JCI leader sees scopes
for development
Khawaza Main Uddin
Bangladesh is a country full of potentials in view of capacity and hard-working attitude of its people, says an international chamber leader, emphasising the importance of creating development opportunities for this nation.
Impressed by the ‘friendly Bangladesh people’, Tae Gun Lee, the 2009 vice- president of Junior Chamber International, observes, ‘Active citizens like those in Bangladesh are made, not born. I see huge potentials in more than 140 million people as human resources.’
As the organisation he represents believes in change, he particularly stressed on providing the poor with productive opportunities and said JCI Bangladesh chapter leaders, while serving the humanity alongside personal development, would contribute to improving lots of the poor.
The chamber leader, during a two-day visit to Bangladesh in April 24-25, travelled different parts of burgeoning Dhaka city, talked to a lot of people, including students and slum dwellers, and witnessed certain gap between the rich and the poor.
‘Yes! I saw difference (between the rich and the poor). I believe, Bangladesh has tremendous potentials as its citizens are aware of many things and they are enterprising,’ Lee, himself a South Korean national nicknamed Teddy, expressed his views of Bangladesh, in an exclusive interview with New Age at JCI Bangladesh office on Saturday evening.
The organisation that has four broad-based objectives of development — individual, business, community and international — is working, in Bangladesh context, for promoting corporate social responsibility, livelihoods supports to the poor through training and building awareness among the students apart from encouraging its members, JCI local president Aftab Mahmood Khurshid added.
Lee mentioned that he was encouraged to see the awareness and interests among the students about the issue of climate change and its impact on Bangladesh.
Active in 115 countries, JCI has 5,000 local chapters and 200,000 members around the world. Asked if it is the club of the children of the affluent people, Lee, who runs business on education in Seoul, replied: ‘It is not a rich man’s club; it is a club of above average people that promotes the issue of making people active, no matter they are rich or poor.’
The global recession, which has affected Lee’s home country especially its financial sector, has also offered opportunities for countries like Bangladesh, he pointed out. Asked about key factors for grasping the opportunities, the chamber leader underlined the importance of education for nation building in a long-term perspective. ‘Education is important more than anything else.’
About the JCI Bangladesh chapter leaders, Lee said they are ‘very educated’ people and expressed the hope that they would contribute to positive development of the country.
JCI Bangladesh 2009 president, Khurshid substantiated him saying that they were trying to building links between the corporate houses and supports to various groups of people and promoting micro, small and medium enterprises as part of their activities.
Grameen America gives
NY women a boost
Reuters/Bdnews24.com
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, known as the ‘microfinance guru’, is now doing business in the centre of capitalism — New York City.
In the past year the first US branch of his Grameen Bank has lent $1.5 million, ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, to nearly 600 women with small business plans in the city’s borough of Queens.
People around the country are struggling to repay mortgages and credit card debts, but Grameen America says its loan repayment rate is more than 99 per cent.
‘While other banks are collapsing, this one remains strong,’ Yunus told reporters at a street fair, where about 100 Grameen America borrowers sold wares ranging from food and flowers to clothes and jewellery.
Zemia Shoffner received a loan of $2,000 in January from Grameen America, which she used to take a baking class to expand her catering expertise and drum up more business.
‘I have been running my business for about three years now and (the course) meant a lot because it makes me more marketable,’ Shoffner told Reuters, noting her bad credit meant she could not get a traditional bank loan.
‘This has really allowed me to live my dream. I had another job and I wasn’t really happy, so now I really have the freedom to pursue my passion. It means everything,’ she said.
Karen Giral, 20, who is pregnant with her second child and lives in Elmhurst, Queens, has paid off her first loan of $600 and now has a second loan of $1,000. She has used the money to build her business selling Avon products.
‘It was a really big help because to save up that much money is ... hard,’ said Giral, who heard about Grameen America from her mother.
In addition to America, the Grameen Bank operates in Kosovo, Turkey, Zambia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Indonesia.
The bank is applying for a US credit union license to generate the deposits it needs to make more loans ‘Microcredit cannot depend on small donations. This is a business, it should be run like a business,’ Yunus said.
The US president, Barack Obama, recently announced the creation of a $100 million microfinance growth fund for small lenders in the Western Hemisphere to allow them to continue making loans despite the global recession.
‘$100 million is a very small amount to start. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh lends more than $100 million a month,’ said Yunus, adding that it was a welcome ‘first step.’
In Queens, Grameen America borrowers must have two forms of identification and a tax return to show their financial situation. They also must open up a bank account that requires them to deposit $2 a week, on top of repaying their loan, to foster a habit of saving.
Leslie Kane, vice president of finance and strategy for Grameen America, said reducing poverty through microfinance banking is not just for developing economies.
‘Many Americans say, ‘Oh we don’t have poverty in the United States.’ But we do, just like every country around the world we need to focus on microcredit,’ she said.
For Yoly Castillo, 37, a Colombian immigrant who lives in College Point, Queens, a $1,000 loan from Grameen America not only helped her start a clothing business seven months ago but also inspired her to study business administration at college.
‘This business has made me open up my horizons, it’s amazing,’ said Castillo, who also works part-time as a medical biller and pays back $22 a week on her loan. ‘I never expected this of myself ... . It has given me so much strength.’
Ctg port gets Tk1500cr
Bdnews24.com. Dhaka
Chittagong port was marking its 122nd anniversary Saturday as the port authority announced six projects worth around Tk 1,500 crore to bring port activities up to speed.
‘We are happy at the port’s development in recent years, though not completely satisfied,’ Chittagong Port Authority chairman, commodore RU Ahmed, told reporters at an anniversary programme.
Ahmed said the capacity of the port had already increased more than 100-fold since 2006, while trade volume—handling and transportation of export-import goods—was increasing at a rate of 10-12 per cent every year.
The port will gain even more momentum on completion of the projects next year, he said.
The projects include construction of a new Tk 820 Karnaphuli Container Terminal at jetties 11-13, a new inland container terminal at Panagao for Tk 154 crore and Tk 114 crore for backward facilities at the New Mooring Container Terminal.
The CPA chairman said private operators would be appointed next year to handle New Mooring Container Terminal.
The other projects comprise capital dredging of the Karnaphuli river at a cost of Tk 411 crore, a computerised container terminal management system for Tk 37 crore and waste removal vessels and equipment to contain pollution at a cost of around Tk 34 crore.
He said recommendations had been made for a separate pay-scale for port employees and initiatives had been taken to address the need for more skilled manpower.
On another query, he said the port authority had no objection to trade union activities, which in the past had been blamed for much of the port’s inefficiencies and delays.
Kuwait Airways introduces S class
Business Desk
Kuwait Airways has recently introduced a new service class, S class, on its flights to and from Dhaka.
With an add-on of only $78, clients can now avail economy class service, but in a special zone with business class seating on Dhaka-Kuwait route, a news release said.
They can enjoy the luxuries, privacy and serenity of the business class at a minimum price.
The regular business class zone with premium class service still remains, which itself is at a very competitive price in the local market, the release added.
CSR to be included in industrial
policy, says minister
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka
INDUSTRIES minister Dilip Barua on Sunday stressed the need for inclusion of the corporate social responsibility in the proposed industrial policy aiming at improving lifestyle of disadvantaged people in society.
Steps would be taken to spread movement by the government for production for sustainable socio-economic development of the people through massive industrialisation, he said inaugurating an international training course in a city hotel.
Twenty representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines are taking part in the course.
Asian Productivity Organisation of Japan and National Productivity Organisation of Bangladesh jointly organised the six-day ‘training course for lead auditors on SA-8000’, said a news release.
With additional secretary of the industries ministry ABM Korshed Alam in the chair, the inaugural secession was addressed, among others, by director of the NPO Dr M Nazrul Islam and programme officer of the industry affairs of the Japan-based APO Zainuri Juri.
The industries minister said production of quality goods must be given priority to survive the intensified global competition.
He expressed the hope that it was possible to earn confidence of consumers by maintaining the quality of products if the CSR was included in the proposed industrial policy.
BJMA seeks more help
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka
The Bangladesh Jute Mills Association has welcomed the government announcement of the stimulus package of Tk 3,424 crore and its initiative to remove procedural complexities in releasing the export subsidies.
The association, however, demanded further government assistance to help increase production and export of jute and create employment opportunities for more than one lakh people in the jute industry.
‘The increased subsidy on export of jute goods, though small, will have a positive impact at least to some extent on the jute industry,’ said the association in a recent statement.
Under the package, the government proposed to increase the subsidy on export of jute goods from 7.5 to 10 per cent.
BJMA said the industry would also be benefited from the export credit at 7 per cent if the recent circular of Bangladesh Bank in this regard is implemented.
The demands included rescheduling of interests on working capital or cash credit, fixing interest rate on working capital or cash credit at 10 per cent, raising export subsidy to 20 per cent, implementing export credit at 7 per cent, releasing Tk 53.19 crore the government owe to BJMA-member mills against export subsidy and rescheduling the loans of closed-down and sick jute mills.
Asian currencies mixed
against dollar
Agence France-Presse . Hong Kong
Asian currencies were mixed against US dollar last week as disappointing news from the US was balanced by local conditions.
The yen rose to its highest level against the dollar in more than three weeks as the US unit was hit by fresh jitters over the health of major US automakers, dealers said.
The Japanese currency stood at 97.13 against the dollar in New York late Friday, up from 99.13 a week earlier. At one point, the yen hit 96.98, the weakest since March 30, in Tokyo on Friday.
Dealers said selling pressure on the dollar grew on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported that US automaker Chrysler was preparing to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next week, while General Motors may follow in May.
Investors were also nervous because Washington was expected to unveil later in the day the methodology of its ‘stress tests’ used to assess the viability of the country’s top 19 banks.
The yen was also supported by risk aversion after the International Monetary Fund predicted a 1.3 per cent contraction in the global economy this year.
The fresh jitters came ahead of Friday’s meeting of Group of Seven finance chiefs in Washington organised by the IMF and the World Bank.
CORPORATE DISCLOSURES
Maksons upgraded to A category
Business Desk
The company will be placed in ‘A’ category from existing ‘N’ category with effect from today (Monday) as the company reported disbursement of stock dividend at 15 per cent for the year ended on September 30, 2008.
BOC Bangladesh
The company has informed that the 36th AGM of the company will be held on May 12, 2009 at 10:30am at Officers Club, 26, Bailey Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Bangladesh Finance and Investment
Today normal trading of the shares of the company will resume after record date and there will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company.
BSRM Steels
Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the Spot Market and Block/Odd lot transactions will also be settled as per Spot settlement cycle from today to April 29, 09. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date scheduled for April 30, 09.
Al-Haj Textile
Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on April 27-29, 2009 for finalisation of Demat process. Trading of the shares of the company will be held in Demat form with effect from April 30, 2009 as announced earlier.
Fidelity Assets and Securities
As per regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the company has informed that the 68th meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held today at 04:00pm to take the following decision among other agenda — to adopt its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008, to recommend dividend for the year ended December 31, 2008, and to fix record date, date of 12th AGM, venue and time of the said meeting.
Rangpur Foundry
There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on April 27, 2009 following its corporate declaration.
Rangpur Foundry
The board of directors has recommended cash dividend at 18 per cent for 2008. Date of AGM: June 28, 2009, time: 10.30am, venue: national shooting complex, Dhaka. Record date: May 31, 2009.
Source: DSE
IMF says time to talk
crisis exit plans
Agence France-Presse . Washington
The IMF says it is time to talk exit strategies since all members now endorsed stimulus measures taken to combat the global financial crisis and the need to clean up banks’ bad assets.
‘Everybody is happy with what has been done on fiscal stimulus ... all agree on the absolute necessity of cleansing the financial system,’ the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.
He said there were substantial differences, however, over what steps should be taken to prepare for the economic upturn on the other side of the crisis, adding that countries needed to have a view three to four years ahead.
As the worst global slump since the 1930s spread through 2008, there were substantial differences over how much money governments should spend—even at the risk of going heavily into debt—to get their economies going again.
The United States advocated spending any amount necessary while Europe generally, and especially Germany, was reluctant to commit ever more funds, preferring to wait and see the effectiveness of initial steps.
The Group of Seven major economies on Friday said the situation appeared to be stabilizing even if the outlook remained uncertain and major problems still had to be tackled.
Strass-Kahn said the meeting in Washington, picking up from the Group of 20 London summit of developed and developing countries on April 2, confirmed that the IMF was now at the center of policy coordination on the crisis.
He noted positively broad agreement on supplying the IMF with additional funds so that it can help poorer countries struggling in the crisis.
‘A key achievement of today’s meeting is ensuring the doubling of the Fund’s loanable resources,’ the IMF steering committee said in a statement.
In a first stage, 250 billion dollars will be available through a special facility to help ‘member countries with external financing needs,’ followed by another 250 billion dollars, as agreed at the G20 summit on April 2.
Since then, however, there has been concern that some countries were dragging their feet on their pledges.
The possibility that the IMF would raise extra funds by selling bonds to member states was also raised, Strauss-Kahn added.
Marita Hutjes, senior adviser at Oxfam International, an anti-poverty nongovernmental organization, condemned the meeting as ‘a wasted opportunity for poor countries.’
‘More should have been done. The poorest countries are still waiting for the bailout they’ve been promised to survive this crisis.
Taiwan, China sign landmark deal
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Nanjing
Taiwan and China signed a series of landmark agreements on Sunday laying the groundwork for a flood of investment in financial services to flow across the Taiwan Strait for the first time in six decades.
The agreements are the latest sign of warming ties between the former Cold War adversaries under the year-old administration of Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou, who ran for office promising to improve the economy through closer ties with the mainland.
The centrepiece of the latest cross-strait talks, the third since Ma took office, is an agreement setting up a regulatory framework for financial services firms on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to invest and do business in each others’ markets.
The two sides also agreed to gradually set up a clearing system between the Taiwan dollar and China’s currency, the yuan, and reached a consensus in principal on allowing certain forms of Chinese investment into Taiwan.
‘This will drive new investment, not just domestically, but it will also bring strong interest from foreigners as well,’ said Standard Chartered economist Tony Phoo. ‘Even though there’s nothing really (unexpected) that came out, it’s something positive —something that’s been holding back for too long.’
High hopes for both deals have supercharged Taiwan’s stock market this year, making it the world’s second best performer after only Shanghai. Taiwan stocks are up 28 per cent year to date, compared with a 4 per cent decline for the S&P 500.
Taiwan’s banking and insurance sub-index has rallied 33 per cent since the beginning of March alone, with foreign investors pumping a net T$63.2 billion ($1.9b) into Taiwan stocks over that period as the island is increasingly seen as the next big China play.
The talks also included agreement to shift flights between Taiwan and China to scheduled ones from their current chartered flight status, with the number of weekly flights rising to 270 from the current 108. A third agreement is aimed at strengthening crime fighting across the Taiwan Strait.
China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and pledged to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary. Despite tense ties under former pro-independence president Chen Shui-bian, relations have improved dramatically since Ma took office last May.
All three rounds of negotiations under Ma have been led by China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, headed by Chen Yunlin, and Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation, chaired by PK Chiang, both semi-official organisations.
Financial matters aside, the latest dialogue is also politically significant in showing the world that ties will continue to improve across the Taiwan Strait, said Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University.
‘It seems to us there will be a regular dialogue every six months, and that’s a good sign because it gives confidence to third parties and foreign governments that both sides can be rational,’ he said.
Recession to downsize
US privatisation
Reuters/Bdnews24.com -Chicago
The demise of a deal to lease Chicago’s Midway Airport to private operators may put the brakes on the privatisation of bigger and high-profile government assets as the global recession eats into the availability of financing.
Financing for future deals may become more selective even as increasing numbers of state and local governments turn to leasing their assets to bolster coffers diminished by the sagging economy.
‘It’s very, very much deal specific,’ said Dana Levenson, managing director and head of North American infrastructure banking at Royal Bank of Scotland.
‘Clearly this is a setback, but a slight setback for the industry,’ he added, referring to the failed Midway deal.
The mega deal for Midway Airport was to produce a $2.52 billion upfront payment to Chicago in exchange for a 99-year lease. But Chicago Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold said on Monday that the inability of the winning lease bidder, Midway Investment and Development Company, to secure financing killed the deal.
The company is made up of Citigroup (C.N) unit Citi Infrastructure Investors, YVR Airport Services Ltd and John Hancock Life Insurance Company.
With the Midway deal’s high cost and the airport’s limited potential for increased revenue, the death of the transaction was not surprising, said H. Woods Bowman, professor of public service at DePaul University in Chicago.
‘I don’t see much of a future for such deals because the typical deal is highly leveraged, and credit on that scale will be hard to come by for a long time,’ he said. ‘There is probably a niche for low-leverage, low-risk projects, however.’
Levenson, a former Chicago CFO who worked on the city’s first lease deal for the Skyway toll bridge, said deals will continue to take place for smaller assets such as those involving parking facilities.
‘Those more prosaic assets are more financeable,’ he said.
For Chicago, which is struggling with budget problems, the Midway deal marks the first privatization not to be consummated after a successful bidding process.
Since the $1.83 billion Skyway deal in 2005, the city has leased other assets, including parking garages and parking meters, in exchange for upfront payments. Those funds allowed Chicago to pay off the leased assets’ outstanding debt, fund specific programs and provide a financial cushion for the city budget.
Saffold said the city was not giving up on a deal for Midway.
UK’s richest lose $228b in 2008
Agence France-Presse . London
Britain’s richest people lost 155 billion pounds ($228b) in the past year because of a deep recession and the global financial crisis, a survey showed on Sunday.
The Sunday Times newspaper’s 2009 Rich List, featuring the thousand wealthiest people based in Britain, also found the number of billionaires sank from 75 to 43 people in the last 12 months as the credit crunch took its toll.
The country’s 1,000 richest people have a collective fortune of 258 billion pounds, according to the weekly newspaper. That compared with a record 413 billion pounds in last year’s survey.
‘I am beyond being surprised, except by the scale of the devastation,’ said Philip Beresford, who has compiled the annual list since 1989.
‘It is extraordinary how people have seen their fortunes being whittled away. It is devastation all round.’
Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal topped the list for the fifth year running — but he and his family’s wealth has plunged 61 per cent to 10.8 billion pounds in 2008, sharply down from 27.7 billion pounds in 2007.
That makes Mittal, 58, the biggest loser in the list, as his empire took a major blow from collapse of the world steel market.
Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who owns Chelsea Football Club, is the second richest with 7.0 billion pounds, down 40 per cent from 11.7 billion last time.
The global financial crisis pushed Britain into an official recession in the second half of 2008, with the economy experiencing two successive quarters of economic contraction.
And official figures out Friday showed the recession deepened in the first three months of 2009, with the battered economy shrinking at the fastest rate in almost 30 years.
Some of the best-known British-born business figures also took a knock from the sharp economic downturn.
Virgin boss Richard Branson is now worth 1.2 billion pounds after losing 1.5 billion in the last year.
The list also said Formula One racing chief Bernie Ecclestone lost 934 million pounds this year, leaving him worth 1.5 billion pounds.
On the upside, Ken Morrison, former boss of supermarket group Morrisons, saw his fortune jump 11 per cent to 1.6 billion pounds, according to the 2009 survey.
And Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of London’s up-scale Harrods department store, saw his riches climb 17 per cent to 650 million pounds.
It now takes 55 million pounds to make it on to the Rich List, which compared with 80 million pounds last year.
Britain’s top 10 billionaires
1. Lakshmi Mittal and family—steel — 10.8 billion (1st, 27.7 billion)
2. Roman Abramovich—oil and industry — 7.0 billion (2nd, 11.7 billion)
3. The Duke of Westminster—property — 6.5 billion (3rd, 7.0 billion)
4. Ernesto and Kirsty Bertarelli—pharmaceuticals — 5.0 billion (6th, 5.65 billion)
5. Hans Rausing and family—packaging — 4.0 billion (7th, 5.4 billion)
6. Sir Philip and Lady Green—retailing — 3.83 billion (9th, 4.33 billion)
7. Charlene and Michel de Carvalho—inheritance, brewing and banking — 2.960 billion (13th, 3.63 billion)
8. Sammy and Eyal Ofer—shipping and property — 2.677 billion (15th, 3.336 billion)
9. John Fredriksen—shipping — 2.5 billion (8th, 4.65 billion)
9. Joe Lewis—foreign exchange and investment — 2.5 billion (19th, 2.8 billion)
9. Kirsten and Jorn Rausing—inheritance and investment — 2.5 billion (14th, 3.5 billion)
9. David and Simon Reuben—property — 2.5 billion (10th, 4.3 billion)
(last year’s rank and wealth in brackets,
figures in pounds)
MAIN PAGE | TOP
