The Chittagong Stock Exchange has suggested the government to reduce corporate tax on listed companies, raise funds for capital-incentive projects of the government, offload shares of more state-owned enterprises and allow undisclosed money into the capital market.
   ‘We propose the government in the next national budget reduce the corporate tax for the listed banks, insurance companies and non-bank financial institutions to 35 per cent from the existing 45 per cent,’ CSE president Nasiruddin Ahmed Chowdhury told at the CSE-DSE joint press conference in the port city bourse on Monday, said a news release.
   Earlier on May 20, the Dhaka Stock Exchange made its budget proposals public through a press conference held in the capital.
   Nasiruddin said corporate tax for the other listed companies should be 25 per cent from the existing 27.5 per cent.
   The bourse also proposes that 10 per cent tax at source on dividend income should be final, he said adding that ‘Currently, shareholders are facing double taxation on their dividend income as their income is being taxed at company and individual phases.’
   In the case of dividend income by institutions, the bourse proposes that the tax rate should be 15 per cent from the existing 20 per cent, the CSE president said.
   He said, ‘The CSE also proposes that the government should allow investment of undisclosed money into the share market.’
   ‘The CSE proposes the government raise a portion of funds from the capital market for its capital-intensive projects including Padma Bridge and four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway,’ the CSE president said adding ‘The government should offload shares of more SoEs on the market.’
   ‘We think the tax-exemption ceiling on personal-level investment in the capital market should be doubled to Tk 10, 00,000 which is now Tk 5,00,000,’ the CSE chief said.

The Bangladeshi garment exporters have started a campaign against the use of carbon tetrachloride in the production process of apparels.
   While many local apparel manufacturers use this chemical as spot cleaner, the imports of apparels, processed with carbon tetrachloride, is set to be strictly prohibited globally by the end of this year.
   The industry body, BGMEA, on Monday rang the alarm bell against the use of this hazardous chemical in a seminar organised in cooperation with the directorate of environment and the United Nation Environment Programme.
   ‘We are creating awareness across the industry that use of carbon tetrachloride in production process of apparels should be prohibited,’ said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the BGMEA.
   Many in the industry have stated using environment-friendly alternatives to carbon tetrachloride, said Murshedy, who hoped that by end of the current year the chemical would be eliminated from the Bangladesh’s apparel industry.
   In the multilateral Montreal Protocol, deadline for developing countries to complete the phase — out of chlorofluorocarbons, especially the carbon tetrachloride and halons — was set in December 2009.
   Mentionable that many counties including New Zealand strictly prohibits import of carbon tetrachloride.
   The apparel and footwear importers association of the USA has also raised strong camping against importing merchandises produced using the hazardous chemical.

Navana CNG Limited, a sister concern of Navana group, on Monday applied to the Dhaka Stock Exchange for direct listing of its shares on the bourse to raise some Tk 18 crore, said officials.
   ‘The company submitted the application seeking for a listing of its shares under direct listing regulations,’ said a senior official of the listing department of the DSE.
   Navana CNG is one of the leading CNG service providers in Bangladesh, according to the website of the company.

Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association has called upon the government to cut CNG price at consumer level to encourage diesel-run vehicles to CNG conversion.
   Leaders of the association made the call at an emergency general meeting of held recently at Officers Club in Dhaka.
   The CNG filling station owners observed that their sales have fallen drastically in the recent days and the rate of CNG conversion has also gone down sharply as diesel price cuts have made CNG less competitive.
   They said conversion of vehicles on CNG would save valuable foreign currencies along with helping to preserve environment and protect the investments worth thousands of crore of taka in the sector.
   The association leaders demanded withdrawal of fee of taka one lakh imposed by Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission on establishment of a CNG filling station.

Citycell has launched Samsung Absolute F309 ‘One’, an all-in-one multimedia phone. Samsung Absolute is a sleek handset designed to add style in life, a Citycell news release said.
   According to the release, the new phone set offers attractive features including a 1.3 mega pixel camera, video camera, Bluetooth, FM radio, MP3 and MPEG4 players and a 1GB memory card for free.
   Customers can also use it as a Zoom modem to access the internet even on the move.  With its advanced mobile tracker feature, customers can set the phone to send a preset tracking message to family or friends when someone tries to use the phone with another RIM card. This latest introduction of a modern multimedia phone is part of Citycell’s initiative to enhance its handset portfolio to best suit the demand of today’s customers.

Eastern Bank Limited launched ‘EBL Matribhumi’, a full range of services for Non-resident Bangladeshis.
   ‘EBL Matribhumi package will provide the Non-resident Bangladeshis and their families in Bangladesh’ with full financial supports’, Ali Reza Iftekhar, EBL managing director and CEO on Monday told at a press conference on launching of the product at a city hotel.
   EBL managing director also said the country’s foreign inward remittance would be raised to $20 billion from $ 10 billion yearly if the government up-grades the NRBs skill.
   ‘We plan to launch second EBL-NRBs mutual fund soon for financial benefit of NRBs’ he added.
   Non-resident Bangladeshis are offered financially attractive products and ensured of quality services through ‘EBL Matribhumi’.
   At present four products are being offered under ‘EBL Matribhumi’ and more to follow soon. The products are EBL Shonchony, EBL Paribar, EBL Global and EBL NFCD.
   EBL Shonchoy is taka savings account for the NRBs . EBL Paribar is a family maintenance account for the NRBs where the relatives can open the account at a minimum charge and enjoy superior banking services from EBL.
   EBL Global is a foreign currency current account where NRBs can save their money in foreign currency. EBL Global comes in with an international debit card, which can be used anywhere in the world.
   EBL NFCD is a foreign currency time deposit account where NRBs can invest their money for a fixed period.

New vehicle emission standards will likely be a boon for everything from aluminum to new plastics, but the producers of lithium — a mineral used in batteries that power new generation vehicles — could be the big winners.
   But while the few public companies that mine lithium will likely see surging revenue, they will also face the pressure that comes with all booms — making supply meet ever-tightening availability.
   Companies that mine lithium should see a long-term boost to their business, analysts said, although there are questions about whether there is enough lithium for all customers.
   And some energy experts see the irony in lithium batteries replacing carbon-burning gasoline, since they believe exploiting lithium could be just as destructive to the environment as pollution.
   Lithium is generally mined from rock, but it can also be found in deposits in brine ponds.

Industries minister Dilip Barua on Monday said the government would take move to reopen closed state-owned industries under public-private initiatives.
   The minister made the comment while speaking as chief guest at a seminar on ‘SMEs: present situation and what can be done’ at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.
   The seminar took place in the sideline of the SMEs fair now taking place on the same venue. The FBCCI arranged the seminar, as part of the fair.
   Industries secretary Dewan Zakir Hossain, SME Foundation managing director Dr Momtazuddin Ahmed, FBCCI vice-president Abul Kashem Ahmed, its director Abdul Haque Iqbal Hassan, among others, spoke on the occasion.
   Professor M Kamaluddin of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology presented the keynote paper in the seminar.
   Dilip Barua said the biggest problem for the development of the country’s small and medium enterprises was the high rate of interest.
   The government will take all steps to bring it down to single digit, he said referring to other moves the authorities were taking for accelerated growth of the SME sector.

China said it would resume new stock market listings as early as next month, a move that reflects the strong performance of domestic shares this year, the country’s securities regulator said.
   New flotations will get the green light after June 5, once new draft rules for initial public offerings, or IPOs, are finalised, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement released at the weekend.
   The draft rules aim to improve the system for companies seeking to list and will ‘diminish administrative guidance in setting IPO prices’ and ‘establish a market-oriented price-setting mechanism’, the statement said.
   Investors will also be allowed to use both online and offline subscription systems, the statement said, in a bid to ensure retail investors have a fair chance of subscribing.
   Under the old regulations, only institutional investors could subscribe via both systems, while retail investors had to use the online system.
   The regulator said it would seek public input on the rules, and will ‘closely monitor market feedback and manage the pace of IPO reform’.

Bangladesh Online has informed the Dhaka Stock Exchange that a meeting of the shareholders of the company will be held on 18 June to consider the merger plan of the company with Beximco Limited. The merging process will be completed should the shareholder approve the plan with or without modification of a ‘Scheme of Amalgamation’ proposed to be made between Beximco Ltd (transferee company) and Bangladesh Online (transferor company).
   
   One Bank
   Normal share trading of the Bank resumes today (Monday) after record date and there will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the Bank for the day.
   
   Safko Spinnings
   Normal trading of the shares of the company resumes today (Monday) following the starting date of Book-Closure and there will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company for the day.
   
   Premier Leasing
   M Rabiul Huq, one of the sponsors/directors of the company, has reported that he has completed his sale of 24,700 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange as announced earlier.
   
   People Ins
   SM Nurul Islam, one of the Sponsors of the company, has reported that he has completed his sale of 4,000 shares of the company at prevailing market price through Stock Exchange as announced earlier.
   
   Federal Ins
   The Board of Directors has recommended stock dividend at the rate if 10 per cent for the year 2008. There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on the day following its corporate declaration.
   
   Pragati Ins
   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 with cum benefit from 26 to 28 May. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date of 31 May.
   Source: DSE

Cheap valuations and glimmers of economic recovery are tempting cash-rich technology companies to seek acquisitions, and the second half of 2009 could see some steady deal making.
   Having assessed the damage to their balance sheets — at least for now — from the recession, tech companies from behemoths like IBM to niche players like NetSuite Inc are turning their attention to new growth opportunities.
   Already this year, Oracle Corp scooped up Sun Microsystems Inc for $7.1 billion. Chipmaker Broadcom Corp is in a hostile pursuit of Emulex Corp for $764 million. And NetApp Inc announced a deal this week to buy Data Domain Inc for $1.5 billion.
   The pace of acquisitions is going to quicken in coming months but most deals will be small to medium-sized, top US technology executives said at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York this week.
   They agreed that potential targets on their shopping lists were cheaper now than even a few months ago. But they were divided on whether valuations have hit rock bottom or if they could fall further, since the feeble signs of improvement in the economy could be temporary.
   ‘Valuations could go lower,’ said Sybase Inc chief executive John Chen. ‘Somehow everybody thinks things are on the rebound. I think we’re going to stay low for a while.’
   Sybase is on the lookout for acquisitions to help expand its mobile enterprise business. Chen said he frequently gets calls from venture capitalists and private equity firms wanting to sell him their start-up companies.
   ‘Some of the start-ups are under the gun a little bit ... But we’re cautious. There is no hurry,’ Chen said.
   Symantec Corp Chief Executive Enrique Salem also said he is patient about deal making because he expects valuations to fall further in the next few months.
   ‘We have $2 billion in cash, very little debt, high recurring revenue, so we have the opportunity to do M&A,’ Salem said. He added that Symantec wants to buy companies to pad up its core security, storage and systems management businesses.
   But ‘private companies’ valuations need to be reset. I don’t think private companies at this point have realized that there’s been a change in the economy,’ Salem said.
   Other executives felt that valuations are low enough to go on buying sprees.
   Yahoo Inc chief technology officer Ari Balogh said it was ‘amazing’ how much lower valuations are compared to a few months ago.
   ‘It’s a good time to be buying now,’ Balogh said, as Yahoo adds more social networking features to its properties as part of a renewed turnaround focus. I can guarantee you there will be some acquisitions.’
   Mark Loughridge, chief financial officer of International Business Machines Corp, was also bullish about his company’s appetite for deals.
   ‘I go through a deal review every week,’ he said, adding that the economic climate provided a ‘fertile’ hunting ground for acquisitions.
   Even a company like Corning Inc, which has traditionally not been an aggressive acquirer, is on the prowl. Chief Financial Officer Jim Flaws said the specialty glass maker is looking to hire to expand its mergers and acquisitions team.
   Companies that were too expensive to buy earlier are now available at attractive prices, Flaws said, as the recession takes it toll.
   ‘Right now we have the money to do small acquisitions ... and we are actively looking,’ he said.
   Attractive prices apart, Dell Inc President Steve Shuckenbrock also suggested companies ought to act quickly or they risk losing potential targets to competitors amid a wave of consolidation in the industry.

Confidence among German firms rose to a six-month high in May, a key sentiment index showed on Monday, suggesting that Europe’s top economy might be pulling out of its worst slump in over 60 years.
   The closely watched Ifo indicator rose for the second consecutive month to 84.2 from 83.7 in April, adding to evidence that sentiment is again on the up in Germany, the world’s top exporter.
   The result was slightly worse than expected, however. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the index to rise to 85.0.
   The survey ‘points to a gradual stabilisation of economic output at a low level,’ the Ifo institute’s head Hans-Werner Sinn said in a statement.
   Economists see the index as a key leading indicator to gauge the future health of the economy. It had been falling steadily — with occasional blips — since June 2008 as sentiment among firms plummeted due to the financial crisis.
   ‘The good news clearly is that German companies will leave the valley of tears in a few months’ time,’ said Andreas Rees, from Italy’s UniCredit bank.
   Tempering the optimism, however, was a sub-index showing that companies’ view of the current situation in Germany dropped in May to 82.5, its lowest level ever.
   Rees said this sub-index showed that the German economy was unlikely to recover from the slump as quickly as it plunged into it.
   ‘Looking at the current assessment reading, one thing has also become crystal-clear: The recession will continue for the time being,’ he said.
   Marco Bargel, an analyst at Postbank, also drew a sharp distinction between the two indices.
   ‘All in all, the survey results suggest that we are over the worst of this downturn,’ he said.
   ‘But the renewed bad assessment of the current situation shows that the way out of this recession will be difficult and definitely not smooth.’
   Nevertheless, brighter signals are increasingly emerging from Germany to pierce the overall gloom surrounding Europe’s economic powerhouse.
   Industrial orders and exports recently showed their first increases after falling for several consecutive months.
   And another closely watched sentiment index, which measures the outlook of players in the financial markets, also rose to a near three-year high in May after a seventh rise in a row, data from the ZEW institute showed on Tuesday.
   Economists said the outlook for Germany’s heavily export-driven economy was brightening as signs of recovery spread around the world with more positive news also from Japan and the United States.
   Last Monday, US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said the US economy had begun to stabilise, although he warned that a recovery would be ‘bumpy’ and ‘fragile.’
   And Japan’s central bank offered a more optimistic view of prospects for the world’s second-largest economy earlier Monday, saying it saw a gradual levelling-out.
   Despite the brighter outlook for the economy, some top policymakers have been at pains to point out that any return to growth will only come next year.
   While a scheme to allow firms to put workers on temporary contracts rather than lay them off has kept a lid on unemployment, jobless numbers are up, ensuring the economy will be a major battleground in elections in September.
   The German government is expecting the economy to shrink by an eye-watering six per cent this year — the worst contraction in modern German history — only creeping back into the black in 2010, with output up by a measly 0.5 per cent.
   The president of the country’s powerful central bank, Axel Weber, was quoted as saying on Friday that the recession in Germany would continue until to the end of the year with any recovery coming only next year.

Japan’s worst post-war recession may be almost over, the central bank said Monday, while the government upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in more than three years.
   The Japanese economy is set for a ‘mild recovery’ and may return to positive growth in the current quarter to June, Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa told reporters in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo.
   It would be the first time in five quarters that the economy has expanded, marking an end to its worst recession since World War II.
   ‘The sharp deterioration in economic and financial conditions in Japan and abroad since last autumn is starting to level out and there is a prospect of a mild recovery ahead,’ Shirakawa said earlier in the day in a speech.
   Japan announced last week that its economy suffered its sharpest contraction on record in the three months to March, shrinking 4.0 per cent compared with the previous quarter, but hopes are growing that the worst is over.
   The government on Monday upgraded its assessment of the world’s second largest economy for the first time in more than three years.
   ‘While the economy is in a difficult situation, the tempo of worsening has become moderate,’ the Cabinet Office said in a monthly report.
   ‘Exports and industrial production are nearing the bottom,’ it said.
   At the same time corporate profits are falling sharply and business investment is declining, it said.
   ‘The employment situation, which is worsening rapidly, is severe. Private consumption is decreasing moderately. With worsening employment situation, the economy is likely to remain severe for the time being,’ it added.
   The government follows the central bank in upgrading its assessment of Asia’s largest economy. On Friday the BoJ raised its view for the first time in almost three years, saying the recession appeared to be easing.
   The BoJ also painted a more positive picture of the outlook in its monthly economic report released on Monday, saying that the pace of deterioration in Japan’s economic conditions was ‘likely to moderate gradually.’

Ministers from economies accounting for 80 per cent of the globe’s greenhouse gases met here Monday and heard warnings that ‘the world’s destiny’ may lie in the outcome of a mooted climate change pact.
   French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, opening the gathering of the so-called Major Economies Forum, pointed to the aim of forging a planet-wide treaty in Copenhagen in December under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
   ‘The world’s destiny will probably be at stake in Copenhagen,’ Borloo said in a brief address.
   He spoke out against those who said the proposed deal would cripple the world’s economy.
   ‘Copenhagen is not a retrograde vision, it’s not the start of negative growth, but a new start for strong, sustainable, sober carbon development,’ he said.
   The 192-nation UNFCCC process aims at securing cuts in emissions of heat-trapping carbon gases and setting in place a rampart against climate change.
   It would take effect after 2012, when the current provisions of the convention’s Kyoto Protocol run out.
   But the negotiations — due to resume in Bonn on Monday — are extremely complex and have been hampered by many differences.
   The MEF’s role is to try to identify common ground among the world’s biggest emitters and then hand this consensus back to the UNFCCC for approval.
   The Paris meeting of the MEF, which runs until Tuesday, will cover financing and the transfer of clean technology, Borloo said.
   The Forum was launched by US President Barack Obama last month on the back of a similar initiative by his predecessor, George W. Bush.
   Its participants include Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States, as well as the European Union.
   Denmark, as host of the December climax, and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer, are also invited to the dialogue.
   A summit of MEF countries will take place in Italy in July, probably on the heels of a G8 summit there, Washington’s top climate negotiator, Todd Stern, told AFP on Sunday.

Dutch-Bangla Bank organised a workshop on ‘Implementation of BASEL-Il’ for branch managers and divisional heads of the bank in Dhaka on Saturday.
   DBBL managing director Md Yeasin Ali inaugurated the workshop at the bank’s training centre at Dilkusha in the capital, a news release said.
   The workshop was aimed at familiarising the participants with the conceptual aspects and three pillars (minimum capital requirements, supervisory review and market discipline) of BASEL-II.
   The workshop also discussed the ways of how to implement the BASEL-II in Bangladesh’s perspective. CRISL chief executive officer Muzaffar Ahmed conducted the workshop as the resource person.
   DBBL additional managing director AHM Nazmul Quadir and deputy managing director (operation) KS Tabrez also spoke.

Mobile phone operator Warid Telecom has recently signed a corporate agreement with the Asia Group, a Chittagong-based business conglomerate, to provide complete telecommunications solutions under its corporate package.
   Under the agreement, the officials and employees of Asia Group will enjoy customised tariff and value added services of the Warid Telecom, a news release said.
   Asia Group chairman Shafique Mohiuddin and Warid Telecom general manager (sales) Mahboob Hossain signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides in a hotel in the port city.
   Warid Telecom chief executive officer Muneer Farooqui and Asia Group managing director Habib Mohiuddin were also present during the signing ceremony.