
   A merger of Scania and MAN would create the biggest European manufacturer of heavy trucks and Volkswagen reportedly favours a three-way tie-up that would also include VW’s Brazilian lorry activities.
   VW agreed to pay 200 Swedish kronor (21.4 euros, 32.4 dollars) per Scania share to the Wallenberg Foundations and Investor AG, which is controlled by the family, bringing the cost of the deal to around 2.87 billion euros.
   Investor chief executive Borje Ekholm said his company had held a stake in Scania since it was founded in 1916, adding that the deal with Volkswagen would aid Scania’s future development.

The dollar continued near record lows against the euro on Monday ahead of key US manufacturing data that will be closely scrutinised to see whether, as feared, the US economy is slipping into recession, dealers said.
   The European single currency rocketed to a record 1.5239 dollars last Friday on the back of growing concerns over the US economic outlook and favourable interest rate differentials, they said.
   In early European trading on Monday, the euro stood at 1.5175 dollars, just down from 1.5182 in New York late on Friday.
   Meanwhile on Monday, the dollar sank to 103.15 yen compared with 103.73 late Friday, after earlier hitting the lowest level since January 2005.
   The weak US currency in turn boosted dollar-priced commodities, with gold prices striking another record high on Monday.
   The precious metal hit an all-time high of 984.95 dollars per ounce while New York oil was within reach of a record 103.05 dollars set last Friday.
   Investors regard gold as a safe investment amid concerns over rising inflation and an uncertain economic climate in the United States.
   Later Monday, the foreign exchange markets will digest the US Institute of Supply Management’s index on manufacturing activity, which is forecast to show a contraction in the sector during February.
   ‘Although the US manufacturing sector has benefited from strong growth overseas and in turn robust export demand, this will be insufficient to prevent the ISM slipping over the month,’ warned Calyon anlayst Mitul Kotecha.
   ‘This could be the last shoe to fall in terms of indicators of recession and will add to the mounting evidence that the economy is quickly grinding to a halt.’
   ‘Meanwhile, the onslaught of weak data releases will continue to add to the damage to the dollar.’
   The market was looking ahead to the release of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book economic report on Wednesday, followed by key US employment figures due on Friday which should provide fresh clues on the health of the world’s largest economy.
   The market will also monitor monetary policy meetings at the central banks of Japan, Britain and the eurozone this week, although all three are likely to leave key interest rates unchanged, dealers said.
   In contrast, markets expect the Fed to cut its rates at a March 18 meeting, having already slashed borrowing costs by 2.25 percentage points since September in a bid to shore up flagging economic growth.
   Worries about the US economy have battered the dollar and major stock markets in recent days, dousing optimism that credit market problems might be easing.
   In Europe on Monday, the euro changed hands at 1.5175 dollars against 1.5182 late on Friday, at 156.49 yen (157.49), 0.7640 pounds (0.7633) and 1.5796 Swiss francs (1.5803).
   The dollar stood at 103.15 yen (103.73) and 1.0412 Swiss francs (1.0409).
   The pound was at 1.9858 dollars (1.9889).
   Later Monday on the London Bullion Market, the price of gold was at 979.80 dollars an ounce, up from 971.50 dollars late on Friday but off its record high.

Trade
   Ist Lease International
   Mohiuddin Mohammad one of the sponsors of the company has reported his intention to sell his entire holdings of 7,920 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange within next 30 working days. Another sponsor of the company Chowdhury Moin Ahmed Mujib has reported his intention to sell 19,000 shares out of his total holding of 20,599 shares of the company at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Category upgrade
   Mithun Knitting
   The company will be placed in A category from existing B category with effect from today as the company reported disbursement of 10 per cent cash dividend for the year 2006-2007.
   
   Reply to DSE query
   Libra Infusions
   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.
   
   Delta Life Insurance
   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. The company has also informed that the next date of hearing of case on holding of AGMs of the company have not yet been fixed by the High Court.
   
   Representative withdrawn
   AB & Company Limited
   The company, DSE member no 43, has withdrawn one of its authorised representatives, Md Nuruzzaman, with immediate effect.
   
   Globe Securities
   The company, DSE member no 189, has withdrawn one of its authorised representatives, Azizul Karim, with immediate effect.
   
   Mika Properties & Securities
   The company, DSE member no 215, has withdrawn one of its authorised representatives, Md Habib Ullah, with immediate effect.

StanChart completes AEB acquisition
The Standard Chartered PLC announced Friday that it received all the required approvals leading to the completion of its acquisition of the American Express Bank Ltd from the American Express Company. The total cash consideration for the acquisition is $823 million, said a press release. The acquisition of AEB provides Standard Chartered with an opportunity to add capability, scale and momentum in the strategically important Financial Institutions and Private Banking businesses. It will add 19 more markets to the Standard Chartered footprint, while deepening presence in some core markets and providing access to several new growth markets. The addition of the AEB business will fast track the growth aspirations of The Standard Chartered Private Bank, building immediate capability and scale in people, product and processes. AEB will enhance Standard Chartered’s private banking presence in its key markets, leveraging on its exceptional advantage to grow market share and build scale in existing markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, India and The Middle East. Peter Sands, group chief executive, Standard Chartered PLC said, ‘I welcome the American Express Bank employees into the Standard Chartered family. The AEB business brings along an exceptional management team and I look forward to them playing an important role in the Group.’
— New Age

ICCB holds workshops
The Bangladesh National Committee of International Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the German Technical Cooperation, will hold a workshop on the international trade payment practices in Chittagong city today. They will also arrange another workshop on the issue in the Dhaka city on tomorrow (March 4). Vincent O’Brien, member of the ICC banking commission, Paris, will conduct the workshops, said a press release. Mahbubur Rahman, president of the ICC Bangladesh, is expected to inaugurate the workshop in the port city. MA Salam, first vice-president of the BGMEA, will be present as special guest at the workshop in Chittagong. Latifur Rahman, vice-president of the ICC Bangladesh, will open the workshop in the Dhaka city. Samson H Chowdhury, vice-president of the ICC Bangladesh, Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), president of the BGMEA, Md Fazlul Hoque, president of the BKMEA and Mamun Rashid, chairman of the ICCB standing committee on banking technique and practice and also managing director of the Citibank NA, Bangladesh are expected to attend the inaugural ceremony in Dhaka as special guests. The workshops aim to highlight on the trade related issues of the RMG sector.
— New Age