Shipping minister Shajahan Khan has said the planned construction of a long-proposed deep sea port at Sonadia in Kutubdia, Chittagong, could pose a ‘security risk’ being close to the Myanmar border.
   He suggested Akram Point near Mongla would as a more suitable location.
   ‘Security risk may loom large if a deep sea port is constructed at Sonadia, very close to Myanmar border,’ the minister said at an open discussion at a Khulna hotel on Saturday.
   ‘From view point of security, it would be more reasonable to install deep sea port at Akram Point, and the construction of the Padma Bridge would enhance the importance of Mongla Port,’ Khan said.
   He said the government was already moving to dredge the river Pashur in Mongla to restore greater navigability.
   ‘Long-term plans have been chalked out to develop and modernise Mongla port, which could rise to be the greatest sea port in Bangladesh,’ said Khan, who took over the reins of the shipping ministry from Afsarul Amin after a cabinet reshuffle at the end of July
   With its geographic location, Bangladesh is looking to the long-proposed deep-sea port to make it a major player in regional trade and act as a gateway to the region.
   A feasibility study for the proposed deep-sea port project, undertaken by a Japanese consulting firm, suggested the Sonadia-Moheshkhali point as the best location as recently as April.
   Japan’s Pacific Consultant International (PCI) said the deep-sea port could be set up at Sonadia channel in three phases until 2055 at a cost of $ 1.2 billion with the first phase completed by 2016.
   Sonadia Island succeeded so far as the best optimal location for a deep sea port out of nine possible locations, PCI said in its ‘Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of a Deep Sea Port in Bangladesh’.
   The present government has also said work would start on a three-phase construction of the deep-sea port by the end of the next year.

Stock market regulator will give every support to Dhaka Stock Exchange to make its over-the-counter market an effective one, Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Ziaul Haque Khondker said on Sunday.
   ‘If situations arise, we will amend the concerned rules,’ he said at a briefing at the DSE building in the city after inaugurating the office of the bourse’s OTC market, a separate trading floor for trading of shares of de-listed and unlisted companies.
   He said with the introduction of the OTC market the DSE had got a structural development. ‘The OTC market will promote the capital market in the long run,’ the SEC chief said adding ‘It is significant that shares of unlisted companies alongside that of de-listed companies will be traded in the OTC market.’
   The SEC, stock market regulatory body, introduced OTC rules in 2001. In July of 2004, the Chittagong Stock Exchange introduced the OTC market with which four companies, de-listed from the CSE. But no trading was held in the market since its inception, said CSE sources.
   On June 1 this year, the SEC asked the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to prepare a mode of operation for an effective OTC market for junk share trading.
   DSE chief executive officer Satipati Moitra said, ‘Only unlisted or de-listed companies as designated by the SEC can apply for listing at OTC. So, before applying for listing at OTC every unlisted or de-listed company must get approval from the SEC.’
   ‘After getting approval from the SEC, unlisted/de-listed companies must apply to DSE for listing at OTC in a prescribed form through a stockbroker/dealer,’ he said.
   DSE CEO said, ‘We will follow SEC directives in the process.’
   On Sunday, the SEC directed the DSE to provide OTC facilities to the issuers of the securities already de-listed by the bourse, excluding those securities which have been de-listed upon application of the issuers concerned.
   DSE official sources said from 1994 upto now, total 36 companies were de-listed from the DSE. Of them, four companies were de-listed upon their applications.
   Satipati said, ‘At first selling stockbroker/dealer will submit saleable securities at OTC along with transfer form with owner’s signature duly verified and a sale order mentioning name of securities, quantity, rate, within 10:00am to 12:00pm on each trading day.’
   ‘After receiving the saleable securities along with transfer form, we at OTC will record the order in the database and provide an official receipt to the respective stockbroker/dealer.’
   ‘Then we will show the sale order through DSE website and at the monitors at OTC to provide pick and choose facilities for prospective buyers,’ the DSE CEO said.
   ‘Interested buying stockbroker/dealer will submit a buy order to the OTC. Then the buying stockbroker/ dealer will make full payment, including the commission or charges, to the stock exchange through bank pay order/ demand draft on the day of buy of securities at OTC within 10:00am to 12:00pm.’
   ‘The total process of share transfer will be completed by 13 to 15 days,’ he added.
   SEC member Mansur Alam said, ‘If de-listed companies show unwillingness to come to OTC market, the SEC will issue directive to bring them to the market.’
   DSE president Rakibur Rahman said with the opening of the OTC market, investors would now be able to trade their shares in the companies trading of which had been remained halted.
   From early July the SEC kept halted the trading of the shares of more than 30 low profile companies.
   DSE sources said the bourse would de-list non-performing and non-operational companies.
   Out of more than 90 companies now listed under the ‘Z’ category, traces of many are not found, while some have gone out of operations. But trading of shares of those companies is taking place nonetheless, as many retail investors are unaware of the companies’ present status, according to SEC and DSE sources.

The government on Sunday released Tk 111 crore in cash incentive for helping exporters and increasing cash flow in the export units which would need funds to pay workers before Eid.
   The finance minister, AMA Muhith, disclosed this to a delegation of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association which met him at his ministry.
    ‘We have arranged some funds for the exporters and the government hopes it will support exporters to pay all dues of the workers before Eid,’ the finance minister told reporters after the meeting.
    ‘I believe there will not be any unpleasant situation (regarding payment of workers) before Eid,’ Muhith added.
   The finance minister was again asked about BGMEA’s demand on the immediate release of Tk 3,000 core of the stimulus funds so factory owners could pay their workers before Eid.
    ‘They (garment factory owners) can voice their demands. But it is by no means right to link the incentive package with the workers’ wage issues before Eid,’ Muhith said.
   He informed reporters that the second meeting of the recession taskforce would be held on the 15th or 16th of October and the demand of the apparel exporters would be discussed there.
    ‘Tk 111 crore is part of a long due cash incentive bills for which the exporters had submitted documents many months ago,’ the BKMEA president said. ‘But release of this fund will definitely help exporters who need more cash flow to pay dues of their workers before Eid.’
   The finance ministry sources and the BKMEA president also hinted that the government is expected to release another trench of Tk 200 crore in cash incentive before Eid.
   Exporters will be able to cash that fund by showing their ready bills of exports, said the BKMEA president, who appreciated the government move.
    ‘Any exporter will be able to take zero interest loans from his bank and the bank will provide 70 per cent of the amount that is summed up in the export bills of the exporters,’ he said.
    ‘Usually release of cash incentive funds require further audits on the export documents,’ said the BKMEA president. ‘But considering tight cash flow in the export sector before Eid, the government has arranged such advance payment of cash incentives.’

The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association has asked its members to pay dues of the workers before the upcoming Eid-ul-fitr festival without making the payment conditional to the government stimulus fund.
   BKMEA already sent notices to its all members for making the workers’ payment timely before the Eid festival.
   Receiving the notice, all the members of the association were trying to pay the dues of their workers before Eid, BKMEA president Fazlul Haque said at a press briefing at the association office on Sunday. Earlier, he met with finance minister AMA Muhith at the finance ministry.
   During the meeting, the finance minister informed him about the government’s Tk 300 crore cash incentive fund for the struggling exporters, the BKMEA chief told newsmen.
   He said earlier BKMEA had requested the government for releasing a Tk 500 crore cash incentive fund for supporting the apparel exporters before Eid.
   He, however, refused to make any comment on the BGMEA’s demand of a Tk 3,000 crore stimulus fund for the exporters to pay dues of the workers before Eid.
   He observed that the export orders declined markedly recently in the backdrop of the global financial meltdown and the buyers were cutting price of the apparels again and again taking the advantage of the country’s sluggish export.
   ‘The entrepreneurs will overcome the situation with the continuous government supports and better owners-workers relationship,’ the BKMEA president hoped.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Foundation has signed an agreement with International Finance Corporation to assess the pre-feasibility of setting up an industrial park comprising a cluster of small and medium industries.
   The agreement was signed at the SME Foundation office at Karwan Bazaar on Sunday.
   Syed Akhter Mahmud, senior programme manager, IFC-BICF and Mamtajuddin Ahmed, managing director, SME, signed the agreement.
    ‘Our aim is to bring in plastics, light engineering, electronics and electrical industries under one umbrella since they are so akin to one another. If they are so set up that they happen to be physically close to one another, these industries will enjoy enhanced technical and infrastructural benefits, offering products at reasonably more affordable prices,’ remarked Mamtazuddin Ahmed at the protocol signing ceremony.
   Most of the existing light engineering workshops are currently scattered in Dholai Khal area in Old Dhaka, who have of late been demanding establishment of an industrial park to enable all the above mentioned workshops and plants can be clustered together conveniently.
   SME and IFC had signed an MoU to this effect in January.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said there is no reason that the apparel sector is unable to pay the salaries and festival bonuses of their workers.
   ‘The garments sector is not in a state that they cannot pay the salaries and bonuses of their workers,’ he told reporters after a meeting with a delegation from Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association at the finance ministry.
   Muhith said the demand of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association for Tk 3,000 crore from the recession package is not rational.

The total deposit of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has reached at Tk 22,823 crore on 31 August 2009, showing the growth rate of 2l per cent against the same period of the last year, a news release said on Saturday.
   The total investment reached Tk 21,766 crore. The bank handled foreign exchange business amounting to Tk 29,534 crore including import of Tk 10,047 crore, export of Tk 7,004 crore and collected remittance of Tk 12,483 crore.
   The information was disclosed in a performance review meeting of top executives of head office and heads of three zones of the Dhaka city and branch managers of the Dhaka city held at Mohammad Yunus Auditorium of Islami Bank Tower on Saturday.
   The meeting was presided over by managing director of the bank M Fariduddin Ahmad. The meeting was attended among others by the deputy managing directors Mohd Shamsul Haque, Mohammad Abdul Mannan and Md Setaur Rahman.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, on Thursday announced the launch of ‘DHL Volunteer Day’ in Bangladesh, a community outreach programme involving over 15,000 employees across Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and Latin America to encourage the spirit of volunteerism among employees, a news release said.
   In Bangladesh, over 30 staff participated in the daylong volunteering programme held at the ABC School, a primary school for the unprivileged children located in the Bashundhara residential area. Activities at the school included planting trees in the school compound, vaccinations for the children, distribution of uniforms and an art competition.
   DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh managing director Mustaque Ahmed was present.

The shareholders of The Dacca Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Limited have recently approved the recommendation of the board of directors for 10 per cent cash dividend to company’s all shareholders.
   The approval came in the company’s 31st annual general meeting held at a local hotel. Jamaluddin Quader Chowdhury presided over the meeting, a news release said.
   The shareholders unanimously approved directors’ report, audited accounts for the 2008-09 financial year 2008-2009 and the auditors’ report.
   The managing director, Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury, apprised the shareholders of the progress of the company. The production was affected due to shortage of gas in Tongi industrial area for last one year.
   The shareholders appreciated the management for declaring 10 per cent cash dividend despite various adversities faced by the company.

On the close of operation on August 31, 2009, Grameen Mutual Fund One has reported net asset value of Tk 35.36 per unit at current market price basis and Tk 20.46 at cost price basis against face value of Tk 10.00, whereas net assets of the Fund stood at Tk 60,10,42,238.00.
   
   Sonar Bangla Insurance Ltd
   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 07.09.09 to 15.09.09. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on 16.09.09.
   
   1st Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha MF
   On the close of operation on August 31, 2009, the Fund has reported net asset value of Tk 890.51 per unit on current market price basis and Tk 141.66 per unit on cost price basis against face value of Tk 100.00 whereas net assets of the Fund stood at Tk 7,08,29,406.12.
   
   Takaful Islami Insurance Limited
   The company has informed that the 9th AGM of the company will be held on 30.09.09 at 10:00am at Windy Town Hall, Bangabandhu Interna-tional Conference Centre, Agargaon, Sher-e-Banglan-agar, Dhaka. Other information regarding AGM as anno-unced earlier. Source: DSE

Top finance officials from rich and developing countries agreed Saturday to curb hefty bankers’ bonuses, but the proposed crackdown on excessive payouts so far falls short of European demands after the U.S. and Britain shied away from imposing a cap.
   The Group of 20 finance ministers also pledged to maintain stimulus measures such as extra government spending and low interest rates to boost the global economy, warning that the fledgling recovery that provided the backdrop to their meeting here is by no means assured.
    ‘The financial system is showing signs of repair,’ said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. ‘Growth is now under way. However, we still face significant challenges ahead.’
   The G-20 joint statement issued at the end of their London meeting said that fiscal and monetary policy will stay ‘expansionary’ for as long as needed to reduce the chances of a double-dip recession.
   The International Monetary Fund has said that the global economy is beginning a sluggish recovery from its worst recession since World War II, raising its estimate for global economic growth in 2010 to 2.5 per cent, from an April projection of 1.9 per cent.
   But the IMF also downgraded its forecast for this year, saying it would shrink by 1.4 per cent, instead of 1.3 per cent.
   The group also pushed ahead with plans to reform the financial system, including tougher action against tax havens and giving developing countries a greater say in global governance.
   French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said this ensured that ‘things will not go back to business as usual ... that there are no dark areas anymore to hide.’
   But while the gathering — a preparatory session for the G-20 leaders’ summit in Pittsburgh later this month — reached agreement on the need for ongoing growth-boosting measures and some regulatory reform, it compromised on the hot topic of bankers’ bonuses.
   Curtailing bankers’ pay and bonuses has been seen as key by some countries after the risk-promoting payment culture was blamed for fueling the current financial crisis.
   British Treasury chief and meeting host Alistair Darling said that there must be no more cases in which ‘people are being rewarded for reckless behavior.’
   Heading into the talks in the British capital, European countries had pushed for the G-20, which represents 80 per cent of the world’s economic output, to enforce an official cap on both individual payouts and collective bonus pots at financial institutions.
   Britain supported the general effort to reign in bonuses, but not the cap, while the United States was more intent on pushing its proposal for a global accord to force banks to hold more capital reserves.
   In the event, the G-20 agreed to give the Financial Stability Board, an international body established at the London Summit of G-20 leaders in April, the task of drawing up practical proposals that the Sept. 24-25 leaders meeting in Pittsburgh could agree on.
   Suggested measures that countries could take included proposed clawback mechanisms to ensure that bonuses are linked to the long-term success of deals and could be forfeited if they fail to deliver over a period of years.
   Lagarde insisted that this would mean real change by limiting bonuses, playing down differences, while Darling again stressed that a straight cap was impractical.
   The G-20 communique failed to directly address a proposal from Geithner for a new international accord to increase bank’s capital reserves, but he said he was encouraged by ‘support around the room.’
   ‘Capital is critical’ as a shock absorber to cover potential loan losses, Geithner said.
   Going into the meeting, Geithner wanted to reach agreement on an accord by the end of 2010, with implementation by the end of 2012.

India’s low-cost airlines are set to go from strength to strength as they grab market share from ailing premier carriers such as Air India, whose debts and losses continue to pile up, experts say.
   Big airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India are being hit by falling revenues due to tough economic conditions and high air fuel taxes.
   The smaller, ‘no-frills’ carriers such as Spicejet or Indigo, set up to open up the skies to the country’s burgeoning middle classes, have dealt better with the turbulent business conditions of the last year, analysts say.
   At least seven budget airlines fly across India’s skies, with a 40-per cent market share.
    ‘By December-end, we estimate this to rise to 70 per cent,’ said Kapil Kaul, South Asia chief executive of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation consultancy.
   A sign of the predicament facing India’s private airlines — which carry 80 per cent of local air traffic — was seen last month when bosses threatened to ground planes for a day unless the government gave them a bailout.
   The demand was denied but a strike was averted when the government promised to take steps to reduce the burden of steep fuel taxes.
   Air India posted a 1.03-billion-dollar loss last financial year and has appealed for nearly 620 million dollars in state aid to keep flying.
   Jet Airways lost 2.25 billion rupees (47 million dollars) in the quarter ending June, while Kingfisher Airlines reported a net loss of 2.40 billion rupees in the same period.
   Kingfisher’s flamboyant chairman, Vijay Mallya, has said: ‘Our losses are no longer sustainable. It costs us more to fly than to stay on the ground.’
   Losses for the entire Indian aviation sector last year are put at some two billion dollars.
   This means Indian airline losses represented nearly a fifth of the 10.4-billion-dollar loss posted by the industry globally last year, even though the country accounts for just two per cent of the world’s flying public.
   The situation is a far cry from five years ago, when a clutch of new airlines was launched amid predictions of double-digit passenger growth as the government opened India’s skies to more competition.
   But the growth was too rapid, analysts say, leading to over-capacity.
   By 2007-08, India’s airlines were in shake-out mode with Jet striking an alliance last October with arch-rival Kingfisher. The deal includes code-sharing, route rationalisation and pooling crews.
    ‘The first round of consolidation — Jet buying out loss-making Sahara, Kingfisher buying out Air Deccan, were strategic mistakes,’ CAPA’s Kaul said.
   Mihir Shah, analyst with brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher, added: ‘India’s airlines saw excess capacity and intense competition. When the economic downturn came, their business travellers were being replaced by the leisure class.’
   Kaul said the situation was ‘alarming’ as major carriers were making losses, but added: ‘If there is a bad business case, we need to allow airlines to exit.’
   State taxes imposed on jet fuel are high at an average of 26 per cent. Fuel costs are also 70 per cent more expensive than the average paid by airlines globally.
   Such factors have combined to leave Air India, Jet and Kingfisher with a combined debt of eight billion dollars, analysts said, with six billion dollars more expected to be added by 2012.
   Gaurang Shah, chief fund manager with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, suggested larger Indian airlines will have to cut more routes, fleets and staff to keep flying.
   On the other hand, low-cost carriers like Spicejet and Indigo appear better placed, as they do not have a legacy of high debts, he added.
   Spicejet showed a net profit of 263.42 million rupees (5.39 million dollars) for the quarter ending June against a net loss of 1.29 billion rupees a year earlier.

US fast food giant McDonald’s, which has waged an eight-year legal battle with local restaurant McCurry, will Monday petition Malaysia’s highest court in its campaign to strip the eatery of the ‘Mc’ prefix.
   In April, a Malaysian appeals court overturned a 2006 high court decision that McCurry — whose menu features local delicacies such as fish head curry — had illegally infringed on the burger chain’s trademark.
   ‘They (McDonald’s) have said that we are passing off as McDonald’s. But the food we serve is different,’ McCurry owner Kanages Suppiah told the AFP on Sunday.
   The federal court will decide today if McDonald’s can contest the appeals court decision.
   The McCurry restaurant, which owners say is short for Malaysian Chicken Curry Restaurant, was established in 1999. McDonald’s has 185 outlets in the country.

BRAC Bank and Western Union have recently launched a consumer promotion, where during Ramadan, customers will get a free umbrella every time s/he collects his/her remittance payment from any BRAC Bank branches across the country, a news release said.
   BRAC Bank head of treasury and FI and acting head of Probashi Banking Mohammed Rahmat Pasha and Western Union, Bangladesh country manager Syed Mohammad Kamal distributed prizes among some the first customers on the occasion.

Intraco Group, one of the largest and diversified business groups involved in CNG conversion and refuelling, travel and tourism, real estate, agriculture and others across the country, recently signed a corporate agreement with mobile phone operator Citycell, a news release said.
   Under the agreement, Intraco will enjoy specially designed telecommunication packages and customised solutions from Citycell. The corporate service is tailored to match specific requirements of the company to strengthen communication with all its stakeholders and improve its internal communication. Intraco will also enjoy priority services from Citycell on both voice and data, the release said.
   Intraco deputy managing director Mohammed Irad Ali and Citycell head of marketing Dr Anand Rajasingham signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies at a signing ceremony held at Citycell’s head office at Mohakhali in Dhaka.

Mutual Trust Bank has launched ‘MTB Krishi’, a new loan product with farmers as the focus group.
   MTB chairman Samson H Chowdhury launched the new MTB product at a ceremony held at the corporate head office of the bank on Sunday by handing over the first loan sanction letter to a farmer, Siddiqur Rahman Moyez of Ishwardi, a news release said.
   MTB managing director and chief executive officer Anis A Khan, deputy managing director Quamrul Islam Chowdhury and head of SME banking Mohammad lqbal, were also present at the event.
   MTB will be granting loans directly to the agricultural sector under this loan scheme. The priority sectors are crops, fisheries, livestock and purchase of agricultural equipment. The MTB Krishi loans will range from Tk 2 lakh to Tk 3 crore. The interest rate is 13.00 per cent and there is no processing fee or service charge. The tenure of the loans will range from three months to 60 months based on actual need.

US insurance giant AIG announced the sale of part of its investment advisory and asset management business to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Pacific Century Group for 500 million dollars.
   AIG said it would receive a cash payment of 300 million dollars under the agreement with Bridge Partners LP.
   The insurance company said in a statement that it will continue to operate its in-house investment group, which currently oversees around 480 billion in assets.
   The units being sold to Bridge Partners operate in 32 countries and manage approximately 88.7 billion dollars in investments belonging to institutional and retail clients, AIG said in a statement.

With oil prices about where OPEC wants them and a modest economic upturn in the offing, the oil cartel isn’t likely to tighten the taps when its leaders meet this week in Vienna.
   Prices have been hovering near $70 a barrel, and with returning growth expected to support demand, analysts don’t expect the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will feel any need to cut output targets.
   ‘Absolutely nothing,’ said John Hall, of John Hall Associates in London.
   OPEC president Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola’s oil minister, said last week that signs of recovery suggest the 12-member group won’t need to intervene. ‘Everything shows they will keep output unchanged,’ he said.