A showroom of Shinepukur Ceramics was opened in Moscow on Friday.
   Bangladesh ambassador Mijarul Quayes inaugurated the showroom, a foreign ministry news release said on Monday.
   Monteci, a Dagestan based Russian company, has been importing Shinepukur’s bone china and ceramic tableware for the last several years.
   The embassy encouraged the company to open a Moscow showroom to popularise and promote the Bangladesh brand of exclusive tableware in Russia.
   The ambassador in his opening remarks spoke of the event as a milestone in trade relations between Bangladesh and Russia.
   He congratulated Monteci for their successful marketing of Shinepukur tableware in Dagestan and taking the challenge of promoting it nationwide from Moscow.
   He assured them of the fullest co-operation and support of the embassy.
   The ambassador expressed the hope that soon he would be able to see the opening of a Moscow showroom for promoting black tiger prawns from Bangladesh, which has seen its demand grow in recent days, especially due to the GSP facility.
   The programme was attended by embassy officials, representatives of the Russian government, Bangladesh Businessmen Association office bearers, and Russian private sector individuals.

The World Trade Organisation, its members and key development organisations, including the Asian Development Bank, will conduct the second global review of Aid for Trade- aimed at expanding the trade capacity of developing countries - on 6-7 July 2009 in Geneva, an ADB news release said.
   The second review will evaluate progress made since the first review, held in November 2007, and scrutinize how Aid for Trade is being put into operation in the field.
   Progress in securing additional, predictable financing will be discussed and views exchanged on how aid flows can be maintained against the backdrop of the global recession.
   The meeting will assess how Aid for Trade is making good on its promise as the agenda moves from commitment of funds (increase of 10 per cent annually since 2005 to funding pledges today standing at more than $25 billion annually; for non-concessional loans add an additional $27 billion) to implementation in concrete projects at the multilateral, regional and national levels.
   The meeting will analyse how trade can be better integrated into core national and regional development strategies, the obstacles faced and how this process can be encouraged.
   This Review will study the impact that the global economic downturn is having on Aid for Trade flows, how can donors be persuaded to engage long term through additional and predictable financing, and what role emerging South-South donors can play in Aid for Trade.
   The Geneva gathering will try to find what conclusions are emerging on the results and effectiveness of Aid for Trade so far.
   Ministers, trade officials and senior government officials from around Asia gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia in late May to discuss the status of trade in Asia. At that meeting, Cambodia and Japan were appointed as co-chairs of a Regional Technical Group on Aid for Trade tasked with stepping up Aid for Trade in the Asia-Pacific.
   Aid for Trade was first conceived in December 2005 to help the world’s low-income countries increase their capacity to conduct exports and imports. Among the initiatives are efforts to put in place crucial infrastructure for the transportation of goods, standardizing policies and ensuring available trade finance.
   The latest gathering will take stock of progress made in those efforts to boost trade since the first Global Review also held in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 2007.

Education, poverty alleviation by skill development, raising awareness on environment and transport safety are the sectors where Rahimafrooz Group carries out its corporate social responsibility programmes.
   The company officials said, they have been doing CSR programme in organised way as, being a signatory to the UN Global Compact, Rahimafrooz is committed to make sustainable impact
   through its social activities.
   While talking with New Age, beneficiaries of the Rahimafrooz CSR projects also said that they were encouraged by receiving extraordinary services from these social service outlets.
   ‘Despite I had the desire, but I could hardly think to admit my child into the expensive pre-cadet schools’ said Abdur Rahim of Natore district.
   Sohel Arafat Zadd, son of Rahim, who is a small trader of seasonal agro-commodity, is a grade two student at the RSF Bogra School and College.
   RSF or the Rural Services Foundation of Rahimafrooz has setup the free of cost education centre, at Shajahanpur of Bogra, modelled as cadet school and college.
   Children from ultra poor families in Monga (extreme poverty) areas, only get the education opportunities in the schools.
   ‘We are giving emphasis on upliftment of the children of ultra poor families so that the families could get advanced economically and socially along with their children,’ said Murad Husain, CSR Manager of Rahimafrooz.
   The RSF has been organising ‘Poribesh Utshob’ every year since 2008. The programme involves a quiz competition among S.S.C. appeared students from remote areas.
   ‘The competition has inspired me for the rest of my life,’ said Boishakhi Roy, a student of the Chalna KC Pilot High School at Upazila of Khulna.
   Boishakhi, who secured Golden A Plus in the last Secondary School Certificate exam, also stood first in the quiz competition conducted among 700 Dakop students.
   The topics include climate change, renewable energy and 3R-Reduce, Re-use and Recycle. This year Rahimafrooz has awarded 450 students from 30 selected upazilas.
   RSF has also established four IT centres in rural areas of the country and now providing affordable IT education and services through the centres.
   ‘Quality of training there is so good that it not only raised my confidence but helped me get job immediately,’ said Bipul Datta of Boroitali of Chakoria Upazila of Cox’s Bazar district.
   After completing his Higher Secondary Certificate exam, Bipul got three months’ training in RSF Chakoria IT centre and now he is a trainer in the local private computer centre.
   ‘We strive to add value to the society, its economy, and environment through intelligent efforts and focused initiatives,’ Rahimafrooz managing director Niaz Rahim said.
   Rahimafrooz CSR is directed and monitored by a committee comprised of two Group Directors, CSR Manager and Group Marketing Team.

Agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury has proposed in the parliament that the government make dividends on savings certificates tax-free for all, not only for civil servants.
   Speaking on proposed budget for fiscal year 2009-10 on Monday, the agriculture minister requested finance minister AMA Muhith to consider removing the apparent discrepancy.
   ‘The savings certificates earnings have been exempted from all taxes for the government officials and employees, whereas taxes have been slapped on the same profits earned by other citizens,’ said Chowdhury.

Bengal Pelli (BD) Limited, a Bangladesh-Portugal joint venture company, will set up a leather footwear industry in the Adamjee Export Processing Zone.
   The joint venture company will invest about $5 million in establishing the plant to produce leather footwear, a news release said on Monday.
   The company will also create employment opportunity for 621 Bangladeshi nationals, the release added.
   An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the Bengal Pelli (BD) Limited in BEPZA Complex in Dhaka on Monday.

The president, Zillur Rahman, on Monday urged the Japanese investors and importers to consider Bangladesh as a reliable location for investment and trading by exploiting various lucrative facilities being offered by the government.
   ‘Massive Japanese investment along with more import would help reduce the existing trade gap between the two countries,’ he said this while the outgoing Japanese ambassador, Masayuki Inoue, paid a farewell call on him at Bangabhaban.
   During the meeting, the president observed that Japanese importers could import world-standard Bangladeshi ships, pharmaceuticals, jute products and readymade garment considering their cheaper prices in the context of global market.
   Zillur urged the Japanese government to recruit more skilled manpower form the country to help Bangladesh in the ongoing development process.
   The president expressed his happiness over the excellent bilateral relations between Dhaka and Tokyo and said Bangladesh always values Japan as its closest friend and one of the important development partners.
   He thanked the Japanese government for its continued assistance for the socio-economic and infrastructure development of Bangladesh. He also thanked the Japanese government for providing emergency assistance during natural calamities.
   He also appreciated the outgoing ambassador for his significant role in further strengthening the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Japan during his more than three years tenure.
   Terming Bangladesh as a very potential country, Masayuki Inoue said Japan could provide technical support to Bangladesh in developing its human resources in line with knowledge of information technology.
   He assured the president that he would apprise his government of the ample investment opportunities in different sectors of Bangladesh especially in IT, tourism and communication sectors.

The price of shares in French cement group Ciments Francais slumped in early trading in Paris on Monday after a planned merger with parent Italian company Italcementi to create a giant group fell through.
   Ciments Francais stock was showing a fall of 11.37 per cent to 57.00 euros, having fallen initially by nearly 20 per cent.
   The overall market as measured by the CAC 40 index was showing a gain of 0.36 per cent.
   In Milan, the price of shares in Italcementi rose by 5.33 per cent to 8.30 euros.
   The merger would have created the fifth-biggest cement maker in the world.
   On Saturday, the two companies announced that they were abandoning a plan to merge because of pressure from US creditors which they said was unacceptable.
   On June 19, the two boards had delayed approval of the merger while they sought a solution to demands from US creditors who had subscribed for Ciments Francais credit notes worth $500 million.
   Brokers Aurel BGC said in a note to clients that it was believed that the creditors wanted to be repaid.
   At CM-CIC Securities, analyst Jean-Francois Lefevre-Moulenq said that repayment was out of the question because a central consideration of the merger was to avoid spending cash.
   He said, ‘Minority shareholders and creditors, whether bondholders or banks, who have lent funds to Ciments Francais cannot accept that their rights be transferred to Italcementi, which does not represent exactly the same risk, without something in exchange.’
   Italcementi, which became a shareholder in Ciments Francais in 1992 when the French group was almost bankrupt, owns about 82 per cent of the business.

The board of directors of National Life Insurance has recommended stock dividend at 50 per cent for the year 2008. Date of AGM: August 6, 2009, time: 11:30am, venue: NLI Tower, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka. Record date: July 15, 2009.
   Prime Islami Life Insurance
   The board of directors has recommended stock dividend at 30 per cent for the year 2008. Date of AGM: August 31, 2009, time: 11:00am, venue: Bangladesh-China friendship Centre, Dhaka.
   Fareast Islami Life Insurance
   Tajul Islam, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 5,000 shares (bonus shares) out of his total holdings of 29,100 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange by July 28.
   Meghna Cement
   The company has informed that the share department of the company will be shifted to Baridhara, Dhaka from its current address with effect from July 1, 2009
   Summit Alliance Port
   In response to DSE query, the company has informed that approx 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Summit Alliance Port Limited namely Ocean Containers, has filed applications for direct listing of its shares to DSE and CSE with a view to offloading up to 50 per cent of its shares (up to 11,900,000 ordinary shares of Tk 10 each). The company has extremely regretted for the inadvertent mistake regarding non-dissemination of above mentioned price sensitive information timely. Considering the above, trading of the shares of the company will resume at 1:00pm.
   Shahjalal Islami Bank
   Nasima Akhter, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported her intention to sell 30,000 shares (bonus shares) out of her total holdings of 5,45,536 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange by July 28.
   Southeast Bank
   Md Dewan Mustaq Majid, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 2,50,000 shares out of his total holdings of 4,66,915 shares of the bank while Khan Md Ameer, another Sponsor of the bank, has reported his intention to buy 2,50,000 shares of the bank (in the block market) at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange by July 28.
   Source: DSE

Asia’s markets were lower Monday as many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of this week’s release of key economic indicators in the US and Japan, while others took profits from recent gains. Tokyo lost almost one per cent, while Hong Kong was 0.39 per cent off and Sydney 0.43 per cent. Taipei dropped more than one per cent and Seoul saw a 0.4 per cent fall.
   Investors were awaiting key economic figures, including the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey of business confidence on Wednesday, followed by monthly US jobs data on Thursday.
   The falls came as Japan announced industrial output rose by 5.9 per cent in May from the previous month, matching the previous month’s growth, which was the fastest in half a century.
   However, Shanghai rose, adding 1.61 per cent to close at a year high on hopes for massive lending by banks.
   In Tokyo, down 0.95 per cent, the Nikkei-225 fell 93.92 points to end at 9,783.47.
   The fall broke a three-day winning streak although the mood remained generally positive amid hopes that the economy is through the worst of the recession.

The International Energy Agency on Monday cut sharply its medium-term forecast for oil demand because of economic recession, but said the threat of a supply crunch had only receded, not gone away.
   Demand will expand by 0.6 percent, or 540,000 barrels per day (bpd) on average, between 2008 and 2014, the adviser to 28 developed countries said in a report. Its previous forecast, issued in December, predicted annual growth of 1 million bpd.
   The IEA said demand could prove even weaker depending on the pace of the world’s recovery from the recession. The agency also cut its supply forecasts, but pulled back from earlier predictions of a looming supply crunch.
    ‘The deep economic recession that has spread worldwide in the past year has taken a severe toll on oil demand,’ the IEA said in its Medium Term Oil Market Report.
    ‘This scenario paints a delayed picture of threatened ‘supply crunch’ later in the projection period.’
   The IEA said its ‘working scenario’ was based on higher Gross Domestic Product figures taken from the International Monetary Fund’s 2009 World Economic Outlook, which saw growth recovering to nearly 5 percent annually for 2012-14.
   Demand is now expected to rise from 85.8 million bpd to 89 million bpd in 2014.
   A lower scenario assumed any rebound in the economy would be slower at around 3 percent annually by 2012, which the IEA said many considered the more likely outcome.
   Under the lower scenario, the IEA forecast world oil demand could contract by 140,000 bpd a year in the medium term.
   Oil has recovered to roughly $70 a barrel from a low of $32.40 in December and showed little reaction to the latest report from the IEA, which has already taken a more bearish view on demand than other forecasters.
   Although demand has fallen, investment in new supplies has also shrunk. The IEA has repeatedly warned of a shortfall in energy supplies that could damage any economic recovery.
   Its medium-term report in 2007 said there was a risk of a supply crunch by 2012.
   In line with previous comment, it said around 2 million bpd of new capacity could have been deferred indefinitely since late last year and a further 4 million bpd faced delays of 18 months or more.
    ‘Whether we end up facing a supply crunch again by mid-decade, or with a more comfortable buffer of supply flexibility, depends largely on the pace of economic recovery and government action on efficiency,’ said Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA’s executive director.
   The biggest impact of lower spending has been on non-OPEC supply, which the IEA now expected to decline by 0.4 million bpd between 2008-14 compared with its previous prediction of 1.5 million bpd growth.
   Total capacity growth was now 4.2 million bpd compared with 5.5 million bpd in its last outlook, the IEA said, while the margin of spare capacity was expected to shrink to only 3-4 percent by 2013-14.
   The IEA is careful not to predict oil prices, but said it was assuming nominal prices of $51 for this year, rising to $58.9 a barrel next year.

The Indian economy should recover after September and probably expand 7 per cent in the fiscal year to March 2010 if monsoon rains do not fail, a policy adviser said on Monday.
   Suresh Tendulkar, the chairman of the prime minister’s economic advisory council, also said high bank lending rates continue to be a worry for Asia’s third-largest economy, which was hit hard by sluggish demand at home and the global slump.
   ‘Policy rates have been brought down considerably,’ he told reporters after a business conference. ‘They have not been reflected in bank rates. They are now getting reflected gradually.’
   The central bank has cut its key lending rate by 425 basis points between October and April to lower borrowing costs, but commercial banks are yet to match those cuts.
   The government had slashed factory duties and stepped up public spending to pump prime the economy as the growth rate tripped to 6.7 per cent in 2008/09 from 9 per cent or more seen in the previous three years.
    ‘Economic recovery is likely to start only after September,’ Tendulkar said. ‘If monsoon doesn’t fail, it (growth) will be at least 7 per cent.’
   Last week, the government said this year’s monsoon rains, a lifeline to its trillion-dollar economy, are expected to be less than normal for the first time in four years.
   Inadequate rains could increase prices of food products, dampen domestic demand and delay recovery of the economy and stoke inflation, analysts say.
    ‘WPI (wholesale price index inflation) would still be under 5-6 per cent, if monsoons are all right,’ Tendulkar said when asked where he saw inflation by the end of the fiscal year.
    ‘If monsoons fail, it will be little more.’
   India’s wholesale prices fell a less-than-expected 1.41 per cent in mid-June from a year earlier, marking a build-up in price pressures as the economy picks up and the effect of past sharp falls in energy prices wears off.

Alexander, a pit boss at the Arbat casino in Moscow, watched his roulette wheels spin for one of the last times before the establishment closes under a new law that spells the end of an era in Russia.
   All Russia’s casinos must shut down on July 1 except in four remote regions, putting an end to the days when businessmen and gangsters who acquired wealth in the chaotic 1990s gambled it away in lavish casinos in central Moscow.
   Those establishments must now close or refashion themselves to comply with the law, which was signed in 2006 by then-president Vladimir Putin in a bid to contain gambling addiction and rein in the much-criticised gaming industry.
   The law says that from July 1, casinos may only operate in Russia’s western Kaliningrad exclave; along the Azov Sea in the south; in the Altai region of Siberia; and in the far eastern Primorye region, near North Korea and Japan.
   The four designated gambling zones are all at least 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from Moscow and have undeveloped infrastructure, making it improbable that they can be turned into Russian versions of Las Vegas anytime soon.
   Meanwhile tens of thousands of people working in the gaming industry are expected to lose their jobs, especially in Moscow, which has 524 casinos and gaming halls, and Saint Petersburg, which has 109.
    ‘I will have to go to an employment agency for a job,’ said Alexander, who oversees 10 roulette wheels at Arbat casino, where he has worked for 17 years.
    ‘As for me, I’m going to relax by the sea,’ joked Alexei, a young croupier at the same casino.
   But others praise the law, hoping it will help contain gambling addiction, which spread rapidly in Russia after the 1991 collapse of Soviet communism as slot-machine halls seemingly popped up everywhere overnight.
    ‘It is not unfortunate for me, because I am a prisoner of this system,’ said a French expatriate in Moscow who has been gambling at casinos in the Russian capital regularly since 2003.
    ‘I had to take out loans of up to 3,500 euros (4,900 dollars) to pay back my debts,’ said the Frenchman, a self-described gambling addict who asked to remain anonymous.
   Putin, who backed the casino law as part of a broader drive to rein in the excesses of the 1990s, cited gambling addiction as a key reason for tighter controls over the gaming industry.
    ‘Specialists say that gambling addiction, the addiction to games of chance, is even stronger than addiction to alcohol,’ Putin said in 2006 around two months before signing the law.
    ‘This is a serious problem, similar to the alcoholization of the country. Undoubtedly, the government should have paid attention to this sphere of activity and this business. I believe this is a civilised decision.’
   Since then Putin has left the Kremlin and become prime minister, but allies of the gaming industry have been unsuccessful in persuading his successor, President Dmitry Medvedev, to change the law.
   There is some uncertainty about what exactly will happen to Moscow’s casinos when the law takes effect on Wednesday.
   Some are expected to become poker clubs, because under a quirk of Russian law poker is considered a sport rather than a game of chance.
   But such casinos-turned-poker-clubs cannot allow games to be played for money or else ‘they will fall under the hand of the law,’ said a spokesman for the Moscow police, Filipp Zolotnitsky.
   One other thing is certain — once casinos are banned, there will be a surge of illegal gambling as the practice goes underground.
    ‘We expect the appearance of illegal establishments... little establishments like in the Soviet era, in apartments, in country cottages,’ Zolotnitsky said.

Vodafone is considering buying T-Mobile UK in a move that would make the firm the biggest mobile phone operator in the UK, the Financial Times has said.
   The Newbury-based firm is interested in acquiring T-Mobile, even though the deal may be blocked by regulators, the paper said.
   Vodafone has a 25% share of the UK market, behind O2. T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom, has a 15% share.
   Both Vodafone and T-Mobile declined to comment on the report.
   Shares in Vodafone were up 0.6% by mid-morning.
   Deutsche Telekom has appointed JP Morgan to advise on ‘strategic options’, the newspaper said.
   Falling sales
   Vodafone has previously announced a £1bn cost-cutting plan.
   It was forced to write off £5.9bn in the 12 months to the end of March - mostly related to its Spanish business - as its pre-tax profits fell 53.5% to £4.2bn from £9bn a year earlier.
   Like its rivals, Vodafone is concerned about a fall in consumer spending hitting sales.
   T-Mobile UK reported a 21% fall in sales in the first three months of the year.
   A combined Vodafone/T-Mobile operator would have a 40% market share in the UK, putting it well in front of current market leader O2, which has a market share of about 27%.
   One company with 40% of the market would open up competition questions. But such large operators already exist in France, Italy and Spain.

AB Bank has approved 15 per cent cash dividend and 15 per cent stock dividend for the year 2008.
   The bank announced the dividends at its 27th annual general meeting held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka on Monday.
   AB Bank chairman M Wahidul Haque presided over the meeting, a news release said.
   The AGM also approved the report on the audited financial accounts of the bank for the financial year 2008.

ONE Bank Limited has recently opened a new booth at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology in Dhaka.
   One Bank vice-chairperson Farzana Chowdhury inaugurated the booth while managing director Farman R Chowdhury, members of the board of directors and senior officials were present, a news release said.
   Ahsanullah University president Kazi Rafiqul Alam and treasurer and vice chancellor (current charge) Kazi Shariful Alam were present.

Sony Corp remained tight-lipped Monday over reports that it may combine its PlayStation Portable game console with a mobile telephone into a new gadget to challenge rival Apple’s iPhone.
   Sony is considering developing a new portable game console with the added functions of a Sony Ericsson cellphone, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday without revealing its sources.
   The high-tech giant, which has faced tough competition in recent years from rival products such as Apple’s iPod and Nintendo’s Wii, will set up a team in July to look into the development of the new product, the Nikkei said.
   Sony, which will mark the 30th anniversary on Wednesday of the launch of its first Walkman portable music player, declined to confirm or deny the report.
    ‘We don’t comment on plans for next-generation consoles. The report is mere speculation,’ a spokeswoman for the group’s game unit told AFP.
   Sony chief executive Howard Stringer is under pressure to turn around the high-tech giant, which in May announced its first annual loss in 14 years and warned it would stay in the red this year.